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Wet suit question
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 2015-09-26 6:51 AM |
 195  |  Subject: Wet suit questionHello: I posted this question in the gear forum but received no response....so cross posting here. I can't stand swimming with a wet suit and wrestling with it to get it on. The constriction and neck chafing drive me nuts. Well, the water's starting to turn chilly in MN, but I want to swim as late into the fall as possible. A wet suit will become necessary. I would like to find one that is thin to provide some warmth but not too thick as to constrict. What is the thinnest wet suit on the market? What suit provides for the best ease of motion with minimal constriction? Is there an alternative suit for warmth? Thanks! |
| 2015-09-26 7:43 AM in reply to: sthoresen |
| 82 | Subject: RE: Wet suit question Wish I could answer specifics on the suits, but would recommend googling around. But - do not assume a thinner wetsuit will alleviate your issues. Any properly designed and fitted wetsuit will be tight. It should feel (at first) like it is restricting movement. That's what compression clothing tends to do. I have long sleeved compression shirts for spring/fall golfing that take me 3 or 4 holes to get used to. Are you certain you've given it enough time to get used to? Are you certain it fits properly? I've worn wetsuits for nearly 30 years, since I grew up water skiing, barefoot skiing, kneeboarding, etc. I would never call my wetsuit "comfortable" - it's a piece of equipment. As far as chafing - have you tried using a lubricant like body glide, or even a thin layer of Aquaphor or Vaseline around the contact points (neck, underarm, etc). It makes a world of difference. Read up on whether Aquaphor/Vaseline may be harmful to your specific wetsuit. BodyGlide costs more but might be the better long term solution. |
| 2015-09-26 8:12 AM in reply to: sthoresen |
360 Ottawa, Ontario | Subject: RE: Wet suit question I think in general that entry level wetsuits are thicker to provide more buoyancy to weaker swimmers, whereas higher end wetsuits tend to put the emphasis on flexibility as stronger swimmer don't need the help that a more buoyant suit provides in terms of body position. So the bad news is you may be looking at more expensive suits if you are placing the priority on flexibility. There's also just the overall cut of the suit and your body - a suit one person finds good in terms of flexibility another may not. Seems to depend especially on shoulder width and chest size. You're going to have try on a bunch and see what works. FWIW I have wide shoulders and bought a Zoot Force 3.0 after trying on 4-5 suits as it offered the best flexibility in the shoulders (for me anyways). I compared in directly (as in I had them all in hand at the time) with a 2XU and an Aquasphere and the Zoot was noticeably thinner. |
| 2015-09-26 8:30 AM in reply to: sthoresen |
Master 8247   Eugene, Oregon Bronze member | Subject: RE: Wet suit question Sorry I'm not much help here...the wetsuit I want to tell you about is in my closet on the wrong side of the world from here! A few years ago I was really struggling with cold morning pool temps in Oregon (which is home on school breaks). For some reason my back and core muscles cramp badly if Im in cold water too long, and it gets to the point where I can't maintain proper technique or even do a flip turn. Someone on the team recommended a kind of suit that is designed for pool swimming (i.e. places where the pool is open year-round even though it's pretty chilly, poorly heated pools, extra warmth for swimmers warming up for an event), and I ordered one. It comes in sleeveless and sleeve models; mine is sleeveless. the problem is I cannot remember the brand. As I recall it is UK based and a bit hard to get in the States; I think must be ordered online. It wasn't super expensive and held up well to chlorine and frequent use. Anyhow, it was considerably thinner than a typical wetsuit, maybe half the thickness, and didn't nearly give the buoyancy that they do. It served my purposes since I just wanted it for warmth, which it does quite well down to the high 60's for me. Unfortunately there were some fit issues--I'm tall and skinny and seemed to be between sizes with the women's suit, and the upper legs were too big, which created some drag and felt weird. I believed the company name started with "Aqua" but it wasn't "Aquasphere", which is quite well-known. I later replaced it with a sleepless short from ProMotion wetsuits, and Oregon company based in Hood River. Excellent service--I tried a couple of their products to solve the "freezing in the pool" problem and they happily took returns when things didn't fit or didn't work. This one did and I have used it ever since for cold-pool mornings (sometimes just for warmups) as well as OWS training and races which are just marginally wetsuit legal and don't warrant a full. I much prefer swimming in it to my full wetsuit. Zero constriction with that suit. I can swim big practices (up to 4K) with all four strokes in it, no issues. |
| 2015-09-26 8:56 AM in reply to: sthoresen |
