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Wetsuits and water Temps
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ray123



Joined: 09 Jul 2000
Posts: 63

PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 10:58 am    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

Hey..
I sail off of Long Island in NY and my rule of thumb is so long as its high 30s and sunny, Im fine. But when its cold I will only go when the wind direction is such that if anything goes wrong, ill just be blown back into shore.
good luck.
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loonie2



Joined: 18 Jun 2004
Posts: 145

PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:04 pm    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

Ive sailed on less than 50 degrees with a wetsuit. My limiting factor in my area is air temperture. For the cold days I wear 2 wetsuits - a 5 ml triathalon sleeveless suit under a light flexible 3/2. Not as good as a drysuit but cheaper.
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morwind4me



Joined: 30 Apr 2002
Posts: 270

PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 1:53 pm    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

I have a drysuit that I really do not wear as much as I should. I often find myself wearing two wetsuits instead; a 3/2 long suit with a 3/2 shorty over the top. I would like to replace both of those (because theyre gettin pretty ratty) with a 4/3, because theyre only about $100 on super sale.

Having said this, I would really like to get in the habit of wearing my drysuit more...its just such a pain to get on and off.

Best of luck.
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gemoore



Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 494

PostPosted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:39 pm    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

As a sports medicine doc who goes out in cold waters, anything but a dry suit is just ignorance looking for premature death. Hypothermia is nothing to mess around with. The danger is cardiac arrest that cant be converted back to a normal rhythm. Of course, nobody knows for sure that it cant be converted until the body temp is back to normal, so they have to do CPR on you for an hour while trying to warm up your core temp. So if you want to be stupid enough to risk it, be sure you complete a living will, so you dont end up like Terry Schiavo. Also, take out a sufficient insurance policy so that your family and taxpayers dont have to foot the bill for your brain-dead body.

Am I getting the point across?

GEM
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ron.c



Joined: 30 Oct 2004
Posts: 1460

PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 5:59 am    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

my take is spend the nickle and get a drysuit. You can easily double your sailing season in comfort. As for the metal zipper, I secure a strap (to the zipper) to any thing chest high and walk it around. After a couple of dances, its easy and fast.

last week - 47 deg air no problem w/ cold

rc
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mastfoot



Joined: 15 Sep 2000
Posts: 136
Location: gulfport ms

PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 10:17 am    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

Better idea move south windy and warm in biloxi right now maxed out on 4.7 saturday in pensacola NO GLOVES NO BOOTIES NO HAT and a .5mm suit
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garys



Joined: 04 May 2002
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:21 am    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

Whats a good dry suit that provides protection, but isnt too restricting? Also, Ive heard that if you get a small tear in a dry suit the water can rush in and drag you under - is this a major concern for using them?
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stpprblah



Joined: 04 Apr 2005
Posts: 1

PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 2:23 pm    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

There is also semi-dry suits of varying quality. Ive never tried one of the these BUT I do have a freediving wetsuit that might be called a semidry. It is a cressi-sub super-competition. It is a two-piece. The bottom is like 7mils but the chest is maybe 5. The top part is 7mils with attached hood. It is open-cell so you need to lubricate (shampoo and water) the suit to get in. It has some niffty features that prevent water from entering, but basically when I get out of this I usually have shampoo still on my arms because no water gets in. I use the suit to freedive in northern california, Im guessing water temps are 50 degress or less during november. These suits arent very popular in the US but are the thing in europe for freediving. There are only two drawbacks: 1) you have to be careful to not nick the inside of the suit because the open-cell is fragile (but at least it doesnt flood like a dry suit if you nick it) and 2) it is a little cold to get it on/off when it is freezing outside but I usually change in the bathroom or if I am close to home just wear the bottom half in the car.

There are lots of different manufactures, another popular brand is Picasso. I bought my suit from www.scubastore.com for around $200 (shipped to my door). The first suit didnt fit right, SS paid for the DHL shipping back to spain and again for the next smaller suit size. I dont know how SS is these days, Ive heard their customer service has fallen because they have gotten so many customers and cant keep up.
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ron.c



Joined: 30 Oct 2004
Posts: 1460

PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:29 pm    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

Gary: In 20 years of owning a drysuit Ive never had a problem or been dragged under. If you had a major failure, the water in your suit isnt any heavier than the water outside. check out the Bare Polar Dry. There is no upper body restriction and you can layer the clothing underneath.
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wsmike



Joined: 07 Jun 2003
Posts: 412

PostPosted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:44 pm    Post subject: RE: Wetsuits and water Temps Reply with quote

Ive sailed in 39 degree water with a 3/2mm wetsuit and a splash guard used for kayaking (my brother gave it to me when he left the country). It worked great and its not like a full suit so its pretty good with entry/exit and keeps the cold out very well. With booties, hood, and gloves Id gladly sail in that ice water again. Maybe 50 degrees is colder on the right coast than it is over here but thats considered warm by our standards.
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