Choosing your perfect suit
What sport will I be primarily using my wetsuit for?
This is the main thing to take into consideration when buying a wetsuit, as your sport/s of choice will determine how the suit is used and in what conditions. Take surfing for example; ideally you'd like a wetsuit that is super flexible so that it isn't restricting your paddle motion or movement when you're up on a wave. Stiff neoprene when you're surfing just means you'll burn up energy faster. Usually, if you were surfing at the same location as a scuba diver is diving you wouldn't need as thick a wetsuit as the diver, but we'll get into that a bit more below.
It is possible to buy one wetsuit for multiple sports, as long as you make sure it has the features to make it suitable for them. Let's use the comparison between surfing and scuba diving again: when you're surfing you're not going more than a few metres at most underwater when you come off a wave or duck-dive, so the neoprene hasn't been constructed to deal with higher pressures you experience at greater depths. This is essentially because the neoprene in a surfing wettie is a lower density to facilitate more flexibility, simultaneously making it prone to compression. Less volume in your neoprene means it's less efficient at retaining heat, and persistent compression can damage the performance of the neoprene. That being said, a surfing wettie can easily be used for sports like jet skiing, stand up paddle boarding and so on where pressure isn't an issue.
Scuba suits circumnavigate this problem, but there's a trade off involved. Essentially the neoprene used is more dense (so less volume in the bubbles) making it more rigid, and thus, less susceptible to compression. This trade off does mean that these suits are less flexible, but actually that doesn't matter given how little you need to move (comparatively) when scuba diving. Obviously I haven't touched on the key differences between how different wetsuits work in all sports here, but the key message is how they're intended to be used is very different. If you get the wrong wettie for your sport, there's a good chance you'll figure that out pretty quickly. Either that or you'll be finding out via a lip-bashing from your mates.
If you'd like to learn some more key differences between different sports wetsuits then check out our blog "Surf, Scuba, Spear and Freediving Wetsuits: How do they differ?".
Our in-store wetsuit experts can give you advice and online we have a 'Sports' filter on many of our collections to help make it easy.
What style wetsuit do I need?
Our blog about wetsuit styles also provides a breakdown of each style. Although in the below video Jacob is discussing different wetsuit cuts in the context of surfing, you can apply the same logic to every water sport. The basic underlying message is that more neoprene means more warmth - that means if there's more coverage or if it's thicker, then that wetsuit is going to be suited to cooler conditions. Keep in mind that if your sport involves more time spent submerged than above the surface, you'll want to be a bit more generous with the neoprene. A good example of this is the conditions here in southeast Queensland. I've always surfed a 3/2mm steamer through winter, but even on a warm day scuba diving the same style of scuba wettie didn't cut it for me and I could have easily gone an extra 1 - 2mm. That just comes down to water being really effective at conducting heat, meaning it's faster at drawing warmth from your body than air. So if you're completely submerged in it, you're losing heat faster than if you were perched out of the water.
For spearfishing and freediving you might opt for something pretty different to a scuba or surfing suit. Often these wetties will come as a two-piece. You can get an in depth understanding of the reasoning behind this from our blog "2 Piece Vs 1 Piece Spearfishing Wetsuits". Firstly, you'll rarely see a one-piece wetsuit with a hood integrated into the design and when you're diving, a hood makes a huge difference to staying warm and hydrodynamics. Of course with a two-piece design you can imagine having a hood integrated into the jacket is much easier to do.
Another plus of a two-piece design is it's water sealing and flexibility. These two go hand-in-hand when compared with your typical back zip design. A zipper is a weak point for water sealing, and doesn't stretch so it can really reduce the overall flexibility of a suit. In a two-piece, your jacket goes over your pants (either high-waisted or long-john style), with a beaver tail that wraps under the legs to seal the jacket off. This creates a seal between the jacket and pants using only neoprene, so it seals well and generally is more flexible. Our two-piece wetties are also made with Glued and Blind Stitched Seams whereas one-piece wetties sometimes use flatlock stitching that's more prone to leaking.
How thick should my wetsuit be?
Another major criteria, the neoprene thickness of the wettie that you will need, will depend on the water temperature in your area/time of year, and the sport you'll be using it for. And let me preface these next points with the most important factor of all; personal preference. How different people feel the cold can vary a lot - it's all about figuring out what works best for you. Here's a rough guide:
For temperate waters that you'd see around southeast Queensland and northern NSW, 2-5 mm steamer wetsuits will suffice for surfing and diving. During winter your typical wetsuit in the lineup would be a 3/2mm steamer or 2/2mm short sleeve steamer. You can add at least 1mm to this for any diving sports. During summer a surfer will generally shed their neoprene this far north, wearing a 1.5mm spring suit or neoprene jacket at most.
In colder waters (using the example of the southern NSW coast as an example) a 6-7 mm steamer wetsuit or even a semi-dry or dry suit are sometimes recommended for scuba diving. Take into account that even in tropical waters you can get cold on a scuba dive that takes longer than 30 minutes and if you do, a steamer is a better choice than a shortie even though it is hot on land. If you're surfing you'll look to jump into the 4/3mm range. This far south, it's a good idea to add some gloves and booties to your kit for extra coverage, maybe even a hood.
If you see 7-5-3 wetsuits it means that this wetsuit has: a 7mm body, is 5 mm in the arms and legs, and 3mm in the seals at the arms, ankles and neck. This makes these scuba diving wetsuits easier to get in and out of, without losing much of the insulation a 7mm gives. It's a similar principle for other styles of wetsuits, and is also related to flexibility being associated with thinner neoprene and extra warmth through your core.
So what's the go with stitching?
Stitching matters. It's what joins your wetsuit paneling and is a huge factor in terms of durability and can change how flexible a suit feels. Because seams are weak points for water sealing due to the break in the neoprene, the type of stitching also influences how well your wettie seals against water. The quality of stitches on wetsuit seams, particularly with steamers, varies quite a bit.
In ascending order of quality:
- glued stitch (cheapest option);
- over-locked stitch (better, but can be uncomfortable and let water seep in);
- flatlock stitch (flat overlapping neoprene, which is comfortable & affordable) and;
- the blind stitch (interlocked: no piercing, so no leaking, but expensive).
It's important to note that you'll often see combinations of stitching styles used together. A great example of this is Glued and Blind Stitched Seams (GBS) which use flexible glue to reinforce a blind stitch and improve its water sealing. You'll often also see taping or welding on the interior and/or exterior of seams for the same reason, so if you're looking for a durable wetsuit that will last and perform than keep your eyes out for these sorts of features. For more info on different styles of wetsuit stitching check out our blog on wetsuit seams.
