Wetsuits

[mirror]

I have for some time had cressi technica 5 mm wetsuits and have found them OK ( not really compared to much else ) I am soon to require a new suit and whilst recently in a surf shop looked at the suits on offer .... and must say I was very impressed with the quality of top of the range wetsuits , Xcel drylocks and O neill pschofreaks etc etc with or without attattched hoods , and they have many great features and are used by surfers in very cold conditions ( Scandinavia , and Pacific NW USA ) and am tempted to buy one . Now I know that spearos and open cell suits are the standard thing but was wondering why ??? where is the proof that open cell is more suited to spearfishing ? or superior in any way ?. I only dive 5-10 metres most of the time and during a typical session spend most of the time at the surface , it appears to me that the surf industry is far larger and more competitive and innovative than the spearo industry and has made great advances in technology etc etc where the spearo industry has not , surf suits are available off the peg locally ( I hate mail order !!) has any one used newer surf suits for spearfishing and how have you got on and would you recommend one ??

 

[Brochman]

Hi, Mirror what you have to take into consideration when purchasing a wetsuit is the type of neoprene it is made out of as some e.g Triathlon and probably surfing wetsuits are made of neoprene that has more buoyancy so enabling you to swim on the surface easier than a diving wetsuit.
An open cell spearfishing wetsuit is actually more buoyant than a closed cell wetsuit (depending on what neoprene it is made out of) so will require more weight on your belt.
A new closed cell wetsuit will be more bouyant than one that is a couple of years old so require more weight on your belt.
I personally use a used 7mm Pinnacle Polar merino lined semi-dry suit and before that i had a used Oceanic Shadow semi-dry suit for spearfishing. The semi-dry keeps me warm in the waters near Scandinavia and is less bouyant than the traditional yet more fragile open cell suit so less weight on my belt required which means i don't need to use as much energy when diving,less energy spent means my body keeps warmer so i am less likely to get Hypothermia.
When surfing you are constantly moving so generating heat, when spearfishing you are moving slowly stalking your prey so generating less heat so you need a suit that is going to keep you warm or you are going to get cold quickly and increase the chance of Hypothermia.
Here are a couple of links explaining different types of Neoprene's and what suit they are used for. The first is from this site and the second is from another site but worth a read. Stretchy wetsuits seem to be the range at the moment but if you hold a wool jumper up to the light and stretch it gently you will see more light come through as the wool thins with stretch so will loose a lot of its its insulation if worn that way. The same is to be said for stretchable neoprene.
https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/wetsuit-neoprene-the-real-deal-a-guide.73832/
http://university.trisports.com/2016/03/28/choosing-a-wetsuit-buoyancy-is-not-everything/

 

[Pinniped72]

I have used an O'Neill epic 5/3, no were near top of the range I know, for everything from surfing to diving and it was a brilliant investment, bought it in 2012 and still going strong.................. however it is colder than my 5mm open cell Cressi by a long way. I need a LT (large tall) suit which most the surf companies do, try and find the same in a spearo/freedive suit, you will be very hard pressed to find an off the peg LT. The freediving/spearfishing suit companies need to learn from the surf industry for sure in many ways but diving and spearfishing suits will keep you warmer than a surf suit, horses for courses. I have dived in a Cressi 5mm overshorty only in a uk summer and it was fun, imagined I was in the med or something.................. got damn cold though! If you plum for a surf suit though, I can vouch for O'Neill, they're bomb proof, mines been truely used and abused and still useable, tough as old boots!

 

[mirror]

Hi, Mirror what you have to take into consideration when purchasing a wetsuit is the type of neoprene it is made out of as some e.g Triathlon and probably surfing wetsuits are made of neoprene that has more buoyancy so enabling you to swim on the surface easier than a diving wetsuit.
An open cell spearfishing wetsuit is actually more buoyant than a closed cell wetsuit (depending on what neoprene it is made out of) so will require more weight on your belt.
A new closed cell wetsuit will be more bouyant than one that is a couple of years old so require more weight on your belt.
I personally use a used 7mm Pinnacle Polar merino lined semi-dry suit and before that i had a used Oceanic Shadow semi-dry suit for spearfishing. The semi-dry keeps me warm in the waters near Scandinavia and is less bouyant than the traditional yet more fragile open cell suit so less weight on my belt required which means i don't need to use as much energy when diving,less energy spent means my body keeps warmer so i am less likely to get Hypothermia.
When surfing you are constantly moving so generating heat, when spearfishing you are moving slowly stalking your prey so generating less heat so you need a suit that is going to keep you warm or you are going to get cold quickly and increase the chance of Hypothermia.
Here are a couple of links explaining different types of Neoprene's and what suit they are used for. The first is from this site and the second is from another site but worth a read. Stretchy wetsuits seem to be the range at the moment but if you hold a wool jumper up to the light and stretch it gently you will see more light come through as the wool thins with stretch so will loose a lot of its its insulation if worn that way. The same is to be said for stretchable neoprene.
https://forums.deeperblue.com/threads/wetsuit-neoprene-the-real-deal-a-guide.73832/
http://university.trisports.com/2016/03/28/choosing-a-wetsuit-buoyancy-is-not-everything/

Many thanks for the reply Brochman , I am surprised to hear you dive in a semi dry suit .....I am sure on another thread some time ago the consensus was that it could not be done due to pinching of skin and bouyancy problems !! Thanks for the links but 1 is 10 years old but useful info from people who seem to know their stuff though . But I am most curious as to why , if open cell is warmer why is it not used by other sports ...surfing , diving etc ?

