Wetsuits for tall, scrawny kids like me!

[wannabespearo]

Hello all,

I am entirely new to spearfishing and am beginning the process of researching and buying equipment. I will be diving in southern california (LA and Orange Counties) and am at the moment looking for a wetsuit. I have heard the best things about OMER, Picasso, etc... but am concerned about fitting. I am about 6'3" and only 165 lbs. I am unfamiliar with specific sizes, as well as what mil is sufficient for these waters.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Mullins]

I'm a tall scrawny bugger too. I've owned both picasso and omer suits, and they are indeed well-made, but they didn't fit me very well at all. I recently bought a custom fitted elios suit and it's infinitely better, for my weird body shape anyway. It's the first suit I've owned that's actually fitted me properly. Given a custom elios is actually cheaper in this neck of the woods (New Zealand) than a decent off-the-rack picasso, the choice is fairly obvious. On the other hand, for those with 'standard' sized bodies there probably isn't much in it.

 

[wannabespearo]

thanks for the prompt reply,

I suppose what I need to do is just try some on first hand. Is there anyone out there from the southern california area that can recommend some good dive shops to check out? or some sizes and brands that would work for me?

 

[Erik]

You're going to need a custom suit, guaranteed. Elios will build you one and ship it for less that the price of a Picasso in the US. A loose suit means you will be cold quickly, especially on the West Coast. You will need a 5mm suit: no lining inside, nylon outside, Heiwa medium density is the preferred build. You can add a vest for winter diving.
Peace,
Erik Y.

 

[Roan]

What he said. Try M&B Custom wetsuits; they are in So Cal. Or Elios. If budget is a concern, try Spiros.
But with your build, don't waste time or money trying off-the-rack suits.

 

[wannabespearo]

wetsuit update:

I went to M&B and it was a little (a lot) more than I wanted to spend. I actually tried on an omer size 5 and it fit well. Im going out on my first dive tomorrow. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for the help guys.