closed cell, worth it?

[jtkwest]

a buddy of mine had a friend iver who was singing the praises about closed cell wetsuits being so slick in the water, allowing much better movement in the water, is this true? is it worth it ? i live in warm water area, but in the winter we do wear 3mm suits, and i need a new one, so should i get one? the ones i see are all black, do they come camo?

[ILDiver]

Closed cell on the outside? Assuming this, the smoothskin neoprene suits are a little more "slippery" in the water, but they will cut easier without the nulon there to protect it. For the standard freediving on a line and such, it is a performance thing where the smooth skin will glide better.

There were some, maybe Elios, that had a painted smoothskin suit. Not really the traditional camo. The smooth outter will shed water better at the surface and be warmer out of the water as well.

Just my opinion, you will be fine with the nylon outter and I don't think for spearing it would make a great difference. A comfortably snug fit suit is the most important thing. If it's baggy, you will have drag.

[settingsteel]

I agree^^^ better nylon outside for the slight difference it makes the abrasion resistance of the tough nylon outer wins hands down...on the other hand open cell inner although a bitch to put on (unless you apply conditioner) keeps you much warmer...look into austins diveshop I think they were running a crazy sale on some elios

[strangelove]

I agree too, one of my friends had an elios suit (smooth skin), he was really carefull but still manage to tear the thing in half while removing, may be good for the pros but not for the average guy. My two cents.

[Bill McIntyre]

Get open cell for the inside for warmth, but nylon on the outside for durability.

[spaghetti]

And here's one more vote for nylon outside/open cell inside, for all the aforementioned reasons.
As for smoothskin allowing better movement in water that's true, but now consider that the new improved nylon coatings now used by most manufacturers (called ultrastretch, superstretch, ultraspan et cetera depending on different brands) are also very good for that purpose because, as the name suggests, they're very elastic and stretchy, allowing fluid and easy movements.
My jackets are open cell inside/superstretch nylon outside, and they're GREAT!

[salibandy]

Originally Posted by strangelove

I agree too, one of my friends had an elios suit (smooth skin), he was really carefull but still manage to tear the thing in half while removing, may be good for the pros but not for the average guy. My two cents.

Not all smoothskin suits are as delicate as your friend's. I have a Heiwa smoothskin and it's indestructable.

[settingsteel]

I have a Heiwa smoothskin and it's indestructable

never heard of a heiwa...do you have a link?

[spaghetti]

Steel, Heiwa is a japanese neoprene manufacturer, not a brand of wetsuits.
You can get a suit made of Heiwa neoprene and tailored by Elios, Polosub, Teknoblu et cetera et cetera. The wetsuit tailors just buy sheets of neoprene from Heiwa, and them use it to create their own suit models.
There are also many types of Heiwa neoprene: Heiwa Sk, Heiwa Aws and many more, what changes is the density of neoprene cells......
These things will drive us all mad some day!

[salibandy]

Originally Posted by spaghetti

Steel, Heiwa is a japanese neoprene manufacturer, not a brand of wetsuits.
You can get a suit made of Heiwa neoprene and tailored by Elios, Polosub, Teknoblu et cetera et cetera. The wetsuit tailors just buy sheets of neoprene from Heiwa, and them use it to create their own suit models.
There are also many types of Heiwa neoprene: Heiwa Sk, Heiwa Aws and many more, what changes is the density of neoprene cells......
These things will drive us all mad some day!

What he said.

[spaghetti]

Originally Posted by salibandy

What he said.

That we'll go mad some day? Well the Lord talked to me and said the day has come!

[salibandy]

I think my day came a long time ago. I'm glad to see others coming up to my level of (in)sanity.

[strangelove]

You guys know your rubber !

One more input, I would avoid the thermic filling, I always get red bumps on my skin after wearing my thermic suit, based on what I've read in this forum that filling does not improve the insulation, ,much better getting an Open Cell without the filling.

[settingsteel]

TY Spago...is that like the yoko'something from japan?

[trux]

Originally Posted by settingsteel

TY Spago...is that like the yoko'something from japan?

Here you are mistaking with Yoko Ono. Well, sometimes she can be pretty kinky, and I bet she made some performances with neoprene or rubber too, but otherwise she does not bear too many similarities to Heiwa. It is rather Yamamoto, which is another brand of neoprene. Usually it is considered superior, because of its elasticity, but Heiwa has advantages too - less compressible, and more resistant. However, in both brands, there are many qualities, so this categorization may not be always exact.