Reddit mentions: The best diving suits

Wife and I have semi dry suits (mine is the Camaro Stingray but doesn't have the build-in hood) and Whites Fusion dry suits and we've dove both from high summer to middle of winter with snow on the ground in the Puget Sound up in northwestern WA. Both have been very comfortable.

If we're planning a second dive in the semidrys we just leave them on, they're really very comfortable. When you enter the water they do allow a trickle of water in, but it's not like a wetsuit. It's more like a well insulated, slightly leaky drysuit. I wear swim trunks and a tank top under the semidry and they'll be wet when I shuck out of it, but it goes in so slow and heats up quick. But then I run a little hot, so I'm comfortable. My wife is more sensitive to temp, but we've done 80' dives and she's been fine. She actually has more trouble figuring out good underlayers and managing the air fill for her drysuit to keep warm, though they are warmer if you layer right or have a good thermal undersuit.

Overall, I still dive my semidry sometimes because it's less cumbersome, it's easy to don and doff, lightweight, and is a nicer feel in the water from being snugly form fitting. It's very important that a semidry fits you perfectly though, drysuits are more forgiving, it is also nice to wear your comfy pajamas to an early dive and come out fuzzy warm and dry too. I very much like having both and just like you, the semidry was a great cheaper option for us to get started with.

In winter I start from the lower Red Creek trailhead which will be open and accessible year-round. 4WD/AWD is advisable if it's recently snowed, but otherwise the roads leading there are pretty well maintained. The forest road up to blackbird knob may be closed or open, but if open it will often be gnarly. If you have experience driving on that and snow tires by all means try it, but don't count on being able to drive up to blackbird knob trailhead.

From Red Creek trailhead you will need to cross Red Creek to access the Northern section of the Sods. Since it's winter you will definitely want to remove your shoes and socks so they're dry on the far side. Use hiking poles so you stay upright and dry when crossing the creek. Don't take risks like trying to rock-hop, get your feet wet and cross safely with your clothing and upper body dry. Be prepared to bail if you go for a swim and keep in mind that hypothermia is very, very real risk once your clothing is wet. Red creek will not freeze solid and any ice sheets you see should be considered unstable.

If you're not sure you can walk in the cold water get a pair of wetsuit boots like these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002YQ7934/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_74?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Remember that winter backpacking has greater Objective and Subjective Hazards than summer backpacking. You can much more easily become incapacitated, injured, or killed. Ensure you have adequate margins of safety in your gear, a plan to bail out if things go wrong, and have left a detailed plan with a trusted point of contact at home.

That said, I love the sods in Winter. It's by far the most beautiful place I've been to in the Mid-Atlantic. The snow, ice, and wind create a harsh, but amazing landscape. Sunrise on a clear morning over the snow up there is fantastic. Just be prepared and don't be afraid to bail.

A dozen or so open water sessions would be plenty, and even fewer if you feel completely comfortable during the first ones. You don't need to build fitness in the water. You just need to acclimate yourself to swimming in dark water with chop and practice sighting so you know where you are going.

I recommend you pick a race that is highly likely to be wetsuit legal. A wetsuit can go a long way to reducing the odds you feel open water anxiety. It's soothing to know you will float no matter what.

If your open water practice is limited, you should practice with your wetsuit several times in the pool. Your body rests higher in the water in a wetsuit so the angles of your catch and pull are different. Again, you don't have to go crazy and live in your wetsuit. You just want to be familiar with the difference a wetsuit makes on race day. If all the pools you have access to are too hot for extended wetsuit sessions, core shorts are a pretty good substitute for wetsuit training.

Swim at least one open water day in choppy water. You'll find you have to conform your stroke cadence to the waves so that you breathe as you are coming off the crest. This is easy to learn, but if race day is choppy you don't want to be doing that for the first time that day.

Complete some shorter races so you know what it's like to swim in a crowd. You will get kicked in the face on race days. Getting used to that only comes with practice.

If you were trained to use your kick for thrust with a six-beat flutter kick, I recommend you switch to a two-beat kick. Your kick should be mostly for rotation. Triathlon swimming is about saving your legs.

Good luck and congratulations on taking the first steps!

