Scuba Diving Wetsuits And Their Features
There are many different types of wetsuits and scuba diving wetsuits are just one of them. There are also wet suits for surfing, competition swimming, and triathlon. The main purpose of a wetsuit, though, remains the same-to prevent loss of body heat by insulating the body in a layer of water between the body and the shell of the wetsuit. Most wetsuits are made of neoprene and different derivatives of neoprene such as stretch neoprene and water repellent neoprene.
Neoprene is very buoyant, helping swimmers to better stay afloat, but it for scuba divers, it prevents them from going under. For this reason divers need to calculate extra weight values based on the thickness of their suit to achieve neutral buoyancy underwater. Neoprene foam rubber is a closed cell material. That is to say, each bubble is a closed sphere of gas, often nitrogen. Neoprene stretches, but not a lot, and more neoprene means increased resistance to movement. To address this, warmer wetsuits usually have thinner and more flexible materials in areas that need a wide range of motion, like the shoulders and arms.
A wet suit loses buoyancy and thermal protection as the bubbles in the neoprene are compressed at depth. This is why as a scuba diver descends, he will feel colder. So for deep sea diving, you would need a wet suit rated for colder temperatures. Neoprene with lots of rubber for extra flexibility will have really poor insulating capabilities.
Any wetsuit needs to be completed by gloves, hoods, and booties. Neoprene gloves not only keep your hands from becoming cold, numb and useless, but also protect them from abrasion. The bottom of the ocean can be quite rough. These gloves usually have reinforced palms so that they won't wear out through repeated gripping.
Wetsuit hoods are good for keeping in body heat that is normally lost through the head. A large part of body heat is lost through the head so if you will be diving in cooler waters, it is important to wear a hood.
A wetsuit, of course, provides two main functions: first is to keep a scuba diver's body warm and the second is to help prevent scrapes and abrasions. For competitive swimming it is useful for streamlining the body allowing faster lap times.
You can shop online for scuba diving wetsuits. However, simply looking at photos and pictures of wet suits will give no indication of their fit and feel. You are best off reading all the news and reviews that you can about particular suits that you are interested in, but go to your local dive shop to try on one. You might also ask some of the instructors at dive schools for recommendations.
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