 

[mirror]

I have used an O'Neill epic 5/3, no were near top of the range I know, for everything from surfing to diving and it was a brilliant investment, bought it in 2012 and still going strong.................. however it is colder than my 5mm open cell Cressi by a long way. I need a LT (large tall) suit which most the surf companies do, try and find the same in a spearo/freedive suit, you will be very hard pressed to find an off the peg LT. The freediving/spearfishing suit companies need to learn from the surf industry for sure in many ways but diving and spearfishing suits will keep you warmer than a surf suit, horses for courses. I have dived in a Cressi 5mm overshorty only in a uk summer and it was fun, imagined I was in the med or something.................. got damn cold though! If you plum for a surf suit though, I can vouch for O'Neill, they're bomb proof, mines been truely used and abused and still useable, tough as old boots!

Thanks for the reply and info / opinion ..... I am sure modern surf suits 6/5/4 mm must be very warm indeed just watch a few you tube videos of surfing in very northern climes they must also be very resistant to flushing also ....It is my understanding that it is the thickness of neoprene that with its trapped air bubbles that provides insulation , but I cannot understand why open cell is warmer , if indeed it is and if so, why is it not used in surf suits ( I am pretty sure it was some time ago , but they have moved on to presumably better things ) and scuba suits ... I do not really feel the type of diving I do is much different in its demands of a suit than a Boogie boarder for instance . I am in the UK just for any ones info !!

 

[Pinniped72]

An open cell wetsuit is warmer because the open cell creates a real close connection to your skin and reduces flushing massively. Its not used in surfing suits because it is fragile, hence most spearo suits being open on the inside, with a nylon covering on the outside. A decent surf suit in the thickness you are talking about will probably do, there are no rules that everyone has to stick to, as a guide my 5/3 O'Neill was good for 1.5 hours of diving in 9 degree centigrade water whilst I could bodyboard for as long as I wanted to in the same water. My surf suit however had no hood and is a "beginner" suit. I am tall and have a large surface area for my mass but am quite tolerant of cold water. Good luck with it all, if you do get the surf suit, please do give us an update, the collective knowledge is all we have

 

[103Alex1]

The biggest issue I have with surf suits is flushing - I've had a load of them including some of the more expensive ones. The only one I have which doesn't (too much) is an Oneill where the chest zip piece is so tight round my neck that my veins pop out when I do it up - it's perfect everwhere else. No back zip suit I've ever tried is robust to flushing especially through a range of arm movements which nicely open up a weakness in contact at the top of the suit, above the small of my back as shoulders move, where water inevitably gets in regularly. Duck diving always led to an icy flush no matter how much was spent on fancy design and expensive neoprene !

Really, if you're going to dive a 2-piece wetsuit with integrated hood is by far the best way to go imo... if your surfing suit flushes when you dive (big issue) or your suit zips are weak against ingress (less of a problem unless a long dive) you will get colder faster in cooler months, not because of the spec of your suit but because of the bits of the suit which don't do the job you want them to. "Sticky open cell" neoprene, if the 2-piece suit fits well, gives a relatively warm solution. Getting in and out of them without damaging the inside (especially in the cold) is quite another matter

 

[mirror]

Many thanks for the replies and information / opinion / experience .....the surf suits that I was considering have built in hoods and the chest entry system .... however some say these can be hard work getting in and out of , especially when cold and tired .....still undecided and will try to speak to few winter surfers before committing to a purchase , as I said I have no real problem with my Cressi suit but was just exploring other possibilities ....also the surf suits are double the cost of a Spearo one ...

 

[Brochman]

My suit has a hood and chest entry and i found it a lot better than a back entry suit as i can see if the zip is closed before getting into the water rather than with the back entry zip i was not aware if it was closed properly or not until i got into the sea and felt cold water trickling down my spine brrrr lol . Wax the zip regularly and you can use a nylon dog leash (Nylon being easier to grip when wet than metal ) to open it (a trick i learnt for closing and opening a rear entry drysuit by myself) just clip it on to the zip eye and pull. You can easily shorten the leash if you need to. Really you should not be diving to the extent that you are to cold and tired to take off your suit as you are pushing things towards the danger level.

 

[Brochman]

Many thanks for the reply Brochman , I am surprised to hear you dive in a semi dry suit .....I am sure on another thread some time ago the consensus was that it could not be done due to pinching of skin and bouyancy problems !! Thanks for the links but 1 is 10 years old but useful info from people who seem to know their stuff though . But I am most curious as to why , if open cell is warmer why is it not used by other sports ...surfing , diving etc ?

Personally i have never had a semi dry suit pinch my skin but yes they can cause buoyancy problems if your Semidry is a good fit with good seals it can trap air as you put it on so you just push the trapped air upwards and release the air out of the neck etc like you would with a Drysuit and it aint a problem no more.