I'm a fan of owning my own gear, but there are lots of variations so make sure you know what you want to use it for before buying.

• In general, scuba and snorkel fins are different. You can use scuba fins for snorkeling but not the other way around - the scuba fins are longer to give you more power as you're carrying a lot of gear.
  
• If you're not sure you want to do anything like this beyond Hawaii, renting is super cheap when you're there and it means you don't have to stuff the gear into your luggage.
  
• If you think you might want to scuba around SF in the future, make sure to get open-heel fins with boots, otherwise you'll have to get a separate set for here (full-foot fins are warm water only).
  
• As another commenter pointed out, you can get gear at any of the scuba shops in the area. They charge fair prices for cold water scuba gear. I paid about $200 for gloves, boots, fins, mask, and snorkel. As noted above, if you're only going to do warm water you're better off renting or buying a cheapo set when you get there.

I've used dive skins - similar idea as the motorcycle undersuit, may not cost as much either. They're made to go under a scuba suit, and do a pretty good job at keeping the bodysuit of the fursuit relatively protected from sweat, and they did keep me a little cooler because they wick very well.

They have these on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/NeoSport-Full-Body-Sports-Skins/dp/B003554F0I?ref_=Oct_BSellerC_2259067011_4&pf_rd_p=85239682-fc34-546b-b634-e602f072a596&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=2259067011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=R1KXDDHA29ASERHK9AMB&pf_rd_r=R1KXDDHA29ASERHK9AMB&pf_rd_p=85239682-fc34-546b-b634-e602f072a596

But... I would strongly recommend if there's a dive shop near you, visit them and check out what they have. Some may be thicker than they appear in the images and that you don't want. I seem to recall spending about 60 bucks for mine. Mine is 87% nylon, 13% spandex, and dries very very quickly. Easy to hand wash. The brand of mine is Pinnacle.

Suit: Cosplaysky Medium. Jacket (Under the vest thing) was short. Didn't tuck into the pants well. I rolled it up and put it under the vest. Under shirt was too small and hood too big so I used a scuba hood. Belt was too large as well, had my mom sew it to make it shorter. I'm 5'7, 40" chest, 32" waist for reference.

Helmet: Xcoser (Paid $30 for it on eBay. Came with a flaw so ended up with 2!). Painted it Rustoleum wine and black. I liked the black face so kept it. 2 coats of flat clear coat. Lenses are made from a soda bottle and car tints then I glued them in.

Chain and gun were from Amazon.

Kept the boots and gloves from my black suit Daredevil from last year.

Happy how this turned out. Won second place in a cosplay contest!

I'll need to revisit the eyes in the future. These were done with scraps at home.

I second everything u/alekskras said. I started with DaKine boardshorts harness. Switched to Ion B2— definitely more comfortable.

I have a Ride Engine waist harness I very rarely use. Definitely puts a lot more pressure on your lower back (but doesn’t ride up much at least.)

I haven’t used the other Ion board shorts harnesses but that B2 is awesome. I think it’s the best board shorts harness. I’ve tried some others in shops.

I wear 36 waist pants (kinda baggy on me) and the XL fits me perfect.

I wear these 1.5 mil neoprene shorts underneath and the combo is comfy as heck.

https://www.amazon.com/Hyperflex-Wetsuits-Unisex-1-5-mm-Neoprene/dp/B0074XKDP8/

I can ride 3+ hours at a time with no back soreness ever. Get one!

Aqualung thermocline zip gloves 5mm work great for me to temps a bit lower than that.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00RNAW4AO?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I like the fourth element hoods, but most brands are pretty good. Just make sure they fit.

Something like this for the skin suit, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003554ETU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_LsD5CbZFK7QNX I guess you could only wear that but I just put it over my jammers.

These for your feet, Deep See Elastain Fin Socks, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0026PHGRC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8zD5CbWJ2GHYW

For a wetsuit it’s all about fit unfortunately. I’m not very brand loyal on wetsuits, just what fits the best. Ideally you’d be looking for something with wrist and ankle seals, integrated hood, and taped seams. Henderson makes one that I know a few people like, Henderson Thermoprene 8/7mm Semi-Dry Mens - Small https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002XAYF2Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_avD5CbMS2J6JP it didn’t fit me quite right so I ended up with this https://www.xcelwetsuits.com/shop/product/dive/polar-hydroflex-hooded-dive-fullsuit-876

I just got a Mares Instinct 7mm top and 5.5 mm bottom for diving in Central/Northern CA (water is 50-55 deg) and love it. Open cell suit and keeps me very warm, and almost totally dry since it fits so well. From amazon, it came to like $220.

