When a Custom Wetsuit is Worth the CashA custom wetsuit….hmmm when am I going to need one of them? Standard size custom wet suit? How does that work?Wetsuits come in an array of standard sizes, but people on the other hand, tend to come in shapes and sizes that aren’t quite so standard.Needless to say that if you’re six foot ten and weigh 285 pounds, it’s going to be a bit more difficult than taking a jaunt to the local dive shop to find a wetsuit that fits you right. So what do you do? Do you resign yourself to shivering through your dives for the rest of your life? Or do you go out and get yourself a custom wetsuit? If you’re a serious diver, the choice is obvious. You need that wetsuit! But how do you go about finding a custom wetsuit?How thick do you need the wetsuit to be?Should you get a one-piece, a two-piece, or a shorty? And how much is all this going to cost you anyway? All good questions and the answer is a solid, “It depends.” Let’s tackle the issue of cost first. If you have to deviate from standard wetsuits, be prepared to pay a little less than twice what a standard wetsuit costs. Paying $450 for a custom wetsuit is fairly common so what you have to do is make sure you can get the most bang for your buck. To that end, I’d highly recommend going with a two-piece wetsuit. A two-piece will consist of one suit that looks a lot like overalls. It goes from your ankles to your shoulders and doesn’t have any sleeves. This piece is aptly named the “farmer john.” The second piece looks like a pair of shorts connected to a long sleeved shirt. This piece is known as a “shorty.” The benefit of having a two-piece wetsuit lies in versatility. If you’re diving in waters around 78 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (25 to 29 degrees Celsius), you can use the one piece to provide you a little bit of warmth and protection from scraps and stings, but once the temperature gets around 73 and lower (23 degrees Celsius), you can add your second piece for added thermal protection. Basically you get three suits in one: your shorty, your farmer john, and the combination of the two. How about wet suit thickness?Once you’ve decided on the type of wetsuit to buy, you need to choose how thick you want the suit to be.If you dive in waters that get down to around 64 degrees (20 degrees Celsius), you’ll want a 5mm wet suit and if you’re diving in waters even colder than that, I’d start thinking about a 6.5mm wetsuit or a drysuit . Wetsuits are all about making your diving experience more enjoyable. Talk to your local dive shop owner to see if a custom wetsuit is worth the extra cash. It could pay for itself many times over in more enjoyable diving. Return to Underwater Diving Equipment Home Page.
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