Wetsuit Guide

Why do we wear wetsuits?

• Thermal protection (you have to stay warm to stay relaxed!)
• Buoyancy (I like to be neutral at -14m or -15m and with no suit I'm neutral at -6m)
• Physical protection (from sun, jellyfish, rocks, etc.)

3 main applications / uses for wetsuits:
You may or may not want / need specialized suits for each use, depending on your water temps and where you swim / what's important to you.

• Pool training - You will want something that is durable and warm and at least moderately hydrodynamic.  You won't need anything super exotic, as maximum attempts are not the purpose of training sessions.  Some ppl get away with a triathlon suit for this purpose and can be used for competitions as well.  It's not perfect... but they are readily available and can be found for a reasonable price.  If you have a pool that is 28* or 29*, you may not need neoprene at all!
• Pool competition - This is where people who are obsessive over every last metre can get an exotic, specialized "skin" for super slipperiness.  These generally provide little to no thermal protection and are used for a single attempt and short amount of time in the water, to avoid shivering.  People generally "save" these for comps and max attempts to keep them in good condition.
• Open water - The specifics of your suit will be determined by water temp ranges that you intend to swim in and the conditions that you will encounter, as well as what range of activities you will be focusing on.

A slickskin out, 2-pc apnea wetsuit:

A classic 2-pc. camo-pattern spear fishing suit with a durable nylon / lycra outer layer and chest pad for loading a speargun

Key Elements:

Staying warm is the key!

A wetsuit that doesn't keep you warm is useless because as soon as you get a chill and start to shiver, your breath hold is cut in half and there really is no easy way to warm up.  You can try swimming faster and exerting a lot of energy to warm up... and it might keep the shivering away for a while, but your heart rate will have increased and you will chill again soon.

Fit:
A well-fitting apnea / freediving suit fits the body snugly like a second skin.  We don't want water sloshing around between the skin and suit that can take away our warmth.  A custom made / made-to-measure wetsuit is definitely the best option, unless your dimensions HAPPEN to be exactly like that of an off-the-rack model.

Any good custom wetsuit manufacturer will have a measuring guide on their site that you can print off and use to get your measurements.  Go to a tailor and / or get a friend to measure you as per the specifics of the guide.  I like to get measured 2 or 3 times in a week or so to make sure that there are no significant fluctuations or measurement errors.

Aqualand wetsuits is the provider that I have found to be of the best value.  They are based in Greece and have been providing the European market for years.  They will be able to sell you a custom made wetsuit for the price of a standard off-the-rack suit and tailored to your specific requests!  Excellent customer service and fast shipping / cycle time.  Highly recommended!

Thickness:
Generally speaking:

• a 7mm apnea wetsuit is suitable for ice-diving and single degree water temps, 
• a 5mm  suit is for 10-25* water temps 
• a 3mm wetsuit is for warm / tropical / Caribbean waters in winter / spring / fall
• less than 3mm is for HOT climates with warm water in their hot-seasons (Summer diving in the Caribbean, the Keys, Egypt, etc.)

If you are in between applications, remember that  you can easily let some water into the suit periodically to cool down... but it is not easy to warm up if your have too thin of a suit.  If it is sunny out, sometimes you can float on the surface and let the sun heat up your black suit like a human solar panel.

Interior:
If you need a 5mm or 7mm suit, you will want an open-cell interior to help keep you warm.  These require lube to slip into (a mixture of hair conditioner and water in a spray bottle) but offers a seal on your skin that is second to none and will keep you significantly warmer than if you had an interior lining that would wick water next to your skin.

If you are in the market for a 3mm suit, your waters are somewhat warmer and you may have some options that could work, depending on your needs.

• Open cell is the warmest and requires lube to get into (sometimes also referred to as shark cell)
• Slickskin is a little bit less warm than open cell and requires lube to get into
• Nylon or Lycra lining is the least warm, but does allow you to get into it without lube, when it is dry.

Exterior:

• Slickskin is the most hydrodynamic as it is a smooth surface, but will get cut easily by fingernails, rocks, scrapes, etc.
• A Nylon or Lycra lining is less hydrodynamic, but greatly adds to the exterior durability of the suit.

Note that a Nylon / Lycra exterior will wick heat away from you when you are out of the water in cold conditions or wind (coming back on a boat for instance).

Overall:
Most people for overall multi-purpose use, will do well with an open-cell interior and a Nylon / Lycra lined exterior.  This will make for a great, durable suit that should last many years.  This is also the basic recipe for a spearfishing suit with the only real difference being the camo pattern and the chest loading-pad and knee pads to eliminate localized wear.

Compromise / dual-purpose and hydrodynamics:
You can see that each material has advantages and disadvantages and a single "ideal" suit does not exist for all applications.  An interesting approach is to mix and match tops and bottoms.

Apneaddict's personal choices:
For depth work and general recreational use in cold water, I use a 5mm slickskin exterior top with open-cell inside (this is very fragile) and pair it with an external nylon lined pair of high waist pants with knee pads and open-cell interior.  For me, this toughens up the bottoms which see more wear / tear and also allows me to maintain good hydrodynamics with a slick upper body.

For warm-water diving and spearfishing dual-use, I have a "reversible" 3mm Aqualand suit that is blue / black slickskin on one side and Lycra lined on the other.

This will allow me to use it fully-slick on the outside for depth competitions in warm climates (Egypt, Bahamas, Honduras, etc.), Lycra lining on the outside for spearfishing and recreational reef touring.  I am also able to adjust the suit to a few different subtle levels of warmth (slick in = warmest, lining in = coolest and mix / matched = in  between).  For long training sessions, I can also mix the top to be slick out and pants lining out and still keep good hydrodynamics.  Slickskin-in pants are a better option if you have to pee while in your suit, as the fabric of a lining tends to hold odours more.  :D

The cut of this suit is particularly excellent for hands-over-head positioning and I ordered it with mid-waist pants for better flexibility during breathe-up.

Wetsuit repair:
If you end up with a tear or rip in your neoprene wetsuit (much more likely / easy with a slickskin exterior), I advocate the use of McNett Black Witch neoprene adhesive / glue.

Grab a tube and keep it in your dive bag, for that unexpected time mid dive trip that you or a buddy needs it!  Follow the directions on the tube.  I like to use a q-tip stick with the cotton cut off as an applicator.