Wetsuit for beginner

[huetan]

I really enjoyed the freediving experience in Hawaii (literally skin diving) and would like to freedive here in CA but the water here is a bit cold. Should I buy a dedicated freedive wetsuit instead of using my SCUBA suit? I have a 7mm wetsuit that is great for SCUBA diving in California. How much better will a freedive suit improve my diving?

Thanks for your help

 

[Whopperhead]

huetan - a "Freediving" open cell (interior) will make a HUGE difference! Here in Wisconsin, we know all about cold water- we mostly wear 5mil open cell suits- and this suit is good in waters 70 degrees and less. I've even been in water 29 degrees for a couple hours and got out because my toes were cold- not my body. There are LOTS of suits to choose from - I would suggest you talk to 'JIMDOE2YOU'- send him a PM and tell him you are looking for a 5mil open cell- he'll give you a great deal!

one note: What kind of diving do you plan on doing? Strictly freediving or spearfishing?

 

[huetan]

Whopperhead-Thank you for responding. I would like to do some spearfishing eventually. Right now, I just want to freedive, relax and cruise around without a heavy tank. I don't think my time of 30 sec is good enough for spearfishing, and I don't want to take the risk of pushing it aggressively. Do you think that replacing the scuba suit with a more flexible 5 mm freedive suit will improve my bottom time?

 

[Whopperhead]

lots of things out there can improve your bottom time- nothing more than a freediving class. A good Freediving class is priceless and you would improve like you would never of imagined.

A good suit will make you comfortable and allow you to have a better breath hold- possibly.

 

[ILDiver]

The open cell suit will keep you warm longer and allow you to stay in the water longer. It may not directly help your bottom time, but it will help in comfort, which in turn can help you bottom time. One big thing to help with comfort in the water too (besides the class which should be at the top of anyones list imo), find a buddy! There are a fair number of CA divers on DB here.

Good luck with the diving and stay safe!

 

[cdavis]

I'm going to disagree with some of my partners in. . . (crime?). A 5 mil freediving suit will require so much less lead than you are using and be so much more comfortable that your dive times should go up dramaticly. Of course, a good buddy"s a necessity and a good course will have even better effects

I'm assuming you are diving southern California, where a 5 mil suit should be fine, and warmer than most 7 mil scuba suits. Fit is extremely important in freediving suits. If you body shape is pretty average to slightly heavy, an off the shelf suit should work fine. Get some good advice from JimDoe on that. Not all suits fit the same and he knows the difference. If you are very skinny(like me) or otherwise don't fit the norm, a custom Elios or similar is what you want. JimDoe might have a killer deal, but otherwise a custom suit will probably not cost any more than a good off the shelf suit.

Good luck shopping.

Connor

 

[ILDiver]

Well put Connor. I just don't like to put to much emphasis on how much equipment will help, since everyone has a different view of what's important. If you have a good local shop with freedive gear, support them with your buisness.

 

[cdavis]

Ahh, but its so much fun to believe that the next (expensive) piece of gear will turn us into the worlds best freediver. Oh well, I know that's balony, but its still such a nice vision.

Then again there are a few things that can make a big difference. I vividly remember the first day I tried long fins even though it was over 25 years ago, what a difference! And, its not been but a couple of years ago that I experienced a real freediving suit. It still amazes me when that icy trickle down the back of the neck fails to materialize.

Point very well taken on the local shop, extremely valuable in ways hard to explain. Wish there was such a thing around here.

Connor

 

[ILDiver]

That was not a jab at Jim from me, he is a good and knowledgable source for equipment. If you can buy local, it helps to touch the stuff before you buy and it keeps the local shop open. I just believe in buying local first. If you can't find the quality you want locally, contact Jim for sure. For me though, not many of my nitch hobbies are supported here! I don't know why I'm still in this state!

This was my 1000th post.... I feel so.... old

 

[huetan]

ILDiver, Connor - Thanks. My local shops are much more focused on Scuba. Picasso has a distributor about 2 hrs from my place but its hours are tough for me to visit them. I do a lot of shore dives (scuba) wearing thick boots and open heel fins to hike to the water and deal with rocky entries. Mask volume is not an issue for scuba (at least not for me). I currently use a cheapo mask&snorkel combo from Costco and it works just fine.

Mask, snorkel and fins will have to change for better freediving. I wasn't sure about wetsuit. The guy at my local dive shop says scuba suit is fine for freediving. This shop doesn't carry any freedive suits. I thought I would get a second opinion.

If I understand you guys correctly, a 5mm freedive suit gives the same or better thermal protection (for freediving) than a 7mm scuba suit. That's definitely a plus. Thanks also for recommending Jim.

 

[ILDiver]

Yes, you understand correct. I dive with Whopperhead and some other guys up in Wisconsin. We go out in water that is 32 degrees. Some consider that cold Scuba suits are not near as warm. With the nylon on the inside, the water flushes through a lot.

Mask and snorkel are all a preference. The masks with smaller volume are easier to equilize with the little bit of air you take down with you. Long fins will be a big jump in diving. We take floats, so we wear sandles or similar (Whopperhead wears Crocs, but he is a little odd) and tie them off to the floats while we dive. That way we have hard soles to walk to the water.

Good luck and dive safe!

 

[Whopperhead]

We take floats, so we wear sandles or similar (Whopperhead wears Crocs, but he is a little odd) and tie them off to the floats while we dive. That way we have hard soles to walk to the water.

by "odd" he means: Really, REALLY COOL!

 

[ILDiver]

by "odd" he means: Really, REALLY COOL!

Keep telling yourself that, if it helps you sleep better! Is it extra cool if you break the strap on one of them? :hmm

 

[cdavis]

me thinks there is a story here.

 

[ILDiver]

Nah, not story really. I told him I din't really car for crocs and he started to cry. I had to spend the next hour apologizing to him. While we were in Florida in April he broke the strap on one, so I took the shot at his weak spot

Plus any little thing we can find to pick on eachother with, we do

 

[Whopperhead]

by "pick on eachother" he means= I throughly enjoy verbally abusing whopperhead and like to be-little him, I kicked his dog once and it made me smile.

ILDiver is a very cruel person.

ANYWAYS.........................Yeah- buy a 5mil Freediving suit, buy local, but your local SCUBA usually don't know squat about FREEDIVING- ELIOS, OMER, Beuchat, Picasso, Oceaner, Diveskin make open cell freediving suits.

For the record......My crocs are going strong- strapless, but strong.

 

[Silentspear]

What do you guys think about the Apnea Usa KelpKamo suit?

Product Detail

 

[ILDiver]

It looks like a nice suit. I've never used one though. I have not heard of the rubber they say theirs is made of I did a quick search of DB, but Apnea and Wetsuit as key words brings up a lot of extra threads.

The Gat-Ku polespear on that site gets great reviews. Makes me think the owner knows his stuff, so you may call him and ask questions about how these suits fit in general to body types. I'm guessing if they are selling them they will tell you they are great suits.

If you do get one, use it for about 5-10 dives and give us a review!

 

[Silentspear]

I tried one on and it's a little big but should should be good for at least 2 years!!!

Gonna get it soon. Around like 2-3 weeks. My dad want's to see I'm dedicated to the sport... lol

 

[cdavis]

Remember, fit is critical. If it is big, its likely to leak and you will be a cold camper until you grow into it. The rubber on good suits is very stretchy, so you can often tolerate a little small.

Connor