Wettie Wetsuit Wonders!

Wetties, steamers, shorties, farmer John's, farmer Jane's, springsuits, stingersuits, semi-dry, OH MY! Which wetsuit is right for me? Well, first you must ask yourself some questions about the diving you will be doing. What will the water temperature be and what is the environment (i.e. shipwreck, corals, jellyfish present?). It is also important to know what your cold/heat sensitivity is. I personally wear a wetsuit of some sort even in the warm Caribbean! There are alot of different types of wetsuits out there as you can tell from those I mentioned above. I will touch on the very basics of temperature and which wetsuit but a lot of it is trial and error over time and knowing yourself and your diving style.

Wetsuits are designed for thermal protection, but can also be helpful in minimizing cuts/abrasions you may get from a shipwreck or even a sting. The amount of protection a 'wettie' (Australian for wetsuit) offers depends on its thickness, or millimeter (mm) as we refer to it, or mil' for short. Some suits such as a basic stinger or skin suit are just made of lycra and are basically just thin suits and aren't measured by thickness. Many folks wear these in the warm water or waters where they may encounter jellyfish or even fire coral. It's a balancing act between having a wetsuit thick enough to provide you with the necessary thermal protection while at the same time giving you flexibility so as not to contribute to the 'fatigue factor'. If you are on the fence about what mil' to get, choose a thicker version; you may lose some flexibility but it's easier to cool down in a thicker wetsuit than to warm up in one not thick enough. In any situation that is not ideal (too tired, cold or hot), end the dive! There will always be another day to dive!

So what are wetsuits anyway? Here's the quick-explanation-version: There are two basic types of neoprene: oil-derived and limestone-derived. Both of these types have a pretty negative impact on the environment (although there are a couple of wetsuit companies that are producing neoprene-free wetsuits to try and lessen the carbon footprint on the environment). The basic premise for making a neoprene wetsuit is that whatever base compound is chosen (from oil-derived or limestone-derived) it is melted down, infused with air bubbles, and baked into a block of neoprene foam. Later this foam is sliced into whatever thickness is needed (i.e. 2mm, 5mm, 7mm, etc). After the slicing, other processes are used, such as gluing/laminating other materials to the suit to make it softer or even warmer and also to protect the suit from UV and Ozone. It is then cut and shaped into the final wetsuit.

An important feature of neoprene are the air bubbles I mentioned above. There are thousands of enclosed nitrogen air pockets (microscopic bubbles) that are in the neoprene foam. Remember the physics section of your SCUBA class about air spaces? Well, the gas bubbles in your wetsuit compress in the same way as the air spaces in your lungs, mask, etc. As you dive deeper the bubbles compress (remember Boyle's Law), which makes you less bouyant (remember Archimedes Principle), and also because of the compression you lose some of your thermal protection because your wetsuit is essentially thinner now. As you begin to ascend the gas bubbles expand back to their original size, giving you more buoyancy and more thermal protection again. I want to note though that after the constant compression and expansion of these bubbles, over time some of them will not expand back to their original size and the wetsuit will no longer have the thermal protection that it originally had; often referred to as "crushed". Some folks chose to toss these wetsuits but I just use my old ones in water they were not originally designed to be used and/or use them for other above water activities such as surfing or kayaking!

Which thickness should I wear? If you google it you will get generalized temperature ranges for which thickness but I will sum it up as follows: If I am going to the Caribbean where the waters can be above 80 degrees F, then I will dive a skin, a 1mm, or even a 3mm (I get cold easily). If I am diving the Graveyard of the Atlantic in the summertime when the temps are 75-85 degrees F, I will wear a 3mm or a 5mm. Now when I dive in California where the water temps are 55 degrees F at depth to 65 degrees F in shallower water, I always dive either a 7mm or a drysuit. Any colder than these temps, such as Ice diving or diving in Canada, I would hands down wear a drysuit! It is very important to accessorize whatever you choose to wear with gloves, a hood, or vest depending on what you need. I always wear wool socks when I wear a drysuit, my 7mm or sometimes my 5mm. Works great!! You can always start off with hoods/gloves and take them off n stow them if needed. Better to be prepared!

One last thing I want to mention, is an interesting 'disagreement' among the diving and scientific community, which makes it fun to mention (sarcasm!). It is the statement you may have heard from your dive Instructor or read somewhere: "Wetsuits keep you warm by trapping a thin layer of water between your skin and the suit."! Well, depends on who you ask! I am not even going to get into both sides of the argument, you can look it up online or even on Scubaboard the differences in opinion. I will simply say, the important thing is that your wetsuit fits well and that it does not allow water to move around inside the wetsuit. Be sure your wetsuit leg-ankle go on the OUTSIDE of your boot, not tucked in! This minimizes the flow of water around your feet You can also tuck your gloves into your wetsuit wrist and your hood into the neck of the wetsuit if it has a flap. They also make hooded vests which really keep you warm!

So that's a generalized wetsuit information session! There's a lot of science that goes into wetsuits and thermal protection and as you dive more you will find your go-to suits that you love! Happy diving everyone!!