Wetsuits for Freediving _ Everything you NEED to Know about Freediving Wetsuits

Hello freediving family. Today we are going to talk about everything to do with wetsuits. This topic actually is a little bit more complex than you may expect. So I'm going to start nice and slow just to make sure that we cover everything. Everybody already in the family, make sure that you hit the little notifications bell so that you'll know when I put new tutorials out. And otherwise if you're not in the family, you know what to do. The reason why we wear wetsuits is pretty simple. They insulate us and they keep us warm in the water. You may have noticed that when you're cold, you're very bad at freediving. And that's fine. When I'm cold, I'm very bad at freediving too. Very bad. I actually don't handle the cold very well at all. And because I'm a terrible, spoiled person, I usually try to avoid diving in water that's anything less than 25 degrees. So first I'm going to talk about the three different types of wetsuits that we use in freediving. And then I'm going to talk about the different features of a wetsuit so that you can narrow down what you're looking for and what's going to work best for you. The first type of wetsuit and the one that you may be most familiar with is what we call a closed-cell wetsuit. It means that the neoprene, which is the rubber that insulates us and keeps us warm, is covered on both sides, on the inside and on the outside, with a lycra or a nylon or any other kind of fabric. You can use these wetsuits for freediving and they do get the job done, but they are more commonly associated with scuba diving or with surfing or other things, other water sports activities. The second is an open-cell wetsuit. And that's when there is no fabric or no lining on the interior of the wetsuit. And that rubber makes direct contact with your skin. That's what it looks like inside. And this rubber makes direct contact with your skin and it keeps you very, very warm. Toasty warm. To get into these wetsuits, though, you actually have to lubricate them because that is just rubber. Rubber making direct contact with the skin. Now, divers will use anything from ordinary sex lube to kitchen soap. Personally, what I do is I fill up a bottle of water and I put a little bit of hair conditioner in it. I shake the bottle up and I am good to go. The reason why I use conditioner and not soap is because I feel like the conditioner isn't as harsh on the actual rubber itself. The reason why I don't use lubricant is because I'm not a pervert. These are the most common spearfishing wetsuits that you'll see and that's why most of them are camouflage. These are almost always two-piece wetsuits and the bottom section usually finishes around the waist or sometimes they're a Farmer John style bottom, just like this one that goes over the shoulders as well. The third type of wetsuit is a smooth-skin wetsuit. Now, there's no fabric or lining over the neoprene, but rather a coating that gives this fragile neoprene more durability. These wetsuits allow you to move through the water with less friction and they stop any wind chill. But they are quite fragile, so you really don't want to get washed up onto the rocks while you're wearing them or you don't want to scratch or cut it with anything because usually the neoprene that goes into making these wetsuits is quite fragile. It's very flexible and very warm and comfortable, but quite fragile. Just so you know, you can also get wetsuits that are both smooth-skin and open-cell, so there's no lycra, nylon or any fabric at all, just like this one. I wonder who this one belongs to. These wetsuits are the most fragile and they're mostly used for competitive freediving because they allow you the greatest flexibility while keeping you the warmest. To give you an idea of the price of these wetsuits that I'm talking about, I've included a link in the description below to the actual dive shop that I'm shooting this video in. They have a really good range, so it'll give you a good idea about prices in general for what we're looking at. Alright, so now, what are we even looking for when it comes to a wetsuit? Basically, the flexibility, the durability, the cut or the shape of the wetsuit and the quality of materials. Those are the four things that we're looking for. Really quickly, guys, it's really not my aim with any of the videos that I make to tell you what brands to go and get, to show you what gear you should be buying. I would much prefer to arm you with the knowledge to understand the gear on your own so that you can make an informed decision and choose something that's right for you. I don't want to just be like, go and buy this wetsuit, go and buy this wetsuit. I want you to know what to look for in a wetsuit. Flexibility, for me, is the most important factor. The less resistance that you have on your movements when you're diving, the more comfortable that you're going to be underwater, which is going to have a huge impact on how long you can hold your breath for. Also, the more flexible a suit, the tighter and the smaller fit that you can wear, which will give you a full range of movement, but it will stop water from flowing in and out of the wetsuit, which cools you down. Because a 3mm suit that fits you snugly will keep you just as warm as a 5 or even a 7mm suit that doesn't fit well and lets water flush in and out. Ultimately, the goal is actually to be able to wear as thin a suit as possible because neoprene is incredibly buoyant. The thicker the suit, the more neoprene that you're wearing. And the more neoprene that you're wearing, the more weight you have to wear to be able to get down. It's best to wear as little weight as possible. A more flexible suit means that you can wear a thinner suit, which means that you can wear less weight and you'll be just as warm as if you were wearing a thicker wetsuit. Durability is important because, well, if you buy a wetsuit, you want it to be able to last. We're not only talking about how durable the neoprene is or the fabric in your wetsuit, we're also talking about the quality of the stitching and how the wetsuit is actually glued or stitched together. Wetsuits get really harsh treatment in the elements and you're going to want a suit to last for as long as it can before the lycra starts cracking, the stitching unravels, or the neoprene tears. Just so you know, no matter what suit you buy, eventually, it will die. Like my wife, the ocean is unforgiving. She's going to be so mad I said that. She's really not. She's really the sweetest person ever. I am punching above my weight. Now, compared to your other wetsuits, like your surfing wetsuits or your scuba diving wetsuits, a free-diving wetsuit will often sacrifice some durability for a little bit more flexibility. I mean, scuba suits need to handle all that equipment that rubs on it constantly. And when you're scuba diving, it's really not that much of an issue to be wearing a lot of weight. So often what scuba divers will do is they'll just wear