Diving Wetsuit

Things we need to know about exposure diving suit


The diving suit it is not just a simple outfit. Each suit for diving is based on a few accessories that help to decrease the hot transmission between our body and water. The exposure protection part of our scuba equipment or diving suit can include gloves, hoods, boots, dry suit or wetsuit.

Depending on the environment conditions we’ll need to use a dry or wetsuit, also hood, boots and gloves will be required depending on the water conditions where we plan to dive. Let’s have a look at some brief introduction of these items required to wear for diving.

Components and Materials

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Wetsuit: most of the canoeists, windsurfers, divers and surfers wear this suit made from neoprene. It provides buoyancy and low density in water. Abrasion resistance and thermal insulation are also provided by wetsuit to the divers. The different types of this suit are full suit, long john, jacket, hooded tunic and sleeveless vest.

Dry suit: the enthusiasts, water sportsperson, boaters and divers commonly wear this suit. Apart from the feet, hands and head, the dry suit normally protects your whole body. It is mostly used by the divers who dive in the cold water, where there is an increased risk of hypothermia. It is a bit complex suit and we’ll have to learn about their wearing process. All of the dry suits are waterproof.

Hoods: The hoods are used to the diver’s head warm while seals water out around their face. It is commonly made with the neoprene and rubber that protects the face from the water properly. One kind of hood is a standard wetsuit hood with a large flange and other extends only to the base of the neck. The wetsuit hood keeps your neck warmer. However, the hood of a dry suit focuses on protecting your head. The dry suit’s hood is used in cold weather and therefore, it becomes necessary to protect your head from chilled water. The hoods can be bought with different sizes.

Boots: the thin-sheet rubber boots are commonly used in sports diving. The heavy built-in boots mostly come with a dry diving suit. The fitted ankle seals or socks are commonly used with surface dry suits. For the prevention from risk of puncture, an outer boot can normally be worn over the socks. It allows better foot control of surfboards and water skis due to fitted latex rubber ankle seals in place of socks. The boots for dry as well as wetsuit come with different features and advantages.

Gloves: most of the dry and wetsuits come with fitted gloves. It depends on the buyer whether he/she buy attached or separate gloves. The use of gloves is not quite necessary. However, it is suggested in the cold weather especially in ice diving and when other diving site conditions require it (like strong currents, drift diving or when descending using a line). Both the mitts and heavy-rubber gloves are used with the dry diving suit.

Features and Styles

Diving Wetsuit

The styles and features of a diving suit change with the trends. With the advancements in manufacturing, the quality, features and design of these items have improved as compared to what it was few decades ago. The plain and one-colored wet or dry suit was highly in fashion few years ago. These days, the trend of printed diving suit with floral designs is immensely popular among the divers. These beautiful designs improve the style of diving suits.

Due to advancement in technology, you can get improved features in the wet or dry suits. These features help you to give a memorable diving experience with a great protection from water. Some of the wet or dry suits come with the attached camera and microphone so that a diver can stay connected with the people from outside. The waterproof cameras attached with the diving suits help to capture the pictures from inside the depth of water.

All of these features show that diving has become safest and anybody can try it. But it doesn’t mean that you can dive easily only by wearing such suits. You will definitely have to get proper training of diving.

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