• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

An Unusual (and seemingly rediculous) Request

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

3D43Jesse

New Member
Jul 7, 2004
1
0
0
Hello all, as I'm sure you have all guessed I am totally new to these forums. Don't worry you probably won't need to deal with me much after the next few days. I feel a little guilty but I haven't come here to join your community. Don't take that the wrong way though. I'm just not a Diver, Or hunter or do anything really involving a lot of water save doing the dishes at home.

**NOTE** A rather long backstory follows, if you just want to skip it out I have left a second note marker where the backstory ends and the portion that I would like comment on begins **NOTE**

That said, and as strange as it may sound, I do need some info/advice on wetsuits.

I'll start by tying to explain my situation. I am a 3D artist working Part Time as an Teaching assistant for 3D animation. I sit in front of a computer most of the day. but I wasn't always like this. Sure I was always a bit of a computer Gaming Geek, but up until I graduated from Highschool 4 years ago I have always been pretty physically active and in shape. The Last 4 years have not been so kind. I can't bring myself to exercise at a gym, especially with noone forcing me.

I was recently introduced to Airsoft. For those that don't know it's a game/sport much like Paintball. But the weapons fire out BB's the guns are replica's of existing weapons.

It seems to be the perfect solution to my problem as it seems very enjoyable and can be quite the workout. Besides that, I was looking at getting into paintball but this seems to be more complex and to my own tastes...

When my friend introduced me to airsoft he got me hooked and I looked at him and said I could really see myself spending a LOT of money on this stuff. I started researching weapons and equipment.

I still haven't covered why I am here. i am sorry... I'll try and get to the point I just want you to all know where I'm coming from.

I'm a big gamer, I'm a BIG fam of stealth action games in particular. I was never that good at them but I've always been into the whole acrobatic end of it, having done tumbling and other acrobatics in my past. It's a style I would like to mimic in real life Warsim with Airsoft.

The weapon I have chosen to purchase first is a Steyr AUG. It's a bullpup Design.

http://remtek.com/arms/steyr/aug/auga1/aug20b.gif

This places the magazine behind the trigger and allows it to be a very compact weapon, great for close quarters combat but also gives it a long inner barrel making it a great medium-long range assault rifle. It also gives it a very futuristic look. The bullpup design is common in stealth action games like Splinter cell.

**NOTE**OK this is it **NOTE**

Now this is where you guys come in.

The characters in many of the games I play, the ones who's style I think best fit my own. They often wear bodysuits that seem to be a sculpted rubber. They almost appear to be enhanced wetsuits.

So here it is...

I am looking to Purchase a wetsuit for Airsoft. I should point out though that I'm not doing it just because they could make me look like Sam fisher from splinter cell but also because they seem very flexible and solid, not to mention tigh fitting enough that I won't need to deal with the bulk of your avereage military BDU. But before I go out and buy one I have many concerns that your average wetsuit website doesn't cover (obviously because I won't be using it as intended).

First and foremost is durability:

Considering that I will probably be wearing kneepads and possibly elbow pads over top. (unless there is some sort of super perfect suit for me that has these sort of things incorperated right into them... here's hoping. *croses fingers* )

Wetsuits seem to be meant for water... go figure. How easily will these things tear and break?

Will they survive wooded, and rocky terrain? Could I be crawling or running through underbrush?

Could they withstand 6mm .2 gram BB's fired at 400 feet per second with ease and possibly offer me some protection from said BB's?

Will they insulate me at all? I understand that wetsuits use a layer of water to insulate but if I never get into the water will It be like running around in my underwear?

Will they survive prolonged friction? I will be wearing a vest of some sort over it and probably have a few pouches strapped to my legs. Aside from normal wear and tear will I be further damaging a wetsuit by wearing this stuff over top? (this stuff normally would be worn over standard BDU's and would do little to no noticable damage to them)

Second is modification and alteration:

There seems to be a shortage of Camoflauge Wetsuits and the ones I have seen are a little bright and tacky.

