Wetsuit Advice for a new diver

[Scuba Skaughtie]

Hi all. So I am recently hooked on diving and am starting to put together my first gear set up. I am also doing this as cheaply as possible. The first piece of the puzzle I figure is a wetsuit. I know I will need a 7mm suit as I will be doing all my diving in the Sound and Hood Canal. My questions revolve around wet suit styles and what tips you can offer for sizing and fitting a wetsuit. What are the advantages to a one piece suit over a farmer john style? What is the benefit of a detached hood relative to an integrated hood? How about the semi-dry suits?

Thank you!

Skaughtie

[spatman]

what's your budget? because you're about to hear this a million times:

if you can afford a used drysuit, you're better off with one than a wetsuit.

[nwbobber]

Personally, if I couldn't afford a dry suit I would lean towards a semi dry suit. You want it to be thicker than 7mm around your torso, 7mm on your arms to allow movement. Attached hood allows less water movement in and out which equals warmer.

But really... you could probably find a used drysuit for cheap, and winter diving in even a semidry suit is only fun for one dive, unless it is a warmer day. I would put some effort into trying to find a reasonably priced drysuit before I resorted to diving wet.

[Scuba Skaughtie]

It really depends on how much gear I need to pick up. I figure a decent suit is one of the most important pieces of gear I'll buy. Is this correct? I mean, I can rent/borrow the rest and could probably rent a suit too but those costs add up too. If it's worth spending extra on a drysuit then that's what I will do. I don't want to buy an el-cheapo suit and end up buying another one in six months or a year. I guess I am also asking is how much I should budget for a decent suit that will last a while? As I've looked around the local shops it's looking like a drysuit will run around $1,000. I've seen them cheaper online but was warned that I should get them from a shop so that when something went wrong the shop would be on hand to provide service. Is there a shop that you can recommend not to try and sell me the most expensive suit they have and that has a good rep for service?

[ORDiver]

I agree with nwbobber. I bought a new 7mm farmer john wetsuit after open water thinking that I would stay warm enough. After 25 dives (mainly after one inparticular on a 38 degree day) I bit the bullet and bought a dry suit. I would save the $300.00 or so your thinking of spending on a semi-dry, wait a little while, save up a little more and get a used or new drysuit. Some new suits are only about $600-$700 bucks if you give it a little time and keep your eyes open. I got my new one for $575. It has roughly 100 dives on it and has had no problems.
If you're itchin to just get in the water (I can understand that) I have the above mentioned 7mm farmer john suit hanging in my basement doing nothing. You're free to borrow it if you like. It should fit if you're around 5'11, 190lbs.

Cheers, Dave

[spatman]

I bought my first suit used, as well. It held up for over 100 dives and still gets use as a backup and a loaner. It cost me $400 which included the undergarment.

Craigslist is a great resource. In fact I just saw a drysuit for $250 that was the same model I first started with. I posted a link to it in the "Craigslist deals" thread.

[Pez7378]

Wetsuit advice for a new diver.........

Dry suit.

[4ster]

I own a dry suit, but I still dive in a wet suit a lot. The nice thing about wet suits is that they still function with a little leakage. Dry suits are good in theory, but in practice it seems that they are rarely dry. For a first exposure suit I think a wet suit can be a totally appropriate choice as long as you are a person that is reasonably tolerant of cold. What I mean is if you are a skinny person that is bundled up on all but the warmest days, then don't buy a wet suit. But if you have a normal level of cold tolerance a wet suit will work for you as long as you are not doing dives much over an hour and most of your diving is above 70 feet or so.

For around here I would look for a 7mm suit with double layers around the body core. The suit should be designed to allow minimal water intrusion in the cuffs around the ankles and the wrists. There should also be a semi-dry collar that fits snugly around the neck.

My favorite is this one:
http://www.oneill.com/#/men/americacana ... ype/black/
I put a lot of hard dives on one and it is finally starting to show its age so bought another as a winter suit, the original will be used again next summer. It is one piece with an attached hood. It is a little harder to get into than other styles but water doesn't really get in either.

