Transitioning from Rent to Own

[arcFlash]

Now help your buddy dress.  ;D

[jasondbaker]

After

Do boots go on before suit or after?

After

What benefit is there to having a full length undersuit beneath a wetsuit?

If you mean a dive skin some people find that it helps them put on and take off the wetsuit.  It is a similar effect as the slippery titanium lining. 

[beeger]

Just keep in mind that some wetsuits, the ones with the smooth lining inside ("titanium" or "gold core" or whatever marketing name the manufacturer uses) are meant to seal against your skin. You shouldn't wear anything under these. If you do you are negating one of the benefits of the lining and will reduce your warmth.

Boots go on after but make sure to tuck these into the suit so the pant leg goes over the boot. Gloves should generally be the opposite: you want these over the suit. Get gloves that have a good cinching mechanism so you can clamp down pretty snug over the suit and prevent as much water as possible from flushing through the glove. (I’m thinking of a style where stiff Velcro passes through a plastic d-ring type thing and then folds back on itself, as opposed to ones that only have soft Velcro that wraps around the gloves.) Get comfortable using your gloves. You should be able to work all your gear with or without your gloves on - but, granted, with gloves some things might take a couple extra *seconds* (not minutes!).

[NorthlandDivers]

The gloves that I have come to like the best are the new Henderson 5mm Instadry Gloves.  I wore them in Lake Superior last Oct in 39 degree water and did not get cold hands.  They do not have the velcro cinch but I have used those also and I have found these to be the warmest wet suit glovs I have ever used. 

[divemunkey]

I paid for the custom 7mm Henderson. It was worth the money to get the fit, as I am a very atypical shaped girl. I had to use a XXX Men's suit for training dives and had like 6 inches of rolled sleeve and pant leg. It totally sucked.
The only thing about the custom orders is that Henderson purposefully leaves the sleeves and legs a couple inches too long so you have to send it back once for a re-size (you get one free re-size with purchaes of suit, and that's IT). Thus eliminating their responsibility to you and your suit.

[Clifonef]

I went to four different dive stores and tried on the five "best fitting" suits, not all in 7mm, but similar models.   Very different fits, but everyone said that suit is supposed to fit that way.  They couldn't all be right.  I liked the Hendersons the best, but the alterations just to the legs & arms were $112, putting the cost over $400, plus tax.  One Gold Core Henderson fit OK and with a lot of tugging, even the knee pads fell in the right place.  That one was $373, plus tax.

I did some more research on Aquaflite on other boards, and read only good reviews.  I called Aquaflite, discussed the options, and decided that for $420, including shipping, I could get a lot more suit for my money.  They took 32 of my measurements, and can produce the suit in 10 days.  It is a semi-dry hooded 7mm farmer john with a fairly long jacket, plus has arm & leg zips:



For that price, I even got a color choice (Pittsburgh Pirates - Yellow V over black!).

So now you'll know who I am.  Superior, here I come.

[DiverQueen]

Sounds like you found the right one for you!  Best wishes for a great dive season.  Start counting the days til the suit gets here!