- March 27, 2009
- December 18, 2008
- Wetsuit
Why Should You Wear a Wetsuit?
It is always important to protect your body, whether it's from dangerous infections, cold water or physical harm. Here are some reasons why you should be wearing a wetsuit when you are in the water.
Choosing a Cold Water Wetsuit for Surfing
Surfing in water temps of 65 and below demand the use of a cold-water wetsuit. Choose a full suit with the appropriate thickness.
History of Wetsuits
Wetsuits are perhaps the single most important apparel in the water sports community. Not only do these light-weight, skintight outfits look great, they also help you protect your from the hazards of the sea.
How to Choose a Wetsuit?
Choosing your wetsuit is always a delicate process since any imperfections will limit the amount of fun you have in the water. So what to look for when you are choosing a wetsuit?
Taking Care of Your Wetsuit
If you just got a wetsuit, you will probably be wondering what the life expectancy of an average wetsuit is. Well, interestingly, it depends on how you handle that piece of apparel. If you know the correct ways of wetsuit maintenance, it will be of good service for years.
A Look at Wet Suits for Kids
Other than youth wet suits that contain built-in flotation devices -- or the odd, extremely expensive wet suit made for that tiny scuba diver or mini-athlete in the family -- these swimsuits for kids are mostly about style.
An Introduction to Wet Suits
Designed initially for scuba divers and then popularized by surfers, the wet suit has evolved from a simple layer of protection from the wet and cold into a system that warms, protects and aids the swimmer, surfer or deep sea diver that uses them.
A Guide to Infant Wet Suits
In this category, the bulk of available choices in infant wet suits is all about buoyancy in the water. Since the occurrence of infant scuba divers or infant competitive swimmers is extremely rare, almost all designs center around the single most important factor for infant swimmers -- keeping them afloat in the water.
A Guide to Surfing Wet Suits
Surfing wetsuits are a breed unto themselves. To begin with, there are cool, surfer-dude designations used to describe the different styles of surfing wet suits. The first is the spring suit which has short legs and short arms and is used to keep the upper body warm and has a thickness of materials of about 2mm.
A wetsuit is a protective garment used for watersports such as scuba diving, surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, and triathlon. A modern, warm-water wetsuit is mostly made from thin open-cell neoprene, which provides limited thermal protection for activities in cold water, but protects the wearer in warm water from sun exposure. Cold-water wetsuits are built differently, have seams which do not leak, and provide good protection from cold water (to about 45°F, or 8°C) for up to 60 minutes in shallow water (less than 10 meters or 33 feet). A wetsuit is usually lined with a nylon fabric to strengthen it and make it easy to put on and take off. Some newer wetsuits, usually marketed as "superflex", contain spandex in addition to neoprene to allow the suit to stretch (the panels of a wetsuit of this type typically contain 15-20% spandex). This counteracts neoprene's tendency to shrink with age; it also allows for some changes in the wearer's size without making the suit uncomfortable.
Wetsuits help to preserve body heat by trapping a layer of water against the skin; this water is consequently warmed by body heat and acts as an insulator. Water conducts heat away from the body approximately 25 times more efficiently than air, so an unprotected individual can succumb to hypothermia even in warm water on a warm day. Wetsuits are made out of closed-cell, foam neoprene, a synthetic rubber that contains small bubbles of nitrogen gas when made for use as wetsuit material. Nitrogen gas has very low thermal conductivity, so it reduces heat from the body (or the water trapped between the body and the wetsuit) from being lost to the water outside of the wetsuit. Some wetsuits of late have even begun to incorporate Merino wool and titanium fibers to add warmth characteristics, while keeping the thickness of the suit to a minimum. A wetsuit must have a snug fit to work efficiently; too loose a fit will allow water to escape from between the suit and the body, taking the body's heat with it. Flexible seals at the suit cuffs aid in the water retention. Neoprene is very buoyant, helping swimmers to better stay afloat, and for this reason divers need to calculate extra weight values based on the thickness of their suit to achieve neutral buoyancy underwater. The suit loses buoyancy and thermal protection as the bubbles in the neoprene are compressed at depth.