buying jammers

Just curious, what's the advantage of the jammers vs. Tri shorts?  Jammers are specifically for swimming?

Jammers are specifically for swimming, if you use the tri shorts in the pool all the time the chlorine will eat away at them and you will eventually be showing off mroe than you want to (read seethru). This can also happen with jammers so it's recommended to steer clear of the 100% lycra suits.

ive found sizes match up pretty well, so i might go with a 34.  also, if you are swimming in chlorinated water i would advise against a nylon / lycra blend like the ones you are looking at, they wear out in a couple months.  go with 100% polyester, ive got a pair of them that are going on 2 years now.

I have basically that exact same pair and I bought a 34 which is also my waist size too.
I love them.  I use them to practice swim in at the pool and they have last 3 months so far without any signs of wearing out (I swim 2-3 times per week on average).  I just made sure that when I am showering at the gym that I also give them a good rinse and hang them to dry out.  They dry out quickly which is really nice as well.
I actually have a sprint race coming up and I am going to wear them under my wetsuit and just wear them on the bike ride since it is only 15k. And if I feel like it I will just throw on running shorts over them for the run.

Apology beforehand if this sounds rude; BUT, where do you live that the water would be wetsuit legal right now; AND, is it beneficial to wear a wetsuit for a sprint?  ALSO, why would you put on running shorts over jammers for the run, arent they basically the same as wearing bike or tri shorts without the pad.  Again, sorry if this is misinterpreted as rude, i've never owned jammers, I'm old school and do all of my pool swimming in a speedo.

Of go with the Speedo Endurance brand jammers. The lycra ones are complete bunk.

I wear 32 waist and that translated perfectly over to my Nike jammers.

I was able to try my speedo jammer on in the store before I bought it.  Thank God I did.  Clothing industry has a terrible time stating size of "waist" vs "hips" on the labels.  Of course my beer drinking, beer cheese, chicken wing waist is way much larger than where I wear my pants, shorts, jammers, underwear, chasity belt (jking).  If you buy online, I would recommend going to a shop near you that lets you try them on first and make sure its the same brand when you buy them online cheaper.

All my previous jammers were the same as my jean size, but my most recent ones (which I love the most), the speedo endurance (polyester) I had buy a size or two bigger.

Kritra-
No you weren't rude.  I live in Chicago so the temperature in Lake Michigan can be 55 one day and 72 the next.  So it's always good to have a wetsuit handy just in case.  I know a wetsuit adds time in T1 but if the water is 60 that day I just may want to wear it even though it's only an 800m swim.
I don't wear running shorts over jammers but I have seen people do it so I just mentioned it.  And yes, they are basically the same as bike short or tri shorts but without the padding.  I used the jammers for my first sprint because I was saving up extra cash for a tri suit at the time.  And no one wants to run in soggy bike shorts

I was planning to do my first sprint in 2 weeks in some older cycling shorts that I have. The chamois is fairly thin but has just enough pad to help on the bike. Is this a bad idea? I'm hoping that by the time the bike is done they'll be dried out enough or at least not soaking wet to the point where it feels like I"m dragging a loaded diaper with me on the run. I'm going to try this out tomorrow by riding home from OWS training in them to see how it goes.

Thoughts?

Thanks Blackledge; I would kill for some 60 degree water right now.  I'm in south Louisiana so I can't imagine wearing a wetsuit right now.  I've done some super sprints in my speedo (yes i'm that guy) without the pad and wasn't uncomfortable.

So the main reason for wearing jammers in the pool is to reduce drag?  I wear trunks.  I figure that I would rather see slower times in practice and be happy on race day.  Perhaps that will motivate me to keep working harder. 

Any other reasons?  Do they help you float like a wetsuit?  Thanks

Yes its the closest thing to wearing a speedo without wearing a speedo.

When I was younger I Was so used to wearing a speedo I actually had to wear one under a bathing suit or boardshorts or I couldn't swim.

I wear just a normal bathing suit now to train for the drag like you mentioned, similar to how when I was younger I would practice in a looser fitting suit or two suits, the second usually being very worn out and often ripped.

I'm getting a rash on my thighs from something in the lake where I do my ows practice though so probably going to pick up some jammers to wear under my normal suit. Like someone above mentioned hip and waist sizes are different so depending on where you actually wear your pants the size may not be as accurate.

I'm a swimmer and have owned many jammers before.  By far the best pair are the Speedo Endurance jammers.  I believe it's because they are made of polyester.  So any polyester jammer will be invincible in a chlorinated pool.  But my endurance suits are still in great condition long after my last swim season has ended.  Regular jammers only lasted a couple weeks before becoming see-thru and sagging past my knees.

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it.

I'm currently using my Asics running shorts and they work fine. They are starting to show some bare spots around the bottom seams, so it'll only be a short while before they explode open.

I guess I'm at a slight advantage b/c my home pool uses salt water solution in place of the chlorine. I'm hoping that's going to be an advantage though.