a thicker wetsuit that will be incredibly durable, and just pop on a little bit of extra weight. Whereas in free diving, we just can't afford to do that. We can't afford to wear the extra weight. A lot of spearfishing wetsuits also have pads on the knees, the elbows, the backside, because those are the areas that get the most wear and tear, especially when you're getting knocked around on rocks. And if you've ever wondered what that pad on the chest is for, that's the loading pad to cushion your chest for when you're reloading your gun. Now, you can use a scuba diving wetsuit or a surfing wetsuit for free diving. It's not a problem at all. But as you get more and more into free diving, you may eventually want to get a free diving suit. So we've already touched a little bit on the cut or the shape of the suit, but once again, I'm just going to say that the goal in free diving when it comes to wearing wetsuits is to be able to wear as thin a suit as possible so we can wear as little weight as possible. And so the goal of free diving wetsuit manufacturers is to make wetsuits that are as closely fitted to the body as possible. You'll notice that a lot of these suits are tapered quite well to the natural shape of the body. This is also why many free diving wetsuits are two-piece wetsuits. With a two-piece wetsuit, manufacturers have a little bit more leeway with the cut or the shape of the suit because you can buy a wetsuit with a different sized top or bottom, or vice versa. So if you're top-heavy or bottom-heavy, you can have a wetsuit that fits you just as well. And also, separating the wetsuit in the middle gives you a much greater range of movement, so you can make it tighter and better fitted without sacrificing the diver's mobility. A lot of free diving wetsuits also come with hoods. Hoods are great. They keep your head warm. Some people don't like wearing them, and I have to say that when I first started free diving, I didn't really feel comfortable with this hood around me. But after I was diving for a while, I started to feel incredibly safe and comfortable inside my little hood. So much heat is lost through the head, and the hood really makes a difference when it comes to your warmth. Most one-piece suits won't come with a hood at all. And so often people will buy detached hoods, which they can then wear with the wetsuit, but almost all two-piece wetsuits will come with a hood. Oh, just a little note. If you're wearing a hood, you need to actually put a little bit of water into the hood, or flush water into the hood, because if you don't, it's going to be very hard to equalize because the air in there is going to compress, and the hood's going to suck onto your ears. I personally just flush a little bit of water into the hood, but some divers even burn little holes into the hood just over the ears, so that water will just go in and out without them having to do anything at all. A lot of freedivers actually use custom-made wetsuits. I myself use them for my competitions. This is a custom-made wetsuit, and basically I took about 25 measurements of my body, and a few weeks later, I have a wetsuit that just fits me, that just hugs my body in the best way. No one can hug you like a wetsuit can. They're actually not as expensive as you may think, and they are definitely the best wetsuit you will ever wear. You can get closed-cell, open-cell, smooth-skin, whatever colours you want. You can mix and match and make whatever colour scheme you like. They're the best. Freedivers are vain, people. Now, lastly, the quality of materials. Different suits will have different qualities of nylon, lycra, and neoprene, and that makes a huge difference for the overall quality of the suit. It has a huge effect on how flexible the suit is going to be, and often, the more flexible a suit is, the more fragile it is. So there is always a case where we are sometimes sacrificing durability for flexibility, which always leads to more warmth and comfort. So you need to make a call for yourself. Do you want a higher-performing wetsuit that won't last you as long, or a lesser-performing wetsuit that will last a few more years? Or maybe you're going to want something in the middle. The best thing to do, as always, is just to go to your local dive shop and chat to the guys in the store, because they know their products. Also, don't forget to comment down below what wetsuit you actually wear. A lot of people are going to be watching this video before they go and buy their first wetsuit, and it's really important for them to know, just in general, what people are using, what's out there. There are many different types of neoprene. Different neoprenes compress under pressure at different rates. Some compress more, some compress less. Now, I'm not going to go into this in too much detail, because it gets real complicated. Basically, the more that a neoprene compresses, the greater buoyancy change there is going to be on a dive. It's going to be more buoyant on the surface and less buoyant at depth, which means you're going to sink faster, but it'll also be harder to get back up. Neoprenes that are not as compressible will maintain their size and their buoyancy throughout the entirety of the dive. So often, it's just a matter of style and what a person prefers. There are two types of neoprene that I want you guys to look out for. That is Yamamoto neoprene and Shiko neoprene. These are, in my opinion, the two best neoprenes, and usually, wetsuit manufacturers who are using these materials in their wetsuits will advertise that they're using those materials. They'll be like Yamamoto or Shiko written somewhere on the label. Some wetsuit manufacturers even put that information on the wetsuit itself in different places. For example, so keep your eye out for it. Now, when it comes to the thickness of a wetsuit, it's very simple. The thicker the wetsuit, the warmer you're going to be. Just as a rough guide, in tropical water, from, let's say, 26 to 30 degrees, you're only going to need a 1 or a 1.5mm wetsuit. For water in between 20 and 26 degrees, a 3mm wetsuit will be just fine. If the water is in between 16 and 20 degrees, you're probably going to want a 5mm wetsuit, and any colder than that, you shouldn't be diving. And if you are diving, you're probably going to want to wear a 7mm or a 10mm or something like that, something crazy. Just think of that as a super rough guide and mostly just my opinion. Anyway, guys, that is it for wetsuits. That was a lot of talking, even for me. Make sure that you do share the video around so your dive buddies can see it. We're making a community here. If you are a freediver and you want to join the freediving family, then you know where the subscribe button is. Otherwise, guys, I will see you in the water somewhere. I'm Adam Stern. I hold my breath and dive really deep. Don't forget to subscribe and join the freediving family. Also, check out this video because I think you might like it. Otherwise, this is the most recent video that I've posted to my channel.