wetsuit questions

I agree that there in a difference between need and want.  However wetsuits do provide some advantages. 

1) Security blanket-  it's nice being buoyant.  If something happens you flip over and you can recover or wave for help.  You don't start sinking though and that's comforting to a lot of people swimming in OWS (myself included)

2) Technique improvement-  Since you are buoyant you don't need to kick much if at all and the suit will keep you level in the water reducing drag making you faster. 

3) Warmth- This is sometimes important but then again sometimes not.  If the first two reasons don't motivate you then the water temp there will likely be warm enough to do without it.

I had a race this weekend and out of about 2200 people I think I saw 2 without wetsuits and the water was 73 on Saturday and 71.9 (or lower on Sunday). 

As far as brands and other options-  I have a Promotion full sleeve and I recently rented a Fit2Race sleeveless.  Last season I swam in a Promotion sleeveless.  I prefer the sleeveless to the full sleeve regardless or other factors.  Water under 65 I would prefer the full sleeve but in all honesty I'd probably use the sleeveless at this point.  You can read my review of the promotion in the gear review on the site.  I'll do one of the F2R sometime soon.  Here's my shameless plug of F2R.  The rental process took about 3 minutes and it arrived a week later.  The trial period is 30 days which is quite long for rentals.  I compared that suit to my other one and it was hands down the winner.  Getting into transition the suit took less than 10 seconds to take off.  The legs are 3/4 so when you peel the suit off it doesn't get stuck and away you go.  The collar is nice.  I did 1400yd without body glide and had no wetsuit burn.  Next season I will be wearing F2R.  They are Clyde/Athena friendly and make sizes that fit.  The total cost of the rental including shipping (to and from) was $65 (I think) $35 for the rental and $15 each way shipping.  They want a deposit but it was only $140.  Compared to other suits I think that was a great deal.  There are other brands out there and you'll get some feedback so weigh it out and see what you really want. 

FWIW- If you think after the race you might say to yourself - "if only".  Then rent a wetsuit.   

There are lots of threads about wetsuits--putting them on and taking them off.  Try body glide on ankles, wrists, neck.  Also put a plastic bag over your foot when stepping in.  To remove, I unzip in the water, fill it full of water (sort of 'sloosh' it in through the neck/back) and it comes right off the top half(full suit).  Then the rest of the water goes into the legs so that by the time I am in T1, it is really easy to pull off the rest of the way.

Now, whether to wear one or not....I didn't wear mine in the sprint I did on Saturday, thinking "it's only 400m" and "it's warm outside (78) and in the water" (71).  During the race, I was one of few without wetsuits, and I felt at a disadvantage due to the lack of my usual speed and floatation.  So, this Saturday, I will be wearing my full wetsuit for another sprint with a short swim to see if that makes a difference.  Basically when I started the race I was front and center (oops) and got swam over by some women wearing wetsuits, no matter how hard I sprinted.  Perhaps it would have happened anyway, but I will test my theory on Saturday and post again.

The good news is that I was the winning Athena!

Bodyglide- it's for your skin in sensitive areas and something you will likely get very familiar with.  It may help your wetsuit come off but not if it gets stuck on your ankles.  The bodyglide keeps you fron getting friction burns (wetsuit kiss).  However there is a thread called "clydes where do you put the glide".  That should prove informative. 

There really aren't any silly questions.  Failure to know something important can lead to some unnecessary pain and suffering.  Also there's not much that's TMI here or that hasn't been discussed so ask often and things will likely go better.

the only silly questions are the ones not asked!!

you very well may be asking a question some other newbie like myself wanted to know and was afraid to ask.

Keep in mind using Bodyglide may void the warranty on a 2XU wetsuit. They won't repair a suit with Bodyglide residue on it. They might repair it, but according to them they don't have to. And they don't tell you this when you buy it, only when you need to send it in for warranty work.

I don't know if other suits have the same caveat.

Brent