Would I be able to paint or dye a wetsuit?

Could I stitch on additional matterial? or are wetsuits rather risiliant to that sort of thing... what about Gluing. In airsoft it's not uncommon for people to glue netting onto their BDU's (to create Ghile suits) are there specific glues that do or don't work?

Third, are these something I can wear for the whole day with ease?

Am I going to heat up? Sweat? I'm sure I will regardless but will it effect the suit?

Can I use washroom facilities without stripping down every time?

My final concern is with which one would best fit my situation. Which suits are both flexible and durable? Are there any that maintain a matte black look all over or just lack large logos that I will need to cover?



Like I said. it's probably a rather unusual request but you guys know a lot more about this stuff than I do. So I come to you all for some help, advice, any input you all can offer would be awesome.

Thanks much for taking the time to read through this.
 
Ok dude.. just to let you know some facts about wetsuits..

first of all, they do not breathe at all.. if you are looking for freediving one, even less.. after some of your mentioned crwling and running in the bush with it you WILL BE BOILING out of your suit.. :waterwork

secondly if you decide against my honest advice to buy wetsuit they do make camo designs what ever you like.. but again.. dont buy a suit for running in the woods.. it will not be suitable for it, unless it is -20C and snowing outside.. :)

I would think you would be better off with surfing suit.. even that might be bit too air tight for your game.. ..

Best of luck

Pekka:)
 
Hi Jesse, I think Pekka it totally right, you'll be boiling after having the suit on for just 5-10 minutes... Let allone if you have to run and jump/crawl for cover.
I play pain(t)ball. And I only have stripped of my clothes to cool myself. I'm 1,89 m and weight only 70 KG, 6% fat. Ok, it was in the summer, 22C - 25C. I run arround in army pants, an army t-shirt, paintball gogles, tok, jungleheat, army boots and nothing more. The "pain" from the balls hitting me is getting less, it's more the scare that hurts. Having no protection helps to play fair as you know more certain you're hit :) Appart from faster movement it also adds to the adrinaline as you surely get scared if things work out not the way you've planned :D

If you want still some protection, go with gaggy clothes, with a water resistand thicker fabric. The air insite helps greatly.

And addjust you strategy if you're not so tough or nuts ;)
Sniping can be great fun especially when the victem doesn't know where it came from.

With us One hit means you're out, is it different with these BB games?

Having hardly any protection can also be pretty intimidating to your opponents :)

Good luck, and have fun!

Kars
 
Last edited:
Pekka and Kars are right, you will be boiling. Try and see if you have a friend that can lend you one just to run aound for a while. Just a couple of days ago I was a couple of hours in the water with a 3mm suit and I was hot.

Also I think that even a 5mm nylon outside suit would quickly rip or shred to peices if you have to do some crawling etc. I can't imagine any suit taking that sort of punishment and surviving. Perhaps you could look into black lycra body suits which you could paint or dye for camo. They might give you the same feel, be alot cooler and more resistant. My feeling is that you'ld be losing your money on a wetsuit.

Adrian
 
Just as well he did not ask about buying a dry suit!!!!!!
 
What you might want to look at, rather than a true "wetsuit" would be a tropical dive skin. They are typically nylon/lycra and are a full body suit, and can be had in plain black (no camo ones are available that I know of....but I am also not the "all knowing-all seeing" one.

They however are not terribly durable (the material is pretty much the same as "bike shorts"), but they are far, far less costly than a wetsuit.

The material would be cooler than a wetsuit as well......would still be hot on a hot day, but wearing clothes at all on a hot day is a bummer.... And you would have to strip pretty far down to use the restroom.

And you could wear whatever padding/protection you needed under it, with the exception of knee/elbow pads (look at the ones made by Blackhawk Industries), which you would want to wear over the suit to protect the high wear areas......
 
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT