5 mm wetsuit suggestions/opinions

[kjohnson75]

I am looking to purchase a 5 mm wetsuit, but am seriously limited in my choices because where I live people buy drysuits for local diving or 3 mm for the tropics. Hardly any shops carry 5 mm suits! There is a shop that carries the Bare Elastek. Just wondering if anybody has any experience with this suit. Or any other suggestions of 5 mm suits that they recommend that I could keep my eye out for.

Thanks!
Kat

[BamaCaveDiver]

Not familiar with that model (I dive mostly dry, reserving wetsuit wear for caving and sumps so I tend to look for used wetsuits), but Bare does make a great wetsuit. I would think any of the shops that carry a line in 3mm could order you a 5mm if you asked (in case you have a particular suit in mind that you would prefer.) If they will not do that for you (or they want to drive the price up too far) try on a 3mm from your preferred brand to see how their sizing runs and then order the 5mm yourself.

[kjohnson75]

Bama - I believe the Bare Elastek is a pretty new suit. But it's good to hear an endorsement of Bare wetsuits in general.

The shops will order a 5mm for me, but since it's a special order, there is a no return policy. I don't like that aspect. I'd prefer to choose from the limited 5mm choices I have. I'm sometimes a bit of a challenge to fit and I see Bare has 12 or 13 different women's sizes so I should be able to find one that fits me well.

[The Publisher]

Kat, I have a Pinnacle Elastiprene 5mm merino lined suit for cooler tropics that is REALLY a well made suit that I am quite pleased with.

[kjohnson75]

Publisher - I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for the Pinnacle suit. It's got a lot of good reviews.

[hbh2oguard]

Personally I'm a fan of body glove. They will stand behind their products for LIFE. Never had a problem with them honoring their word and I've had numerous suits from them. If there is a problem they will repair it for free, they even replaced one of my suits that was well used and 3-4yrs old with no questions asked. My only problem with them is that they don't making anything over 7mm.

[BamaCaveDiver]

I have pounded the dickens out of BG suits, surfing and caving, and the only thing I have ever managed to damage was the overall appearance. Those things are tough. Why would you want something thicker than 7mm? Water that cold deserves a drysuit (I'm a wimp when it comes to cold water.)

The thing I like best about Bare, besides they hold up to a lot of abuse, is their wide range of sizes. I lucked out a couple of years back and found a new 7mm farmer John (fits like a glove) for $100 (guy was going around buying out closed dives shops and selling the inventory off on line.) That suit has seen a lot of cave mud and rocks and it is still going strong (and it still looks fairly good after a strong pressure washing.)

[hbh2oguard]

Why would you want something thicker than 7mm? Water that cold deserves a drysuit (I'm a wimp when it comes to cold water.)

Northern/central CA diving in 48-52 deg water. I'm fine with a hooded vest and a 7mm as long as I'm moving a little. I'm going to take a scientific diving course and won't be able to move much. Pretty much any of the scientific guys that do it once outside of the class wear 10mm custom suits. Drysuits aren't really used because they are pretty easy to damage compared to a wetsuit.

[BamaCaveDiver]

That's why I go with the neoprene for sumps and caving, drysuits are just too expensive to put through that much abuse (and that is why I don't mind finding used wetsuits for that purpose.) With the amount of lead it takes to sink me in a 7mm, I would hate to even try a 10mm. The only time I am really comfortable with 48-52 degree water is when it's in a drinking glass, but that is typically what we see in sumps and the caves up this way. I am okay in the 2 piece 7mm, but like you mentioned I stay moving the entire time and you have never seen an old cripple doff a wet wetsuit as fast as I do when I exit.

[hbh2oguard]

very funny I thought about one of the semi dry wetsuits(crushed neoprene, I think ) but have heard that they don't work too well. 10mm do take a lot of weight. I normally dive with 20lbs and a guy whose a lot smaller than me uses 32lbs. I'm hoping a xcel 9mm
will do the trick because it's a lot cheaper than a custom 10mm.