Any spearfishing enthusiast knows it is very important to ensure that the equipment at your disposal is not only the best that you can afford but also one that is suitable for all of your needs, so that to have a great spearfishing experience . This means that you must ensure a correct wetsuit and the right type of speargun have been chosen, and your diving mask and diving fins fits right. However the spearfishing wetsuit often remain neglected by many of us while most people do pay a lot of attention choosing the speargun and the mask. This is also coz many people do not understand the importance of a wetsuit when spearfishing. A good spearfishing wetsuit provides warmth and overall environmental protection. Protection from fire coral, jelly fish stings etc… as well as abrasion protection from your catch, wrecks and reefs. They also provide protection from the sun on your back if you are free diving, as you will be spending a long time at the surface sighting the reefs. Overall, there’re some details for your reference before buy a spearfishing wetsuit.
Size
A right size spearfishing wetsuit must be fitted to skin tight to achieve optimum warmth and comfort, which means it should fit everywhere like the arm pits, wrists and ankles, it should feel like a second skin when it’s wet, it should not be a problem for a good wetsuit to restrict of movement, unlike the scuba wetsuit, which request to be very flexible. If a wetsuit is too big or baggy you will experience flushing or water flowing through the suit.
Style
There’re two different styles spearfishing wetsuits to chose, below are some details for you to make choice.
Steamer Wetsuit
It’s also called full body wetsuit, meaning the suit has long sleeves and full length legs. It’s mostly used by entry level spearos and freedivers. And it’s very important for spearos to make sure the steamer has a added loading pad on the chest for even more padding when loading large Euro style Spear guns. Normally with a zipper in the back and of course with zipper pull for easy pull off and down.
Two-piece Wetsuit
A two-piece spearfishing wetsuit are composed of a long sleeve top jacket with hood and either high waist pants or long john-design “over-all” pants, it means the upper body is sleeveless, and trousers have shoulder straps. If you need to go to the toilet, the high waisted pants would be your best choice, instead of the long john design, which you have to take your whole top off first. The jacket locks with the bottom differs, normally are sliding clips, toggles or velcro. It provides additional mobility to the divers as well as the flexibility despite of a full suit but with double insulation around the main torso.
Materials
Density
A good choice of spearfishing wetsuit is medium density; high density means minimal variation in buoyancy, it’s a good choice for the deep sea free diver; low density means slightly more comfort, flexibility and warmth which mostly using for surfing.
Types
There’re three types spearfishing wetsuit we saw most.
1)Lycra:
These suits are commonly called as skin suit it’s only used as minimal environmental protection in warm waters. Lycra suit provides a very thin layer of protection that shields you from the sun and stinging organisms. They do not provide thermal insulation like a wetsuit done.
2)Closed cell neoprene:
We see the most standard material used for spearfishing wetsuit, This is more affordable and longer lasting than opened cell suits, it’s good for warmer or beginners looking for a steamer wetsuit, doesn’t need any lubrication to get into and out, durable and offers great protection.
3)Opened cell neoprene:
Mostly ultra performance spearfishing wetsuit are slick rubber with camouflage printing on the outside and open cell neoprene on the inside. It has air bubbles which will stick to your skin providing almost a second skin and gives the ultimate in flexibility, warmth and slippage through the water as well as the least amount of friction. The softness and stretch properties of the open cell suits allow them to form and stick to the divers body which provides greater insulating efficiency, minimal abrasion to the skin, and excellent range of motion. The only disadvantage are finger nails when putting them on or off, it would need the soapy water, lubrication, baby powder or conditioner mixed with a bit of water.
Thickness
Spearfishing wetsuit thickness falls mainly into three categories:
1mm to 1.5mm---warm water (24-28 degrees celcius)
3mm to 5mm---modrate water (16-23 degrees celcius)
7mm plus---cold water (6 degrees and below)
As expected, the thicker the suit, the greater the insulating ability. The downsides are decreased mobility. The normal way to increase the mobility in the water but don’t decrease the insulation is make different thickness for different panel of the suit. For example, when you see in the label as 5/4/3mm, it means 5mm in the torso, 4mm in arms and legs, and 3mm in the shoulders and the joints where it needs the flexibility.
Camouflage shell color
What color to chose for the camouflage, it depends on the color of the water you’re spearing in. Some people may spearfish in green waters, brown waters or maybe blue waters. Choose whatever colors best accommodate with your desired diving environments.
It’s also a good idea to go and buy wetsuit socks, gloves and boots if you want to protect yourself a bit better, so that your hands and feet can also be protected from the cold water. After all, aiming correctly is a big part of spearfishing successfully and if your hands feel too cold then you probably will not be able to aim as well as you otherwise would have. A spearfishing wetsuit is not something that you buy everyday and this is why if you are in the shop for a wetsuit, then take your time and make sure that you make the correct choice.
