The first time you put on a wetsuit... (Page 2)

15 min probably or there-abouts. These days, a lot less, I use plastic bags on my feet and a bit of baby oil on my arms. works like a charm. However I do find that until the race starts, I am still pulling it up , esp in the arms, trying to get a snug a fit as posible

Very different.  Someone may correct me on the specifics, but essentially I believe that a tri suit is designed for buoyancy and speed, the outside of it is very fragile and has to be taken care of.  A scuba wetsuit is designed more for warmth.  You would have a heck of a time trying to dive in a tri suit, and would most likely ruin the top when donning your BCD.

If you are careful, it should not be a problem getting your wetsuit over your watch or timing chip.  I sometimes put my watch (310xt) on after I get my wetsuit on as its usually easier to get off than on.  I use body glide around the neck line, ankles and wrists and sometimes on my shoulders.  Some people trim the bottom of the legs on their wetsuit so they dont go all the way to their ankles, but if you do this, pay attention to where the stitching is.

I find that body glide is going to be helpful to relieve chaffing.  As such, the only place you may want it is your neck.  It really isn't some magical slippery substance that helps the wetsuit go on or off much better.

Put your timing chip and watch on after the wetsuit.  Then tuck them up under the edge of the suit.  If you will be keeping your watch on the outside of the suit so you can hit buttons, be very careful when ripping that arm out of the wetsuit.

If you try baby powder let me know how it works out.  It will turn to 'mud' during the swim, but even before you put your suit on you will be sweaty (because you did a warmup!) so it will cake on you then too.

Make sure you are turning the suit inside out as you pull it off.

And here's something I do that will cause a chorus of screams!  After my suit is on, I rub vaseline on my exposed wrists and my exposed ankles and top of my feet.  This allows the suit to just drop right off of me.

You will hear that vaseline will destroy the neoprene.  Well, if it does it destroys it so slowly it will be worn out first...at least with the frequency I use the vaseline trick.

another trick that Freedivers/ spearfishermen use for wetsuits that are open cell/ dont have any sort of liner on the inside of the neoprene, is to mix up a concoction of hair conditioner with a bit of water to thin it out. put it in a spray bottle and spray either your body or the inside of the legs and arms and the suit slides right on. the conditioner doesnt hurt the suit, but may be a little slimy after the swim. 

i dont have a tri suit yet so cant test it out, maybe somebody out there will test and let us all know?

RE: lubrication

The back of the neck is critical for me. After a HIM swim in my suit my neck was so raw that it ended up as one big scab. Now I put on cycling chamoise lubricant or a patch of duct tape on the back of my neck for long wetsuit swims. 

Is that question pertaining to the Subject line?

I just got my wetsuit in mail and spent the last 30+ minutes sweating buckets trying to get this thing on!  It fits really tight and I had a lot of trouble zipping up the suit.  My back is pretty wide and the zippers just refused to go up without tugging on it really hard.  Also, I feel my body movement is pretty restricted in the suit.  Is this all normal for the first time and will it loosen up a bit after using it a few times?

I purchased the TYR Hurricane Cat 3 in S/M and I'm 5'9" 152lbs, which would be me in the lower end of the weight range and in the middle for the height range...  Now, I'm wondering if I should exchange it for a medium.

It's not possible to tell if the size is right or wrong yet.

There are 2 important things to understand.  The first is that you should have someone else zip up your suit.  I've never zipped up my own wetsuit.  It's entirely 'normal' for someone to have to strongly pull the 2 halves together while zipping it up. 

The second thing is that it's also normal for a suit to feel like it's crushing you until after you get in the water, dunk down, pull the collar open and let water rush in around your chest.  Then do the same at your wrists.

Until you get water in there, the suit doesn't relax.  It makes all the difference.

I'm a born and raised surfer and have been doing it all my life so wetsuits fit well and go on in less than a minute. When I got my first "tri" wetsuit it was a pain so all I did was spray Pam cooking spray on my legs and it slid right on and when I was done it slid right off. Plastic bags? Really? Try the Pam.