looking for a cold water suit

[cbope]

I'm in the market for a cold water wetsuit, since I currently live in Finland. I know I will eventually go the drysuit route in the long run but I just bought a complete new set of gear this year so my diving budget is pretty tapped out. Also, I don't plan to make a lot of dives locally so going a full drysuit setup is a bit overkill for probably what's going to be only a few dives per year.

I don't plan to do any winter or ice diving, at least not without borrowing or renting a full drysuit, so all of my "cold" water dives will be in the summer months. I've talked a bit with some of my diving friends here and the water temp is typically 20-21 degrees C at the surface (1-2 meters) in the summer. That's freshwater or the Baltic sea (I live in Helsinki which is on the Baltic for the geographically challenged!). Below about 2 meters the temps drop rather quickly and can reach about 4-5 degrees C at around 20 meters. I don't really plan any deeper diving than that because it's definitely drysuit territory as the water temp drops even lower.

I've pretty much narrowed it down to 2 suits which my LDS carries. Both are Bare suits, one is a 5/4 and the other is a 7mm Arctic suit. I would like to stick with the 5/4 suit as I don't really like the stiffness of a 7mm suit which makes it more uncomfortable and more difficult to don/doff. But will it be enough for reasonble use in these water temps? I should mention I dive singles on air only, so I'm not looking for extended dive times. Price isn't an issue, the 7mm is only about 10% more than the 5/4. I've thought about using a hooded vest (say 5mm?) over the 5/4 suit to help keep my core warm. I don't usually have a problem with cold extremeties.

Basically, is a 5/4 plus a hooded vest (when needed) adequate for keeping me warm enough in these temps? I've only ever dived tropical waters before where the water temp is above 25 degrees, so cold water diving is completely new to me. Besides, I'm a Texan dammit!

[Sansho]

5 deg C is 41 deg F, and I wouldn't go near that in a 5/4. For many, the outside comfort range of a 5mm suit is ~60 deg F or 16 deg C. I do single tanks with a 7mm Pinnacle farmer john into the low 40's, of course with hood and gloves, and some would argue even that should be dry territory. My two cents would be to go with the 7mm suit, however, hopefully someone can comment on using a 5mm vest/hood with a 5mm suit at those temps.

[bubbletrubble]

People here in Southern California dive local waters in a 7mm wetsuit comfortably. Temps at surface in the summer are around 70 degrees F. Temps at 80 fsw can dip into the low 50 degrees F. Wetsuit divers get cold really fast at depth.

I would highly recommend getting the 7mm suit...and considering layering with a hooded vest (hooded vest beneath 7mm full wetsuit). Your surface temps aren't too bad, but 4-5 degrees C (41 degrees F) at 60 fsw is super-cold. Wearing the 5/4 suit by itself will turn you into a Texan popsicle.

Hmmmm. A Texan in Finland. Must be an oil industry thing. :-)

[mwhities]

How about a semi-dry? I've never dove one but, I heard they work quite well and don't cost as much as a good quality dry suit.

[cbope]

Originally Posted by Sansho

5 deg C is 41 deg F, and I wouldn't go near that in a 5/4. For many, the outside comfort range of a 5mm suit is ~60 deg F or 16 deg C. I do single tanks with a 7mm Pinnacle farmer john into the low 40's, of course with hood and gloves, and some would argue even that should be dry territory. My two cents would be to go with the 7mm suit, however, hopefully someone can comment on using a 5mm vest/hood with a 5mm suit at those temps.

Thanks for the info. This is a bit OT for this section of the forum, but I'm wondering how much weight I will need with a 7mil. With a 3mil shorty I usually use 5kg/12lbs. I'm only speculating here, but I would guess I need to at least double my weight with a 7mil.

[cbope]

Originally Posted by mwhities

How about a semi-dry? I've never dove one but, I heard they work quite well and don't cost as much as a good quality dry suit.

I haven't seen any semis here. It's either dry or wet.

[cbope]

Originally Posted by bubbletrubble

People here in Southern California dive local waters in a 7mm wetsuit comfortably. Temps at surface in the summer are around 70 degrees F. Temps at 80 fsw can dip into the low 50 degrees F. Wetsuit divers get cold really fast at depth.

I would highly recommend getting the 7mm suit...and considering layering with a hooded vest (hooded vest beneath 7mm full wetsuit). Your surface temps aren't too bad, but 4-5 degrees C (41 degrees F) at 60 fsw is super-cold. Wearing the 5/4 suit by itself will turn you into a Texan popsicle.

Hmmmm. A Texan in Finland. Must be an oil industry thing. :-)

No oil here actually. I've heard Norway has a bit of the slippery black stuff though... And they can print money too.

[thor]

I would go with the 7mm. Bare also makes their own version of hyperstretch in a 7mm version. I think the Velocity uses this. I believe they now have something called Elastek. I have an older version called the Bare hydrostretch in 7mm, which is very warm and very easy to don and doff.

[crgjpg]

I got this one from ST. The lowest temperature I have used was at 45F. I was down for about 20 minutes but was comfortable the whole time.

[cbope]

Originally Posted by thor

I would go with the 7mm. Bare also makes their own version of hyperstretch in a 7mm version. I think the Velocity uses this. I believe they now have something called Elastek. I have an older version called the Bare hydrostretch in 7mm, which is very warm and very easy to don and doff.

Unfortunately my LDS doesn't carry the Velocity line from Bare. Also, I've heard that the stretchy suits are generally not as warm as their non-stretchy regular neoprene equivalents.

This is the 7mil Bare Arctic suit I am talking about, which my LDS carries:

BARE 7MM ARCTIC FULL SUIT COMBO, Wet Suits-Womens, Bare, BARE 7MM ARCTIC FULL SUIT COMBO

Just the suit, not the combo. I'm going to go and try the suit on and see how it feels. It sounds like the 7mil is the only way to go.