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Shorty wetsuit with hood for freediving?

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Jakelol

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Mar 18, 2017
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Do anyone of you guys use a shorty wetsuit with hood for freediving?
I will be using this in warmer waters like in the Philippines and around the Mediterranean sea during summer times and warmer periods.
Is the shorty wetsuit with hood ok for this when i want some warmth but dont want to carry around a full wetsuit?

/Jakob
 
Or should i get something just like this?

8105A41.jpg
 
I have spearfished in a scuba overshorty in the UK................. in the summer obviously! :) A hood could be useful if your ears are temperamental to water retention etc, if not I think either of the styles you are talking about would work just fine (y)
 
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Thanks a lot guys for the answers it helped me a lot :)

Do you guys know of any short with long sleeves and hood? I have only seen shortys with short arms and hood.
 
A very thin suit, like a shorty, with a hood, is wonderful in tropical sun. I have an old, fallling apart, Riffe 1 mil, long sleeve shirt with hood. It has short pants to go with it that I seldom wear. I LOVE IT, but they don't make it anymore and I can't find anything else like it. If you find one, let me know.

The hood makes quite a difference in warmth. Even tropical water can feel cold after several hours and the hood helps with almost no bouyancy penalty. Its best feature is keeping the sun off. Something important about wearing a wetsuit in tropical sun is the ability to get it off quick once you are out of the water and back on easy when going back in.

The shorty pictured, asume 2 mil, will be more than plenty in the Phillipines, probably too much. I don't know the Med. Also slow to get on and off.
 
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I agree. Although we don't sell a shorty with a hood. It makes a lot of sense. Freedivers generally want to minimize the buoyancy swing associated with suit compression. So it often makes sense to wear as little (or as thin) of a wetsuit as possible - as long as it provides sufficient thermal protection.

A thin hood is quite effective at helping a diver retain heat and the hood itself is pretty much insignificant with respect to buoyancy (or compression). Wearing a hood gives you the biggest bang for your buck with respect to the trade off between warmth and buoyancy swing.

Some people dislike the feeling of a hood, others don't mind. A thin hood (say 2 mm ) is quite comfortable for a lot of people, provides some cushion for the mask straps over the ears and it also provides sun protection which is something all outdoor enthusiasts should take seriously.

We sell a variety of suits and lycra tops, bottoms and hoods which can be combined to provide sun, sting and thermal protection in warm water.
 
Let me bump this old thread because I am considering a Shorty wetsuit for free diving as well right now:

I typically only free dive (mostly snorkeling really) in summer in the Mediterranean Sea, with water temperatures around 26-28 Celsius (78-82 F). I don't use any kind of wetsuit and as long as I float around it's plenty warm. When I go down a couple of times (around 10m) it gets chilly but it is not unbearable.

End of October I will be for the first time hitting the Red Sea, and it seems that water temperature is comparable to Med. Sea in summer.

To be on the safe side I want to buy my first wetsuit, but I'm not sure if I should go for a shorty wetsuit or a thin free dive / full suit - something like 1.5-2mm?

Obvious pros of the Shorty would be price and less baggage but of course I want to avoid having to buy a full wetsuit in addition if the Shorty is mostly useless.

Any recommendations or experiences from your side?
 
i also do freedive/snorkel in the mediterranean (north spain) and just got myself a shorty for that. cressi altum 3mm, its great! i guess if you do "serious" freediving with long sessions and deep dives you will be better with a thin freedive suit. but if you do like me, fun dives near the shore with breaks on the beach inbetween (i usually dive around 30-45 min and then have break in the shore.) a good shorty should be enough. but as i said, prolonged sesions or slightly colder temperatures might need a proper suit.. im considering to get a hooded 2mm vest to wear under it for those cases, but can not tell you yet if it works;)
 
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i want to mention that i wear dive socks aswell. they keep my feets nice warm and i think without them i would get cold faster in the shorty or basicelly in any suit
 
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You could get a shorty without an attached hood and then just add a separate hood if you needed it. That's what I did when I lived in Hawaii.
 
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Thanks, very helpful!

I'm typically quite long in the water, 1.5hrs+, but as I said mostly just floating on the surface. I already wear 2.5mm socks, very comfy, mostly to have less strain in the foot pockets.

Good to know a hood is available separately or via a vest - I'll look into that.

Another advantage for me is that I guess the shorty will be more tolerant in terms of fit, as I don't have an option to try wetsuits locally (at least not freedive suits).
 
i think if you are kind of comfortable in those temperatures without any suit and only get slightly cold when descending the shorty will definitly be warm enough also for a longer period. and yes, i think it is much more easy to find a good fitting standart size shorty then freedive suit. another nice thing is, it doesnt take much space in the luggage and its easy to put on or take off.

i never dived in a thin freedive suit though, so i cant tell you much about that option. im only familiar to 5mm dobble lined suits by now.

if you worry about the good fit and comfort you could also get a custom made freedive suit. elios and polosub seem to be popular choices and they have options for different price classes.. like that you will know the ordered suit is gona fit you 100%

im in the process of ordering a elios suit myself. their variaty of neoprenes and styles is big and confusing for beginners but if you send them a email explaining in what environment you dive and what kind of diving you do they will make you a list of wetsuits which could be good for you. the prices are anywhere between 200 and 400 euro (at least the suits they have proposed for my use)
 
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i think if you are kind of comfortable in those temperatures without any suit and only get slightly cold when descending the shorty will definitly be warm enough also for a longer period. and yes, i think it is much more easy to find a good fitting standart size shorty then freedive suit. another nice thing is, it doesnt take much space in the luggage and its easy to put on or take off.

i never dived in a thin freedive suit though, so i cant tell you much about that option. im only familiar to 5mm dobble lined suits by now.

if you worry about the good fit and comfort you could also get a custom made freedive suit. elios and polosub seem to be popular choices and they have options for different price classes.. like that you will know the ordered suit is gona fit you 100%

im in the process of ordering a elios suit myself. their variaty of neoprenes and styles is big and confusing for beginners but if you send them a email explaining in what environment you dive and what kind of diving you do they will make you a list of wetsuits which could be good for you. the prices are anywhere between 200 and 400 euro (at least the suits they have proposed for my use)
Thanks again, and yeah, I have a custom suit on my radar, maybe for next year or when I can do more 'serious' freediving.

Thing is, I've worn a full wet suit once, during my freediving course. It keeps you super warm like a baby in the cradle, which helps for sure to increase 'level of relaxation' and thus reduce O2 consumption. But currently I don't have any plans to push my limits so I also don't see the necessity to go full wet suit.

As an alternative to the freedive shorty I found in the meantime thermal rashguards... So long sleeved neopren shirts, sort of the top of a wet suit (mostly sans hood though). I wonder what is the better option for me; however the selection of thermal rashguards is very limited, most of the models are mere sun/rash protection for surfing etc.
 
I will often wear a shorty with a separate hood in the spring and fall. Hood vs no hood with the shorty makes a difference in how long I feel warm in the water by about 1 hour.
 
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dont know much about thermal rash guards, but generally rash guards are more for sun and scratch protection and i think they are not made from neoprene. i would rather go for a traditional shorty.. regarding trying the suit before buying: why dont you order it online through a website with good return policy? if im not sure about sizes or quality, i order couple of them on amazon and try them, they are quite customer friendly. though scubastore is more cheap and i suppose you can also return items, but i dont know their detailed policy
 
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