5 mm wetsuit suggestions/opinions

[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.

[BamaCaveDiver]

I thought about semi-dry after I posted that; I know some who have used them that like them and some that hate them. Those I know who have gone the merino lined route love them, touting how warm they are compared to just neoprene, but they hate the stench after they have sweated in them a few times. Xcel makes an excellent wetsuit; have a couple of friends that use them exclusively for cave diving and swear they have yet to get cold. For their longer dives they just place heat packs inside and stay toasty throughout.

[hbh2oguard]

I've never thought about heat packs. Do they just use instant heat packs or something else? Also good to hear that about xcel's. I think I'll have to give them a shot.

[kjohnson75]

Thanks for all the input guys. I've got a few ideas to work with now. Thankfully I don't have to go beyond a 5mm.

[BamaCaveDiver]

I've never thought about heat packs. Do they just use instant heat packs or something else? Also good to hear that about xcel's. I think I'll have to give them a shot.

Not sure what the brand was, but they were of the larger variety (large enough that one would cover your lumbar area) and reusable-I think they just put them into boiling water or something like that to recharge. I will see if I can dig up the info they passed along about them a few years back. The only problem either of them ever reported with using the heat packs was placement to prevent skin burns (seems like they were wrapping them in something to avoid direct contact.) They were doing some 3+ hour dives in 68-72F water wearing 3mil suits, and were warmer than some folks, doing less in dry suits, when they surfaced.

[tarzana]

Does a 2 pc 5mm stretchy wetsuit exist? I have had two now that I have had great diffculty getting n and out of.

[The Publisher]

I have never heard of that, but I did just test dive a 1 piece 3mm drysuit by Poseidon called a Flexisuit and it rocked! It had relatively stretchy neoprene and wrist and neck seals with attached dry soles.

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