new to freediving need wetsuit advice, thank you!

Bill McIntyre said:

My recommendation is to get a custom suit from Polosub. I have short legs, long torso, huge head so I really need custom suits but even "normal" people seldom get a perfect fit with off-the-rack suits. I bought 5.5 mm and 3.5 mm suits from Polosub and they fit perfectly. I went too a dive shop in SoCal that sold the suits and let them measure me and place the order but I know that others take their own measurements and order directly.

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Polosub kindly sent samples of their materials to me before I started the custom fitting process, and sad to say, but they are too strong smelling for me (chemical). So I'm back to trying to fit a different brand pre-sized. Or are their other companies that do custom fit that might be more chem-off-gas-free? C4 is supposed to be low/no-fume so I may try one of theirs to see if it fits... Thanks Bill and others on this thread for the help!!

Shannon R said:

Polosub kindly sent samples of their materials to me before I started the custom fitting process, and sad to say, but they are too strong smelling for me (chemical). So I'm back to trying to fit a different brand pre-sized. Or are their other companies that do custom fit that might be more chem-off-gas-free? C4 is supposed to be low/no-fume so I may try one of theirs to see if it fits... Thanks Bill and others on this thread for the help!!

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As an update. I ended up getting a C4 Siderol 5mm suit. First got the pants/trousers portion then finally the top (took weeks to arrive). The bottoms are perfect but the top, while it fits well overall, is leaking a ton of water at the bottom part of it I think because it has the snap enclosure and doesn't seal off well. It also has excess material down there so doesn't fit well in the crotch region. Also the hood could be better as when I dive, the deeper I go the pressure pushes the bottom part off my chin and then a lot of (cold) water comes in.

Since I'm new to this, I am wondering how much water ingress is normal/expected for a well-fitting suit? I feel like it should be better than this. I still have this other top (3mm) that fits much better at the bottom and lets in a lot less water there but the hood is useless, just pushes right off when diving (I've kept it for other sports since it was a good price). So I know it can let less water in if it fits better. But what I understand from all of your posts is that if you don't get a custom-tailored one then this is the result. It wasn't too bad diving in it yesterday (first trial with it) because the water that leaked in eventually warmed up well, but still a bit annoying with all the sloshing around and bubbles.

I'd definitely prefer a better fit, but that would mean the trade-off for something that is stinkier smelling in terms of chemicals. So I may be stuck with the poor fit for now because I don't see how going down a size will work because it fits so snuggly otherwise (the C4). I may just have to see if the material samples I got from Polosub off-gas enough for me over time and then try for a properly fitted top with them. If I do, I think I may need a 7mm, not just the 5mm. 5mm is great for temps right now (in the upper 60s) but I am hoping to use it in 50s temps, maybe even upper 40s. What do others use for those temps on here?

Thank you all!

Bill McIntyre said:

With a custom suit I get just about zero ingress of water. That's why I strongly recommended a custom suit. Of course you seem to have very special needs regarding off gassing and I can't opine on the tradeoffs between suits that fit and trying different stock suits until you find one that fits, if ever.

For those water temperatures I would definitely need a 7 mm suit. In the winter in SoCal a lot of us were 7 mm suits. From the start of the conversation I thought anyone in the Pacific NW would need a a 7 mm, but as I recall you seemed to think that thinner would be OK.

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Thanks Bill!

Right, I thought I could do thinner because I have been using 5mm wetsuits all year up in very Northern Cali (near Oregon) for surfing (down to 45 degrees), and I thought I'd mostly be diving in the river (which gets to 70 in the summer) and I understood there should be less water ingress in freediving suits (since it seems that's what they claim in their ads and why they are designed as they are), so thought it should be warmer than my loose, zippered surf wetsuit that definitely lets cold water in when submerged.

Thanks for the reminder of your recommendation for the 7mm. (I admit I forgot, been a lot to take all this in, for all the new gear.). I hear you on having to determine trade-offs myself then with the off-gassing issue. As you say it needs to fit (custom or not) to work properly.

So, it's good to know that there should be very little water ingress, if any! I wasn't quite sure how much to expect. I'm hoping the Polosub might not be as bad as I first thought when I got those samples. It seems like they already smell better and I haven't even tried washing them yet. So I'm holding out some hope on that front.

Thanks again!