Thikness of Wetsuit and Buoyancy

[cal]

Hi there,

I'm thinking about buying a wetsuit for freediving with my new monofin. I used to freedive with stereo fins in the swiss lakes. In summertime they are quite Warm (20 to 25 Celsius on top) but as you go deeper the temparature falls quickly to 15° or below. So it's not too much fun going realy deep and I used to freeze there a lot or keept myself closer to the surface.

For SCUBA this is not a problem, take an 8mm and some lead an it'll work fine with buoyancy using your stabilizer.

I'm not sure how to handle this with while freediving. The foamy neoprene will make al lot of lift on the surface wich I could egalize with lead, too. But the deeper I go, the less lift the suit will produce and the lead starts pulling a lot. For a 3mm suit this wont' be too much, I guess. But what about (a warmer) 5mm suit?

How do you compensate? What do you think in gerenral about the thickness? Have I missed something on this particular topic or is it considered "normal" to have a lot of drag towards the ground?

Thanks for some hints aout this.

Greetings, Michael

 

[Vov]

Hi, Michael
... It's highly personal.... As you go down the numerous bubbles of ANY suit shrink and your bouyancy goes from + through 0 to - ... The thicker and softer the suit the more negative you become.... And your lungs shrink also. And the lead stays the same.
I can say how I handle this:
1. My bouyancy on the surface is such, that I can easily breathe with only slightly moving my legs.
2. Nevertheless at depths more than 10 m I get rather negative and have to spend additional effirts to start moving upwords
3. So one day I decided I can use a lightweight, 10 to 14 mm hose connected to my belt and to the buoy.
4. I also pump some additional pressure in this hose so it preserves its volume at depth.
5. Thus the deeper I go the more hose I get down, and the more lift it creates PARTIALLY countering the loss of bouyancy.

6. ... I would like to use a monofin but I find it a bit dangerous, because of the lack of maneouverability at and near the bottom where I go spearfishing...
Greetings

 

[apneaboy]

Hi Cal. I dive in a 3mm Elios suit in summer and a 5mm in winter (and winter winter with an extra 1.5mm vest). 15 degrees c at the bottom... mmmm toasty

In fresh water i use 1.25kg for the 3mm
In fresh water i use 2.5kg for the 5mm

I can comfortably breath on the surface without moving and i am still positive, i am neutral between 12-14 metres and start sinking about 20-25m for both suits. Being negative any earlier makes the way up a long way up and any problems your buddy has a harder job especially if you let out air. Vov is right it is a personal decision and your size and muscle density, fat percentage etc will probably make you different from me.

For scuba where the dive is mainly spent at the coldest temp i needed a much thicker suit and a lot more weight because i need to be neutral shallower but with freediving you can warm back up on the surface. For freediving the thinner the suit you can get away with and be comfy still the better for many reasons.

Vov i dont quite understand about this hose situation you have going on? Are you adding air from a compressed air source to a wetsuit on the way down and letting the seals keep the air in?

One option would be rather than add buoyancy at the bottom is to have a weight at the surface attached to a line to take you down initially then let go of it so that on the way up you will still have guarenteed buoyancy rather than air in your suit which can be lost unless i've misunderstood.

 

[cal]

Hi apneaboy and Vov

Hope you had a good Christmas (or are going to have one .

Thanks for your replies. After reading and reasoning a little bit I think a 3mm would do for Water Temperatures arround 15° Celsius. Would you agree wit this interpretation?

I was having an eye at the elois suits for a while which, after reading yours and some others postings, seem to be a good joice. Have you ordered directly at elios? Would you go with a standard off-the-shelf suit or rather have one made to measure? The website at elios is quite confusing. Do they have different suits for Freediving or is the Freedown suit "the one" Freediving suit Free diving - Apnea one should choose? (I'm not into spearfishing, so I don't need a camouflage suit). (Sorry for my last question as it may be a little stupid...)

@Vov: I don't understand you special procedure with the hose.

Greetings, Michael

 

[apneaboy]

Made to measure for sure !!! . The cost of Elios suits still make worth it.

I have a freedown but since then some materials have been added. Ask Elios for some advice and tell them specifically your needs and aspirations they can advise.

Thickness is personal preference but the more i dive the quicker i can get into diving mode so can get away with a thinner suit. You could always buy a different thickness top seperate later on if you have some spare cash.

Hope you had a good xmas mine was good, thanks ;-)