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Wetsuit advice for Southern UK

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A

apeogre

Active Member
May 11, 2010
44
3
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I'm moving there next year, and plan on continuing my spearing hobby. I currently live in the tropical pacific where I usually use a 1.5 or 3mm suit. Am I going to need a 7mm wetsuit or will a 5mm suffice?
 
5mm is fine for 9 months, then you might need an extra 2-3mm vest in January - March.
 
foxfish said:
5mm is fine for 9 months, then you might need an extra 2-3mm vest in January - March.
Click to expand...

That's a lot warmer than I thought it was going to be. How Lon do you usually hang out before you get cold?
 
The sea in the south of England is about 18c at the moment but it will be a bit cooler in the north, in the winter months the sea will drop to about 9c where I live.
Some guys dive all year around in 5mm suits but I get cold in anything below about 11-12 c.
My average dive is two hours but loads of folk dive for 4 +
 
18C? That's quite nice! Any suggestion on gun sizes? I've got a riffe 3x and 0. And a couple of Crist pole spears.
 
Well I live in the channel islands, they are the most southerly part of the UK.
A single band 75 & 90 are the most popular guns, night diving is popular too so a pole spear might well be useful for that!

 
apeogre said:
I'm moving there next year, and plan on continuing my spearing hobby. I currently live in the tropical pacific where I usually use a 1.5 or 3mm suit. Am I going to need a 7mm wetsuit or will a 5mm suffice?
Click to expand...

Its not the water its the air/wind in winter went getting out. I love my 7mm :t
just drive home in your wetsuit
 
No no - JKS doesn't go diving in his 7mm he just drives around with it on
 
I'm sure that's a great way to keep warm if you've got a jeep or a miata.
What are some species to shoot at night time?
 
Night diving is most popular in the darker months! From November until March it gets dark very early, around 5pm in December.
Some folk consider night diving very unsporting & maybe it is - but night diving will put fish on the table for sure!
All the main species are caught but there are others that only really come out at night like sole, squid & red mullet.
You need a decent light, there are hundreds of pages of info on this forum about what is needed....
 
I've got plenty of experience night spearing. It's easy to get parrot fish down here at night time along with most other reef fish. But nighttime, here in the tropics will bring out a completely different group of fish.
I lived in the UK for 4 years, but no where near the ocean, unfortunately. I can't wait to get back!
 
Is a 7mm wetsuit ok to wear in the summer aswell? Id rater be to hot then to cold?
 
5mm is best, 7mm will need a lot more wieght & you might be far to hot if swimming hard or when walking up & down the beach!
You want to be as mobile & unrestricted as possible when spearfishing but obviously you dont want to be cold - guys dive under ice in 5mm suits!
you can wear a 2-3mm under vest if really necessary!!!
 
I certainly prefer being warm. It's getting a bit chilly here in the pacific. I'll be hanging my 1.5 here in a few weeks. 3mil here I come.
 
I love my 6mm suit. I had a 5mm which was good from April to Late October but the 6mm is good for most of the year except very warm summer days. Even then it's OK if I pull the jacket occasionally and let a bit of water flush through.
I should add that I'm pretty skinny at 6'2" and 70Kg so have no natural insulation.
 
5mm is plenty warm enough for me year round. I have high waisted spearo pants - you might prefer to get a long-style pant (sometimes called "Farmer John" in the US I believe ). That'll give you an extra 5mm of neoprene thickness over your core/chest (10mm in total!). I reckon that would probably be enough to compensate for the tropical difference. We typically wear neoprene gloves and booties too (spearo suits with hoods too, of course) - 2mm super-stretch neoprene gloves can be a bit chilly in winter, so you might prefer a thicker glove.

The south coast water temperature is supposedly moderated by the Gulf Stream, so it doesn't get super cold.
 
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