Slipping into rubber

[DivingAnarchy.info]

Here a link to an article I read some time ago.
It's a column from Dan Burton in Diver issue Januari '09 (UK Magazine) about his experiences with open cell neoprene as used in spearfishing wet suits.
It made me thinking and it still does.
Divernet | No looking back since I slipped into rubber=

[navyhmc]

Interesting to say the least. I can see it working in free diving as he notes. I started diving in open cell neophrene and it would tear very easily. The came the days of Nylon 1: a slayer of nylon fabric on the inside. Now tears would not go all the way through, but they would still tear. In fact, in the old days, a can of neophrene cement was one of the most used items in a save-a-dive kit. Personally, I was in heaven when the first nylon-II suits came out.

[CompuDude]

Very interesting. A custom-made 7mm wetsuit for ~$320 or so is a pretty darned good deal, too. I may look closer into these when it comes time to replace my current suit.

[Straegen]

That system makes a lot of sense. Will have to look into it further somewhere down the road.

[frogman911]

This sounds like it might work! I dove for 2 years in 45 degree water in a 7mm west suit. Than I turned to dry, but that's not the most comfortable or easiest either. Carrying it around in it's own big bag is enough work. I've been considering wearing a wetsuit under a wind surfing suit. Which is a light weight waterproof suit that has the rubber cuffs & seals without the inflator or purge valves. With the wetsuit on under the dry, you could dive fairly deep (100 feet) without getting too much squeeze. But this freedive suit may be even better. I love the feel and freedom of wetsuits and to stay warm would be awesome ! I'm going to have to try it. Thanks !