Help! Wetsuit Irritation!

[Jon]

I only have an issue with this suit. My summer suit causes me no problems- it has black shadow coating over the opencell.

The different type of lube I used today seemed to help a bit, but after 6 years I think I deserve a new suit- at least that's what I'm telling my wife.

I've been pleasantly surprised that the suit has lasted this long- seeing ashow it's opencell inside and smoothskin outside with no fabric backing on it anywhere. My 3mm suit, made of the same material, was blown apart after less than 2 years. I think the thickness (6mm) of the suit has something to do with that.

I wonder if the rubber starts to get gummy after a period of time???

It still kept me pretty warm in 40f degree water for almost three hours today- my toes froze out first.

Jon

[strangelove]

Jon

40 F is really cold, I think the coldest I've done was 49F, since there was no fish around and the water was very murky I am not doing it again !

One of friends in Brazill claim he needs to replace his wet suit every two years to avoid skin problems, that was the basis for my suggestion, but I always took it with a grain of salt !

[Jon]

40 F is really cold, I think the coldest I've done was 49F, since there was no fish around and the water was very murky I am not doing it again !

Don't you live in Alaska???

Our best vis is in the winter so I try and do the majority of my diving then. Summer time is nice in Lake Michigan, but even that lake gets MUCH clearer in the winter time- over 150' of vis on a good winter's day.

Right now we've got a big snowstorm coming in- so I'm glad I dove yesterday. Hopefully I'll get out again next weekend- but I think my wife might have a list of things for me to do then.

The new suit is coming- it'll just take a couple weeks more for it to get here.

Jon

[strangelove]

yes I am Alaska, but the I like fish killing and there is no fish when the water is cold ! But the best water is around 30 feet viz.

[bweiss]

When I started freediving I used to get the pimples/nodules (potentially staph?) usually under my armpits after a few days of diving... On someone's recommendation, I started adding a few squirts of Hibiclens to my lube mixture each time, and haven't had any problems since. I also dry the suit inside-out in direct sunlight for 15 minutes or so after washing it, to kill anything else that may be living on there.

-Ben