Everyone's different, my feet and lower legs get cold sooner than the rest of me. Part of the problem is that wet suit boots have a side zipper and standard practice is to roll the legs of the suit over the boots. This creates a channel for water ingress along the zipper. I improve insulation a couple of ways. First, I use a pair of neoprene socks and a size larger set of outer boots. Second, after my first wet suit was retired I made a set of extra cuffs by cutting the bottom 6 inches off the legs. Before I put the boots on, these are pulled on over the wet suit legs. Then the boots are put on OVER the wet suit legs. The cuffs are then rolled down over the boots. This effectively keeps water mostly out of the boots and totally out of the legs. My feet stay much warmer.

I hope this helps. Most people here are going to recommend going dry so I wanted to chime in with another point of view.

[Dusty2]

Lets face facts, If your going to be a puget sound diver your wasting money on a wet suit or semi dry. Anything less than a dry suit is going to dim your enthusiasm pretty quickly. Especially since you are starting out in the winter months. Most of us went the same route your talking and eventually found out it just wastes money. The kill factor is not all comfort in the water but the simple fact that to wear a wetsuit means that not only will you get cold in the water but you will get cold getting into the wetsuit and really cold getting out of it. If you want an acid test try this today. Take a cold shower, as cold as you can stand it, now run outside in the snow in your bear feet and towel off and get into your clothes. Was that fun? think about doing that after an hour in the water when your already shivering from heat loss and your fingers are so numb you can hardly get the zippers to work. Sound like fun?? Ha! Not if your sane!

The single most important piece of gear you can buy to insure you keep diving in the NW is a drysuit with a good undergarment. The rest you can rent till you find out more about gear and what to buy.

Tell us your height and weight and your area and we can give you some good info. If you are in the right range for an off the shelf suit you should be able to get one for less than that $1000 tag. Maybe way less.

[spatman]

The kill factor is not all comfort in the water but the simple fact that to wear a wetsuit means that not only will you get cold in the water but you will get cold getting into the wetsuit and really cold getting out of it.

also, a very important aspect is whether you can warm back up fully between dives. this time of year, it can be a challenge.

[Scuba Skaughtie]

Thank you! This is all great info. Exactly what I needed.

I am 6'1" and around 190 at max with a foot size of 10.5. My neck is 16.5, waist 35, inseam 32.

Thank you again for all your help!

[Dusty2]

With those measurements you would probably do fine with a standard off the shelf suit. Either in lg or xlg depending on the Mfg. If I was buying local I'd check with Tacoma Scuba. They will probably give you the best deal you can get in the area and they frequently have mfg sale units that are demo or overstock at great prices.

For a dry suit buying online isn't that big of a deal though. For the most part there is little aftermarket service for them most normal repairs are not covered by the warranty anyway and most online stores guaranty fit. The only problem being if it didn't fit you get stuck with return shipping.

Buying used the main thing is to make sure that the zipper is in good shape. That is the single most expensive repair job.

[CaptnJack]

If you need to cut corners, wool sweaters or REI like fleece is less costly than a made for diving drysuit undergarment. Not quite as warm but vastly warmer than a wetsuit. Wetsuit or semi-wet is realistically limited to 1 dive and summer only. There's no dry in "semi-dry"

[mz53480]

If you need to cut corners, wool sweaters or REI like fleece is less costly than a made for diving drysuit undergarment. Not quite as warm but vastly warmer than a wetsuit. Wetsuit or semi-wet is realistically limited to 1 dive and summer only. There's no dry in "semi-dry"

+1 for what Richard said.

[trevorrowe]

I dive a shell drysuit. It's made of a very tough trilaminate material, very thin and strong. Coming on 2 years, no leaks. That said, you need much more thermal protection (warm undergarments) when diving a shell suit vs a thicker neoprene suit. I have heard anecdotaly that they are much warmer, but also that they can be a bit more restrictive.

