Weights, Nuetral Bouyancy, and Freediving

[freedivernd]

Scott,
most good freediving wetsuits are unlined and therefor are pretty much a "dry" suit. The neoprene is soft and pliable and fits snug to the body but yet lets you move like you're wearing a second skin. My 3mil freediving suit is lined, but still is a pretty much a "dry" suit, very little if any water exchange, even with the 3mil lined I don't feel any water enter the suit when I get in. I would think the main reason for not using them for scuba is that they are quite fragile, mainly because they are smooth neoprene on the outside and don't have that layer of nylon or other material protecting them but also because of the quality of the neoprene. Although I have worn my 5mil and my 3mil and both at the same time for scuba without any trouble I couldn't recommend doing that. I'll be wearing my freediving 5mil at the tailgate dive tomorrow at West McDonald. + they both have integrated hoods so that helps with the toasty warm feeling too.
Something else I thought of.. because they are smooth on the outside they are about instant dry out of the water.. so when you are topside there's no air-conditioning effect either.
Here's a pic of my 3mil lined
Fred

[Freedive WI]

Here's a shot of my 6mm suit. It has nylon on the exterior to protect it from being cut up by rocks and wrecks.

My suits all have wrist, ankle, and face seal to minimise water flow. My thick suit even has a waist seal, as you can see in the picture, to keep water frm flowing up to your chest.

All good freedivng suits come from Europe. Picasso Sub was using biotermic linings in their suits long before Henderson snatched up the idea and started calling it "gold core". Most other freediving suit manufactures have also been using it for some time now.

A good suit will have an attached hood, as Fred noted, and NO zippers. I have made 1 hour long dives, down to a max depth of 25', without getting a single drop of water inside my suit! 8) Of course, I need to flood my suit with water to go deeper, or suffer the same type of squeeze that you would in a drysuit. :-[

A neat little trick to slipping your skin lined suit on is to use a spray bottle filled with a 50% hair conditoner and 505 water solution. Spray the inside of the suit with this and then just slip it right on. Unscented conditioner works best for freedivng because it doesn't scare the fish away.

I have never seen a semi-dry that even comes close to the warmth that a good freediving suit can deliver. If you were to do all of your diving above 60'-70' I don't think that you would even need a drysuit. For deeper scuba dives you still need a drysuit to keep you warm, as a wetsuit looses too much insulation at those depths.

Jon