Top: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00L8JBZME/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Bottom: http://smile.amazon.com/Mares-Instinct-Wetsuit-5-5-Pants/dp/B00FRQDQJY/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1425930119&sr=8-7&keywords=mares+instinct+camo

Definitely close to just getting http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006P3N51M/ref=twister_B006P3N3KU. Wish it had Prime, though.

Also bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQQ40AY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 since the price seemed good for a new one. Hoping to get enough use out of it before it starts warming up. Should go well with that red board.

Thanks you all very much. What I've gathered from this is if you have the cash a quality dry suit is the by far the best option, where a wetsuit is best only if you don't have the cash or you don't take the time to repair your gear. My next question if you all have the time is what's the difference between these dry suits and why is one twice the cost of the other?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SEZEXFG/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_E5TBwbJZV87DG

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ND21E6/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_R4TBwbS2EC5H6

This one is good value for jut £29, won't be very warm but depending what water you dive with some under layer might work on neoprene suits.

This one is more expensive but a proper product from SeaSkin and MTM.

Changing brands but still budget, some people over here like the Tecline ones, like this one which would probably be warm enough for not very long dives.

Whenever I'm back in the UK I will get either this or this just to keep around in case of need.

The one I really want is the Bare Flex 190 but seems too much money for just an undersuit and it's also outside your price range.

Not sure where your temp range is but I've dove in 48F water with 3mm gloves in a semidry and was plenty warm/toasty.

IMO as long as the rest of your body is nice and warm, you won't really need anything more than 3mm. Plus I think that even 3mm is too restricting. I dive 50F in 1.5mm tropical gloves and they're plenty warm and still dexterous(they're more to keep my hand from getting cut up than for warmth).

EDIT:These are my 3mm in case you're interested. My 1.5mm are O'neill Psycho's.

I just bought an xterra sleeveless tri suit on amazon and love it $109 free two shipping.

xterra wetsuit link

I bought this Neosport based on online reviews and am very happy with it.

5/3 mm, 5 on head, 3 on neck. Don't need thicker as I'm not diving with it.

Given your deadline, you might be better off just going to a local dive shop and getting something that fits you really well.

As an owner of Flows in Ohio that thought this was the right answer, I can tell you, no they do not. While neoprene, you don't get the wet suit effect of a thin layer of warm water. One slushy spot and your feet are frozen. I went with these. A thicker sole, but still had decent ground feel and my feet were perfectly dry and warm.
*edit: added clarification that I own a pair of flows

I bought an Xterra mens Large Volt wetsuit on Amazon for a good price. I'm 6'4" and 182lbs and it fits great on me - used it at a HIM and Full IM

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01IFXYV08/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1494513438&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=xterra+wetsuit&dpPl=1&dpID=51nlQN40AeL&ref=plSrch

This is a pretty goo deal on an xterra volt I just invested in, shipped 4 days before it said it would too.

I'm not sure about the differences between triathlon and surfing wetsuits. The first thing that comes to mind is how hard it would be to take off quickly, which is accounted for in tri wetsuits. It looks like the Patagonia has a front-zip though, so I'm sure it wouldn't be hard.

Whenever I wear a long wetsuit I wear a scuba skin under it and it makes all the difference. The suit is still tight, but it slides over the spandex much easier than it does over skin.

Probably a full body wetsuit or dive skin (dive skins are thinner I think, usually Lycra instead of neoprene). Something like this maybe? You could probably get a long sleeved rash guard, but I don't know about legs. For small scale coverup you could use something like beige colored kinesio tape.

do you mean something like this? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003554ETA/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b2SsoWh_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=VVNT3K8PJS9TDDY62E0E&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=81891df0-d02c-5be3-9f5b-9783532bd209&pf_rd_i=2259067011&th=1&psc=1