Since you are on a budget I would watch craigslist for a used suit. Frequently you can pick one up for ~ $400. Its not new, but its not a new price either. Buying new I would budget around $1500 for a good suit.

I want to echo what others said. I spent $500 on a new semi-dry suit when I bought my gear out of open water. This was in the month of October. The following February I replaced it with the drysuit I now use. The semi-dry kept me reasonably warm underwater, but when you come out of the water wet during those cold winter months its brutal. It makes repetative dives basically un-manageable for me. If you rented gear for a weekend this is a real downer because you are trying to get as much diving in before you return it. Also, winter diving is when we tend to get the most spectacular viz of the year and it stinks when its a 40 foot viz day and your too cold to get back in.

[lologrande]

I just went through this same process. I purchased a cheap 7mm farmer john wet suit about 1 month ago. I am really cold tolerant and I do not have any problem in the water. Surface intervals up until now have not been too bad (I bring plenty of hot water). That said, I am about to purchase a dry suit and am very excited about it. I know that I will not be able to keep doing multiple dives during the winter. At least not in a manner that I believe will be safe. If I had it to do over again I think I would have started with a dry suit and not purchased tanks. $230 wet suit + $700 new steel tanks= dry suit. Used tanks seem to be fairly easy to come by and I bet I could have borrowed tanks from time time. This is a very friendly group of folks. Check out this used Bare nexgen for sale http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/classi ... -demo.html. I bet it would fit you. I will also recommend talking to Wally a Tacoma scuba. They have great pricing on Bare suits.

As for other gear, I went with a BP/W setup and am very happy with it. I also have upgraded to a long hose set up on my reg. I would be happy to let you try out my set up this week if you would like. I am fighting a case of swimmers ear :angry: and have to stay dry. Just shoot me a PM and we can set something up.

[cardiver]

I just went through this same process. I purchased a cheap 7mm farmer john wet suit about 1 month ago. I am really cold tolerant and I do not have any problem in the water. Surface intervals up until now have not been too bad (I bring plenty of hot water). That said, I am about to purchase a dry suit and am very excited about it. I know that I will not be able to keep doing multiple dives during the winter. At least not in a manner that I believe will be safe. If I had it to do over again I think I would have started with a dry suit and not purchased tanks. $230 wet suit + $700 new steel tanks= dry suit. Used tanks seem to be fairly easy to come by and I bet I could have borrowed tanks from time time. This is a very friendly group of folks. Check out this used Bare nexgen for sale http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/classi ... -demo.html. I bet it would fit you. I will also recommend talking to Wally a Tacoma scuba. They have great pricing on Bare suits.

As for other gear, I went with a BP/W setup and am very happy with it. I also have upgraded to a long hose set up on my reg. I would be happy to let you try out my set up this week if you would like. I am fighting a case of swimmers ear :angry: and have to stay dry. Just shoot me a PM and we can set something up.

That is a great suit. I've had mine for 7 years and have never had a problem with it.

[Magoi]

Not sure of your size, but there is a L Apollo that just came onto Craigslist Seattle tonight for $95. Needs new seals. That would be a good dry suit for around $200. I am 5'11.5" and 180 and have plenty of room. It could go a bit taller.

[cardiver]

Not sure of your size, but there is a L Apollo that just came onto Craigslist Seattle tonight for $95. Needs new seals. That would be a good dry suit for around $200. I am 5'11.5" and 180 and have plenty of room. It could go a bit taller.

And there is an XL for 500, I think.

[doug7377]

that good thing to ask i do all my diving in the sound started in a wetsuit which i still like but wanted a dry suit put was not ready to spend the money craglist is good but find the right size, hoping the seal did not need to be replaced then i find out that DUI had a used website at hafe the cost but a dry suit that is just as good as a new one look at that way you can get ever thing you need for hafe the cost but a suit you can trust and know it safe to dive DUI test all they used suit and fix ever thing befor shiping. that the way i would go and tell ever one looking for a dry suit to go unless the person on craglist is welling to pay to have it tested befor he sale it to you

http://www.dui-online.com/fr.htm