Wetsuit Thickness Guide - Tips On Choosing The Right Thickness For Your Scuba Diving Activity

When looking to buy a wetsuit, the first thing that comes to mind is what kind of wetsuit thickness should I go for? We all would like to feel comfortable wearing our wetsuits. It's a fact that the thicker the wetsuit, the less maneuverability you will have. However you will definitely feel comfortably warm in colder waters. On the other hand, Thinner wetsuits are more comfortable when it comes to maneuvering underwater but do not do a great job in keeping you warm in cold waters. These are trade offs which you will have to consider. It all boils down to the type of scuba activity you will be conducting and the area in which you will be frequently diving in.

Water temperature

Before buying a wetsuit, the first thing you have to determine is where you will be diving in. Will you be diving in cold or tropical waters? This is a no brainer, the colder the water temperature, the thicker the wetsuit you will need.

If you are diving in cold waters, wearing the wetsuit is just not enough to protect yourself against the elements. You have to understand that much of your body heat escapes through your body's extremities. Adding a wetsuit hood, appropriate booties and gloves will provide you with added thermal protection by keeping you comfortably warmer.

On the other hand, if you will be frequently diving in tropical waters then you may want to consider using a much thinner suit. Besides being unbearable to wear in hot conditions, a thick wetsuit will definitely give you an unpleasant dive if you diving in warmer waters.

Planned maximum depth and amount of time spent in the water.

The longer your expose yourself in the water, the cooler your body will become. You have to remember that the water temperatures drop the deeper you go and as a result the gas bubbles in the neoprene will be compressed, therefore making your wetsuit more thinner the deeper you dive.

If you are the sort of diver that frequently dives below 30 meters and spends long periods of time being stationary underwater due to deco stops, then you will definitely need a thicker wetsuit to keep you warm. Another requisite for having a thicker wetsuit is if you intend on planning several dives in one day. The more dives you do, the colder you will become. If you are diving every day, you will feel colder on each successive day. You will therefore require a thicker wetsuit than that you would need for a single day of diving.

Interpreting wetsuit thickness numbers

So what do all these numbers mean? Well it's simple. These wetsuit numbers represent the thickness in millimeters of the neoprene used in the wetsuit.

With some wetsuits, you may have two different neoprene thicknesses to make them more flexible. The main part which requires particularly more thickness is your chest area whilst other parts of your body which are constantly in motion like your feet and arms will require more flexibility so they may be thinner in neoprene thickness. For this reason you may find for instance a 5/3 wetsuit. This basically means that you have a 5mm chest area and a 3 mm for your body's extremities.

For a full wetsuit thickness chart be sure to read check out the complete article under the Wetsuit section of the site http://www.scuba-snorkeling-adventures.com/wetsuit-thickness.html

Kris Mifsud- A keen enthusiast, with a life long passion for all types of water sports.
Editor and publisher of http://Scuba-Snorkeling-Adventures.com - a comprehensive Scuba and Snorkeling guide to techniques, equipment and reviews.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kris_Mifsud

Did you find this article helpful?