A suit is not just a suit. Suits come in many guises. The main distinctions are wet suits and dry suits. They are of course a vital and essential part of your gear. They prevent you from cooling down to an unacceptable level.
Wet suits
In general, wet suits are manufactured from a material called neoprene, fused with nylon. Surely you must have noticed that when you were renting gear to taste the joy of diving. The wet variety is the most popular with recreational divers.
Wet suits should fit like a second skin. During diving you will notice a layer of water developing between your body and the neoprene. Eventually it takes on the temperature of your body, ensuring an isolating effect.
Wet suits vary 2 to 8 millimeters in thickness. They come in versions fitting the torso, upper arms and upper legs, but also in entirely covering, hands, head and feet.
The most fashionable wet versions are those of 0,5mm, 2mm, 3mm, 5mm, 6.5mm and 7mm in thickness. Apart from varying in thickness, wet suits com in almost each and every imaginable model. They range from shorties and jumpsuits to long johns, farmer johns, full suits and two-piece suits.
The shorty covers the upper body, the upper arms and legs. The jumpsuit variety covers the entire legs. The farmerjohn conjures up visions of a gardener’s outfit. A two-piece wet suit usually consists of a jumpsuit or farmer john, completed with a shorty. They cover a wide temperature range, which contributes to their popularity.
A general rule of thumb dictates 1mm and 3mm wetties are perfect for diving in (semi) tropical waters of 27 degrees or more. Usually a shorty does the job.
With temperatures ranging from 20 to 27 degrees you may find your best choice with a thickness from 4mm to 6mm. A minimum of 7mm is required for diving and snorkeling in temperatures not exceeding 20 degrees.
Dry suits
Dry suits gently cover your physique in a less tigher fashion. The bare essence is the application of dry suits is to the keep clothes you are wearing dry during diving. On other aspect is it helps raising the temperature of the air between body and fabric, contributing to a nice warm feeling.
They are equipped with zippers, tightly sealing the suit at the wrists, the ankles and the neck. The idea is, in contrast with the wet variety, to prevent water forming betwen body and material. They are ideal in diving conditions with less comfortable water temperatures, winter times and surely during ice diving.
Interesting of note you will experience more water ‘pressure’ or resistance when diving in a dry suit.
Be alerted diving with a drysuit is significantlty different from going under with a wetsuit. Since you can regulate the amount of air between your body and the fabric, it has a great impact on how to control trimming and maintain buoyancy.
Simular to wetsuits, drysuits come in various appearances. Distinction is primarily focused on models, use of materials, location of seals and zippers.
Dry suits made from neoprene or trilaminate or in popular demand with sports divers and technical divers. Neoprene sets itself apart for its flexibilty, tightness an thermic isolation capacities. The biggest advantage of the application of trilaminate lies within its constant buoyance performance, making it ideal for trimming.
Semi-dry suits
Semi-dry suits fuse the features of wet suits and dry suits.
The most distinctive difference between a wet suit and a semi-dry suit are with the location of the seals and the dry zipper. By their nature of manufactoring they allow less water flow between body and fabric, hence conserving warmth
One other aspect is whether or not diving shoes or head caps are included in the design.
Body suits and rashguards
Body suits and rashguards are manufactured from a combination of lycra and nylon or polyester and are not fit for diving. Still, they deserve mentioning. They hardly contribute to adequate isolation and are best worn as a protective device against the sun, rocks and life underwater. Body suits and rashguards are perfectly suitable for swimming and snorkeling in warm waters.
