Yet another wetsuit question

[DetectorGuy]

I have a 7mm wetsuit that is a 'Bare Alpine' that has an attached hood and 'smooth skin' seals at the wrists, ankles, and around the face. This is to minimize water transfer. It also has an extra 8MM spine pad that helps to keep the kidney area warmer. I only paid $179 for it new and I really like it. I don't like it better than a drysuit, but in the river or other snaggy areas it is cheap enough that I don't worry about wrecking a drysuit. The other nice thing is that its a front zip because of the attached hood. If your a guy who drank a bunch of coffee before the dive thats a good thing. If I am going on a two day dive I bring it with for a back up to the drysuit, and needed it one time when I blew a neck seal.

I think the biggest thing if you want a warm wetsuit is minimizing water transfer and maintaing thickness of the insulation. Look for a wetsuit that is made of "crushed neoprene' as this neoprene is pre crushed and is denser than the old regular neoprene. That way at depth the 7MM won't compress down to 5MM or so. The tighter the better with decent internal seals to keep from 'pumping in' fresh cold water is good too.