custom fitted wetsuits - any experience here?

I'm interested in getting a one-piece wetsuit that actually fits me, and fits me like a glove.   I'm thinking the only way is a custom-fitted one.

I have a relatively long torso and relatively short inseam, for someone 6'2".   A wetsuit that fits my legs is too short in the torso and gaps at the lower back, resulting in pumping action and coldness.   One that fits in the torso has legs that are 2 inches too long, resulting in me folding them into a cuff and causing some minor issues.

Have we got technology out there yet that does something like uses a cell phone to imag a body coupled with a manufacturing process that custom fits a suit so well that it is like it was molded to the body?   Or are we still at the stage where you take about 30 different measurements and hope for the best?

I'm currently in a 4/3 mil that gaps, and I end up getting cold in 85F water.  (I get cold easily, and my dives average about 65 minutes.)

I'm looking for something to keep me warm in 80-83F, if possible.  I wear a hood almost 100% of the time as well, which is a tremendous help.   Most of my diving is in the Caribbean.

I had the same problem, more or less, except that a suit that fits my shoulders is too long in the legs. An instructor at my dive shop (no frills, solution oriented guy) recommended that I get a good fit to the shoulders and just scissor off the legs to fit. Unlike woven cloth, wetsuits don't unravel, but if you're worried, you could use neoprene glue on the seam and/or have someone sew up the bottoms. That's what I did.

I've found that on longer trips in warm water, I get cold towards the end, after 20 dives or so, which I attribute to fatigue. An additional cheap shortie over a full length solves that problem. But a day off now and then is even better.  That's what I do now.

There are a couple of well known custom wetsuit makers in LA:

https://www.jmjwetsuits.com/

https://www.7till8.com/

No drysuit for me...

I do get cold, but...

1. I have almost no fat on me.

2. I have lived in Phoenix AZ for 39 years.  One does get acclimated to the heat.

3. When I dive, I tend to dive a lot and for longer than most, I think.   Three dives per day for two weeks, with each dive lasting longer than an hour and spending 30 minutes deep (75-85 feet).

4. Due to my shape and the wet suits I've bought, I'm getting pumping action in the small of my back when I fin, which is a lot.   This has been a distinct problem in both of the heavier wetsuits I've bought, both of which are 'normal' sized, and which have torsos a bit too short for me.  Hence a gap at my lower back and pumping of water.

5. I also wear a hood, and I love it.   Occasionally it's too warm (87F), but I do like that when I come back from a cold dive, my head at least is very warm.

6. Last Friday I did not wear a wetsuit for two morning dives as I had to fly out the next day and would not have time for the wetsuit to dry.   In the past I've just worn my hood and a T-shirt and swimsuit.  This year I borrowed a 3mil shortie and tried that.   My back was actually warmer than my 4/3 full suit because it fit decently.  I even liked the feel of water on my arms and legs (until I rediscovered Fire Coral), but I started getting chilled at about the 40 minute mark.

7. And - a big worry about the dry suit - I have to pee in my suit when I dive.  Not always, but every time when I'm cold.  In fact I've definitely found that when I'm cold it seems to squeeze the pee out of my body and I'll end up having to pee as many as 5 times on an hour dive!  It's very clearly related to being cold as I'll maybe only pee once on a warm dive, or perhaps the first dive of the day.  I'm also 66 with some prostate issues, so I don't really see a fix here.

When I do pee, I use a trick I learned on a liveaboard in Fiji - I use my spare regulator to flush some air/water through my suit.   Doesn't help with the warmth any, but it's brief.

A year ago I wore my Henderson superstretch 3 mil in Hawaii on a hammerhead dive to Molokai.   While some others were diving in shorties, I froze.   I didn't even make the second dive, though mostly because I was heaving over the side with sea sickness.  (That boat was really rocking!).   Then I took it to Roatan in September for my usual two weeks of diving, and the water was 83-85F.   I froze there too.   Figured the suit must have compressed so much that it wore out thermally, and I ended up renting a 5 mil suit.  I got cold in that too, but not so bad.

It seems to come down to the fit.  A poorly-fitted wetsuit simply ends up pumping water, and pumps cold water against warmed-up skin.  I think eliminating that is the equivalent of having a wetsuit versus it acting more like a shortie.   Hence this thread.

I've also got these wonderful thermal gel pads that heat up.   You boiled them until they turn into a gel, put them in a cumberbund-type of holder, put the cumberbund over your wet suit under the BCD.  Press a little button and they activate, generating a lot of heat for about 40 minutes.   As soon as they activate they turn from gel to a solid (until they are boiled for 20 minutes when they turn back to gel).    I use them for 'winter diving' when it gets into the 70's.

Have you considered a hooded vest under your wetsuit?

Yes, just haven't got one yet.  My wife used one,  I use a hood that tucks under my wetsuit.

Just thinking - with a hooded vest, you can easily get one that closely fits your torso, regardless of how the rest of your wetsuit fits around it.

I'm thinking about it...

I'm still researching, getting close to ordering something.  I had never heard of a spearfishing suit, but I may have seen one without knowing it.

My Roatan divemaster usually goes out in a shorty (while I'm freezing in my 5 mil with hood), but sometimes he puts on a camouflage sort of suit.   When I looked up spearfishing suits I came on something that looks like it.

Is this likely to be a spearfishing suit?

daveco2 wrote:

https://www.jmjwetsuits.com/

https://www.7till8.com/

Any other good ones?   Among these two, any preference?

daveco2 wrote:

There are a couple of well known custom wetsuit makers in LA:

https://www.jmjwetsuits.com/

This one seems OK, and the sizing charts look extensive enough to truly get my fit right.  I don't have the option of anything but 3, 5 or 7mm.   I'm looking for a 4/3 preferably.

https://www.7till8.com/

This one also only offers 3, 5 or 7, but only takes 15 measurements compared to JMJ, who takes about 21.

I like the idea of a 4/3 (which is what I have now), with the idea being a bit warmer than a 3mil, but still easy to get on and off.   I hate trying to drag a 5mm sleeve up my arm or leg.  Wears me out just putting the suit on.