Scuba Divers - why do you wear a wetsuit?

[spidey07]

Seems every good diver, as in a dive master, always wears a wetsuit and many times gloves. I'm much more comfortable without one.

The only reason I can think of is protection from all the numerous things that can sting you, especially those tiny jellyfish you can hardly see that swarm in the water. Or if you accidentally brush up against something.

 

[Tsaico]

80 degree water? I don't think I have ever felt ocean water that warm... I think I should go where you go...

 

[Safeway]

I went diving in water about that temperature, a little cooler. Something about being surrounded by aquatic life makes me want a barrier there.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

water has 23 times the thermal conductivity that air has

even 80 degree water will bring your core body temp down. this is mostly a factor when considering multiple dives.

 

[tasmanian]

Out where i live going in the water makes your body numb.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

to quote my source: http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalwa...sfer/heattransfer.html, but this is also how i was taught

 

[BurnItDwn]

If it's 80 degrees at the surface, it will be a good amount colder when you actually go down more than 30 or 40 feet, no?

I've only scuba dived in Cozumel, and it was just a 30 minute or so dive, and the water was actually more than 80 degrees F .... so I didn't wear any wetsuit or anything .... but I'm thinking for deeper dives, it would probably be desired ...

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
to quote my source: http://sol.sci.uop.edu/~jfalwa...sfer/heattransfer.html, but this is also how i was taught

yeah, I think you lose heat 25 times faster in water. But I've always been very comfortable even at 140 feet. This is in the carribean where the water is generally very warm.

Less weight, more of a free feeling.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
If it's 80 degrees at the surface, it will be a good amount colder when you actually go down more than 30 or 40 feet, no?

I've only scuba dived in Cozumel, and it was just a 30 minute or so dive, and the water was actually more than 80 degrees F .... so I didn't wear any wetsuit or anything .... but I'm thinking for deeper dives, it would probably be desired ...

I did a dive trip in cozumel, it's awesome.

As for the water, didn't wear a wet suit and the water temp didn't change at depth.

 

[Narse]

I am currently working on my Master Diver cert, I always wear a wetsuit and gloves, even in the keys. Alot of things can get ya underwater, I wear it more as protection.

And as HardcoreRobot said, you lose heat alot faster and after 3 dives or so it starts to make you chilly even in 84 degree water.

 

[jjones]

Depends how deep you go, and if you get below the thermocline it gets really cold. The average recreational dive is not doing that though. I dive here in Cancun and always wear a spring suit no matter what, and even at rather shallow depths of less than 100 ft. it gets a bit chilly for me more often than not, and sometimes I sure wish I was wearing a full suit. As for gloves, I never dive without them. I'm always checking things out in the reef and coral is pretty damn sharp to be hanging on with just bare hands.

 

[conehead433]

I don't usually wear a wetsuit for warm water dives that aren't below 60 feet. Once I wished I had been wearing a wetsuit as there were apparently lots of broken pieces of jellyfish in the water.

 

[Amused]

Maybe they are ashamed of their body?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Amused
Maybe they are ashamed of their body?

No woman looks good in a full wetsuit. They just look like the pillsbury doughman.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
water has 23 times the thermal conductivity that air has

even 80 degree water will bring your core body temp down. this is mostly a factor when considering multiple dives.

this be the answer

it really is the multiple dives a day that sap the warmth out of you

 

[Rubycon]

Because hypothermia sucks.

Originally posted by: spidey07

No woman looks good in a full wetsuit. They just look like the pillsbury doughman.

meh

 

[Paladin]

1. Thermocline - Here in San Diego the water temp now is about 70. That's great for catching waves. In La Jolla there is a deep underwater canyon that drops to over 500'. We get some up-welling now and then. Right now the thermocline is at about 15', where the temps are in the 50s. 7mm wetsuit required.

2. Multiple Dives - The water sucks the heat right out of you

3. Protection - don't want to get stung or scraped up.

 

[conehead433]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Amused
Maybe they are ashamed of their body?

No woman looks good in a full wetsuit. They just look like the pillsbury doughman.

Sorry, but at least two of the gals in my dive class looked very good regardless of what they were wearing. Luckily for me they were my dive partners.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: conehead433

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Amused
Maybe they are ashamed of their body?

No woman looks good in a full wetsuit. They just look like the pillsbury doughman.

Sorry, but at least two of the gals in my dive class looked very good regardless of what they were wearing. Luckily for me they were my dive partners.

So you got to share air then, eh?

 

[DrPizza]

I'm one of those guys who wears shorts when he goes outside to shovel off a foot of snow in western NY... 80 degree water is just fine for me to spend hours upon hours in. However, I'd still wear a thin wetsuit for safety from stinging things. My open water certification dive was in a rock quarry. Surface temps were around 80. Thermocline at 17-19 feet. I roasted in a 5mil wetsuit above the thermocline, but once I got below it, the water was 52 degrees and I was in heaven. When we were just exploring (rock walls, etc.), my partner and I stayed about 8 to 10 feet apart - mostly vertical - him above the thermocline, me below.

 

[Journer]

the combination of conductivity of water and the deeper you go the colder it gets...i went with my bro when he got his cert and they went a good 60 ft under...he said it was pretty cold despite the surface temp was well above 75....
some divers wear dry suits for added protection against the cold

 

[fatkorean]

I would guess this would be a reason nsfw (language)

-fk

 

[Kerouactivist]

Originally posted by: fatkorean
I would guess this would be a reason nsfw (language)

-fk

Sorry to resurrect this but that video is hilarious expicially the guy in the background....

 

[Juno]

80 degrees in water is bad.

 

[JasonCoder]

Originally posted by: jjones
Depends how deep you go, and if you get below the thermocline it gets really cold.

Seriously? Below the thermocline? That's what subs hang out at to take advantage of sonar distortion... That's a bit beyond scuba, no?

But on the subject of wet suits... seems to me every video of Cousteau I ever saw had him in skivvies only. Guess that's old school?