will wetsuits always be made of neoprene

[RRedd]

I have been diving for about three years now, and i went to the Panama city jetties this last weekend and dove. For the first time in a while i had trouble sinking. It took me nearly 20 pounds to sink with a 5mm neoprine suit on. I hate my 5mm. They are just soo bouyant. Will there ever be a suit as cheap as neoprine, but made of something different? Yeah i know about dry suits ,warm water suits , but those are all very expensive. Will the powers that be ever come out with a durable alternitive to neoprine. I mean i think i look good in this rubber suit and all, it just positive bouyancy quailities, will the new material be bouynat as well? Were is the industry going on exposure protection suits?

 

[theskull]

Newer materials are surely in our future.

But til then, lead is cheap, and whatever it takes to sink you is what it takes to sink you--you're still neutrally buoyant at depth, so what difference does it make?

theskull

 

[rakkis]

You'd actually normally use a bit more lead with a dry suit. And no matter what material we may end up using in the future, you can be sure it will be positively buoyant at the surface.

 

[tstormdiver]

If you think a 5mm is bad, try a 2pc. 7mm. I have to use 26- 28# to get down in fresh water:shakehead . On top of that, to me, it is really confining feeling. I feel like a kid in a winter commercial that has so much stuff on, his arms stick dtraight out & he has to waddle to move .

 

[Crawl79]

This post is scaring me. I have recently started diving in Brasil as I am working here. Im looking into buying a cold water wetsuit as the water were in Brasil is amazingly cold for me. Im used to diving in swim trunks or my 3mil shorty. Recently I was diving in a 7mil and didnt like the fact that I had to add so much weight. In two dives I had still not perfected my usually good trim. But still better than freezing and consuming allot of air from being so cold the first time I dove here with my shorty. Any suggestions on a good 65-75 degree wetsuit that is not so bouyant.

 

[CompuDude]

Some of us dive 7mm suits with well over 20lbs of weight all the time, and still manage to have fun.

Suck it up, I say. ;-)

(Or get spend the money, get a drysuit, and deal with the extra weight anyway)

 

[undrwater]

I know of some folks here in SoCal that dive in 5mm. Temps here range from around 49-72 or so. I suppose they're tough. I dive 7mm with 10 lbs.

 

[tstormdiver]

Some of us dive 7mm suits with well over 20lbs of weight all the time, and still manage to have fun.

Suck it up, I say. ;-)

(Or get spend the money, get a drysuit, and deal with the extra weight anyway)

I'm getting a dry suit next week. The weight doesn't bother me, just the restriction of movement.

 

[MarkUK]

Have you seen the Fourth Element Xerotherm Explorer full suit? Furry material inside against your skin, shiny outside, can put it in your washing machine, it wicks away moisture, dries real fast in the sun, packs away in a bag as big as a mask box, has as much thermal protection as 2-3mm neoprene - and it is neutrally buoyant.

I tested it using a 12-litre alu tank in the Red Sea and all I needed was a couple of pounds in the integrated pouches on my Glide Tek. Ideal for the travelling diver!

Mark

 

[Mr.X]

I know of some folks here in SoCal that dive in 5mm. Temps here range from around 49-72 or so. I suppose they're tough. I dive 7mm with 10 lbs.

I had one student (in So Cal.) in a full two piece 5mm wetsuit (no weights/no gear) sink in mere seconds during a neutral buoyancy check. His body was so dense that he would probably have been neutral with a 7mm. Lucky guy.

As per wetsuit alternatives...you could try wearing those fuzzy skin things. However, they were never too warm.