Wetsuit Comparison

[ththooft]

Hi sagacity-

My wife and I dive the 7mm full Akona suits and both really like them.  I stay nice and warm and so does she and she's tiny and gets cold easily.  She also dove a two piece Akona in the same water and says that her full suit is much warmer because no water gets in.  Here is what we wear for the cold water (under the thermoclines in Wazee):
A 7mm Akona Full Suit
Akona hooded vest (5mm hood and 3mm torso)  these are great!
6.5mm boots
5mm Akona gloves

I'm not an Akona spokesperson even though it seems like it!  We've just had really good luck with their stuff. 
Their suit was a 2005 "Testers choice" in Scuba Diving Magazine too.  Not that I take all the I read to heart, but I've had really good luck with other products the magazine has given that rating. 
Now, I have to confess that I bought a dry suit this year, so I'll be warmer yet, but I've been really satisfied with our Akona gear. 
I also have a Tilos 3mm suit and although I've never dove with their 7mm, a friend of mine did and was really satisfied. 
You can find these suits online for great deals.  Let me know if you'd like me to send you some sites. 

Happy shopping!

[sagacity]

Thanks a lot everyone for your great responses!!  ;D It was very much appreciated. 

[MNLakeDiver]

I use a 2 piece not because it is warmer but because I can use 1/2 of it when the water is warm (you know over 60  ) I like the flexability of my farmer john.

[sagacity]

I thought of that - but, then I thought, "In what way?"  ???

Wear the jacket? It would be like a 7mm shorty. I thought that might be overkill. If I'm in water where 7mm wouldn't be too warm, then, what about arms/legs? Wear 3mm? The you have 10mm on the torso - and if its warm enough for 3mm, then 10mm would probably be too hot. I couldn't think of a way to use a 7mm "shorty"  ???

Maybe I'm missing something. I racked my head trying to think of how to use a 7mm 2-pc in different configs.

;D

[LKunze]

When I had my 7mm farmer john wetsuit the first year I started diving I tried wearing the top portion only (like a 7mm shorty).  I froze my a** off when I went below the first thermocline (15-20ft).  :o I also tried my 3mm full wetsuit out before my Bahamas trip last July in Perch which was 70+ degrees above 18 feet .  Again, I was freezing there as well when going below the first thermocline.  If you are gonna stay above the first thermocline then you could get by with the shorty otherwise forget it.  Same with trying to dive without a hood which I never do anymore.

[rookiediver]

Does anyone have any recomendations for us bigger people who are short?  I'm new to diving and the rentals I tried just didn't work for me.  It felt like I had two extra knees with the extra material and I had to roll up the material at the wrist to try and get my hands out.  I may have to get a custom fit but am unsure of where to go to get what I need.  We'll be diving predominately in Minn so I know that I should get a 7ml of something.  I guess I would also need 7 ml of the hood, gloves and booties also.

[LKunze]

You may want to checkout a custom Elios wetsuit.    FreediveWI and FreediverND have given them rave reviews .

[MNLakeDiver]

I wear the bottom half most often as it keeps my legs warm. I should point out I coach hockey in shorts and a t-shirt  : I have slightly more natural insulation then Lonnie  ;D
I have also worn just the top and then have good core coverage and long arms but shorty legs.
the nice part about diving wet is you can always let a littgle water in when you get hot.

[beeger]

rookiediver - Here's a specific suggestion: try the Henderson brand of wetsuits. They have expanded sizes available off the rack, and have a several types of custom fitting options available: they can make you a new suit specifically to your measurements (likely very expensive and I don't know if anybody in town provides the custom fitting measuring service); do certain "modifications" to an existing off the rack suit - what they call a "tailor fit" (I recently had this done - a bit more expensive than just buying off the rack but it made for a really nice fit); they can sell you "split" sizes if you buy a 2 piece suit (e.g. large top, medium bottom, etc.).

Check out:

I have no affilitation to Henderson. There may be other companies who offer this same service. But I've had good luck with the Henderson brand. With the Tailor Fit option they can take off up to three inches from the legs ... this might be just what you need.

[Freedive WI]

I am really suprised that Fred hasn't chimed in here yet- as he was the one who turned me on to ELIOS wetsuits.

I've owned many suits over the years (Harvey's, Seasuits, Hendersons, Bidy Gloves, Dacor's, Picasso's, Esclapez, Cressisub, Diveskin, ect) and have never found a better made suit with more options. Their custom cut is the best Ihave come across yet and the price is lower than what you might find in a stock Henderson suit in the states.

They are all custom made in Italy, so it takes a couple of weeks to get the suit made and shipped, but it will certainly last you a while once you have it. They make suits for Freediving, spearfishing, scubadiving, surfing, triathalons, and fetishwear- Just look at the suit that they made for Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider films.  :o

You can get a wide varitey of rubber manufacturer's, thickness, bubble density, inner linings, outer linings, camo patterns, and other add-ons. There must be almost a 1000 different suits you can put together from all of their choices. They offer rubber thicknesses from .5mm to 10mm. I started out with some 6mm suits, but have since switched to 5mm for my ice diving and 3mm for most of my dive season- they are just made better, and warmer, than other suits that I have tried so I didn't need as much rubber as I thought I did because I only knew about scuba wetsuits before that.

They also make any kind of glove, mitt, soxk, bootie, hood, vest, short, or other accessorie that you might want- the make a pretty cool "Pisette" for men so yuo can pee in you wetsuit and not marinate in it al day long. 

I would post some picturesof my suits, but the forum says that I've used up all of my space on here, and on the WIscuba forum as well. Take a look through some of Fred's, and my, old threads to see what they look like.

Jon