Extreme Veteran 1986 Cypress, TX | Subject: RE: Wet suit question Originally posted by sthoresen Hello: I posted this question in the gear forum but received no response....so cross posting here. I can't stand swimming with a wet suit and wrestling with it to get it on. The constriction and neck chafing drive me nuts. Well, the water's starting to turn chilly in MN, but I want to swim as late into the fall as possible. A wet suit will become necessary. I would like to find one that is thin to provide some warmth but not too thick as to constrict. What is the thinnest wet suit on the market? What suit provides for the best ease of motion with minimal constriction? Is there an alternative suit for warmth? Thanks! Entry level suits often tend to be the thinnest. Entry level suits also tend to be the least flexible because they're made with inferior neoprene. So don't think thinner is more flexible (or less restricting) because the reality is pretty much the opposite. A high end wetsuit will be more flexible, and arguably the same thickness or possibly thicker than it's cheaper counterpart. It's all about the quality of the neoprene. |
| 2015-09-26 7:37 PM in reply to: GMAN 19030 |
| 195 | Subject: RE: Wet suit question Thank you all for taking time to provide thoughtful feedback. Most helpful. I do not need or want a wet suit for boyancy. I love the feeling of sliding through water and especially love OWS. I'm sure the suit I have is a low end model so maybe I need to research higher end suits. It's really warmth that I think I need at least for the next month. After that, it will probably be back to the pool full time until spring. Grr... |
| 2015-09-26 9:44 PM in reply to: Hot Runner |
Extreme Veteran 1175 Langley, BC, 'Wet Coast' Canada | Subject: RE: Wet suit question Originally posted by Hot Runner Sorry I'm not much help here...the wetsuit I want to tell you about is in my closet on the wrong side of the world from here! A few years ago I was really struggling with cold morning pool temps in Oregon (which is home on school breaks). For some reason my back and core muscles cramp badly if Im in cold water too long, and it gets to the point where I can't maintain proper technique or even do a flip turn. Someone on the team recommended a kind of suit that is designed for pool swimming (i.e. places where the pool is open year-round even though it's pretty chilly, poorly heated pools, extra warmth for swimmers warming up for an event), and I ordered one. It comes in sleeveless and sleeve models; mine is sleeveless. the problem is I cannot remember the brand. As I recall it is UK based and a bit hard to get in the States; I think must be ordered online. It wasn't super expensive and held up well to chlorine and frequent use. Anyhow, it was considerably thinner than a typical wetsuit, maybe half the thickness, and didn't nearly give the buoyancy that they do. It served my purposes since I just wanted it for warmth, which it does quite well down to the high 60's for me. Unfortunately there were some fit issues--I'm tall and skinny and seemed to be between sizes with the women's suit, and the upper legs were too big, which created some drag and felt weird. I believed the company name started with "Aqua" but it wasn't "Aquasphere", which is quite well-known. I later replaced it with a sleepless short from ProMotion wetsuits, and Oregon company based in Hood River. Excellent service--I tried a couple of their products to solve the "freezing in the pool" problem and they happily took returns when things didn't fit or didn't work. This one did and I have used it ever since for cold-pool mornings (sometimes just for warmups) as well as OWS training and races which are just marginally wetsuit legal and don't warrant a full. I much prefer swimming in it to my full wetsuit. Zero constriction with that suit. I can swim big practices (up to 4K) with all four strokes in it, no issues. Hot Runner, Is the suit called Aquaman? I have seen an older suit by that name. |
| 2015-09-27 1:05 AM in reply to: 0 |
Master 8247 Eugene, Oregon Bronze member | Subject: RE: Wet suit question I don't think so. Not that expensive/high end. (I think I paid about $150 for my suit, if that.) The company specialized in these thinner pool wetsuits, mainly for the UK market but at one time they had a US distributor. Think I found it on Amazon. Not much luck with Google so far. I can ask next time I call home. I know I posted on BT about it once but it was a couple of years ago, maybe three. You could try a search. Anyway, I would recommend ProMotion for better service. It's not as thin as my first "pool wetsuit" but thinner than standard and definitely no constriction. Maybe not warm enough for the OP though. I personally find that down to high-60's or so, if my torso's warm, I'm good. That's not true for everyone. I'm a fairly strong swimmer so I wasn't really looking for a big buoyancy boost (in short races, though, the ease of removal probably cancels any buoyancy disadvantage) and I can move fast enough to keep my arms and legs warm. I think the other suit was marketed as a spring/fall suit as well as a pool suit, if that helps. Edited by Hot Runner 2015-09-27 1:16 AM |
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