Occasional freediving & scuba - Semidry or apnea suit?

[Dave S]

I need a new wetsuit that will be used occasionally for freediving and scuba (as I normally use a drysuit for scuba, and don't freedive all that often) in temperature ranges of around 12-20°C. So I'm after something tough enough to withstand being worn with dive gear as well as rocky shore entries, and don't really need some super low friction competition suit, or anything like that.

The two options I'm considering are an Elios-sub freediving suit, or a locally made 7mm scuba semidry wetsuit (rear waterproof zip, like the Mares Isotherm, etc).

Being tall and thin, I'd need to get the suit custom made (which Elios do already), or in the case of the semidry, possibly get an off-the-shelf model and wear a (open cell?) vest underneath it. However I think a 7mm suit with an extra 3mm underneath might need a lot of weight to sink. For this reason I'm currently leaning towards the Elios. Also, the custom semidry would cost me a bit under $700AUD (430Euro, $510USD), which I think is more expensive than an Elios...

I'd also prefer something that isn't a nightmare to get on, and ideally doesn't require lubing up beforehand. But maybe the advantages of such a suit would outweight the effort required to get into it.

So does anyone have any recommendations? Scuba suit or freediving suit? And if the latter, what sort of materials/linings from Elios should I consider?

Thanks!

 

[bruno]

hey dave,

scubadiving with a 5mm apnea wetsuit is very OK (in Belgium water in summer is also 12 to 20°C) Be sure to take 5mm with nylon OUTSIDE and open cell inside (for warmth). Nylon outside will protect your suit much more than smoothskin. In did about 20 scubadives that way (i'm an occasional scubadiver) an I never had any cold nor other problems.

Nevertheless, be aware that your suit will suffer a lot more than if you were only freediving (because you are staying much longer at a higher pressure, neoprene will use up much faster).

freediving with a scubasuit will ruin your pleasure, and you'll give up freediving very soon.

bruno

 

[immerlustig]

i'd go for for the elios anytime. half price, better quality. maybe you want to consider a suit with full pants (warmer on the upper body). to get in easier theycan also puta zip in somewhere. i was contemplating a suit like that once with a zip in the front from the bottom edge of the jacket half way up the chest. that's long enough to get into the jacket easier and still short enough for not much water going in. and you would still wear the pants. tailor made the suit will be warmer than a semidry anyway.
if you use it a lot for scuba you can have highdensity neoprene as well. as has been mentioned you need a nylon coating on the outside to protect against cuts. i use a 5mm elios for over 3 years now and it's still in excellent condition (apart from having lost some buoyancy).
you can always contact elios with your ideas and they usually are quite quick with a reply and generally very helpful.

roland

 

[Fondueset]

I'm diving in about 3C / 36-38f in my elios 5mm.