What's your base layer??

[blewgrass]

You know... skivies!

I wear a 6.5mm farmer john style with a 2 layer core and also a "surfer" 2/3mm suit for the warmer waters.

I mainly ask this as a cold water diver in Northern California but would also like to know what y'all are wearing in the warmer waters too. I've dove wearing boardshorts as my base layer with no issues of "hiking" like boxers can tend to do.

I also see the $40 neoprene undies option, but it seems that some of these poly type athletic briefs can do the same job for 1/10 the cost.

What do you use and what are the results?

Steve

[Splitlip]

I now wear Birdwell Beach Britches. The shortest ones. Mid thigh. They dry immediately so i can put my street clothes right over them if need be.
https://www.birdwellbeachbritches.com/

[blewgrass]

Those appear very similar to standard board shorts with the lace up. They are dry in 5 minutes as well. How is the stretch on these?

[Splitlip]

Originally Posted by blewgrass

Those appear very similar to standard board shorts with the lace up. They are dry in 5 minutes as well. How is the stretch on these?

Unfortunately, no stretch at all. But they tuck more easily into a suit than typical board shorts. The site says they dry in 8 minutes, but actually if you wipe them off with a towel, it is almost immediate.

[matt151617]

A 2mil shorty. It seems to work well enough. Cheap when you get it on clearance from ST, and it makes a decent core warmer under a 7mil.

[harb99]

i wear underarmour compression shorts - they also dry very fast - put a pair of boardshorts over them when not in the wetsuit

here is link to them - several different ones out there, but the heat gear seems to dry the fastest IMO

Under Armour ® | Men's HeatGear® Compression Short | 1000026 | $24.99

[CODMAN]

Spedo boxer type swim trunks (not the pang kind!). They do the job, hide my butt cheeks, and dry fast. Biking shorts also work well, but you have to rinse and thoroughly dry the shammy after each saltwater use! or the smell...

On top, I use a Mares rash guard. Scubatoys had them on sale for cheap, but they are a tight fit.

[rawalker]

I'm in the 2mm shortie club even in very warm water.

[blewgrass]

Some great ideas. I have several underwear like the under armour, but different brands. I read on another board that divers use merino wool thermals under their wetsuit in cold water too. Ever heard of this?

[PaulaJustBreathe]

Hello! I am new to these boards. I got here by googling an issue I have with wetsuits, and wondered if anybody else has heard of this. A few years ago, I rented a farmer john wetsuit, and upon surfacing every dive I felt nauseous and dizzy. When I returned the wetsuit to the diveshop, I mentioned this, and the lady said her husband had a similar problem and actually had to be rescued out of the water. She thought it might be the extra thickness around chest level constricting heart/lung action. This past weekend I went diving in a lake and wore a 0.5mm underneath my 5mm wetsuit. It felt a little constricting, and when I surfaced, felt this same nausea and dizziness. Wondering if layering wetsuits can be an issue for some reason. Thanks!
Paula