Introduction
The wetsuit is another important item in spearfishing. While it is possible not to were one in certain parts of the world it is recommended to have even a thin one as it protects you (e.g. fire coral, jelly fish, sun burn, etc). Wetsuits come in different colors, different cuts, different thickness, off the shelf or tailor/custom made, with or without inner/outer material, and of different neoprene types. Another important aspect is the thermal protection, water's thermal conductivity is higher than air's meaning that heat moves easier through water; water can absorb more heat from you and do it faster than air thus you get cold faster. Also the temperature difference in between the surface and further down can vary greatly, these reasons are why spearfishermen more often than not use wetsuits, even in warm waters. I would like to add that my views are those of an apnea spearfisherman, if SCUBA spearfishing is allowed in your area then SCUBA wetsuits may be the way to go, I don't know.
Suit Types
There are different types of suits for different disciplines or different environments. When I say "long/short sleeved" I assume both the arms and legs are long/short, it is possible to mix and match of course. There are also three different categories:
- Dive Skins/Rash Guards: Typically made of Lycra, Nylon or Spandex. These are very thin and act principally as a thin protection layer (fire coral, jelly fish, sun burn, etc) in warm waters. They can either be long sleeved or short sleeved. These provide virtually no temperature insulation.
- Wetsuits: These are made of neoprene, a rubber with gas bubbles inside it; gases have very low thermal conductivity with respect to water and the small and enclosed nature of the gas bubbles minimizes heat transport through the gas. The gas molecules (usually Nitrogen) and the rubber act as an insulator. They can have (or not) a material on either side of the rubber to give it other properties (more on this later) and can be either long or short sleeved. These provide both protection and insulation.
- Semi-dry suits: These are essentially wetsuits with better-than-usual seals at the wrists, ankles and neck. They are always long sleeved and provide better thermal insulation. High-end wetsuits are usually semi-dry suits even though they are called wetsuits; I will not differentiate between the two any longer and thus when I say "wetsuit" I mean either one.
- Drysuits: These are used in extremely cold waters as they completely insulate you from the water and are thick (thus mobility is reduced).
Spearfishing is usually done in dive skins or thin wetsuits for tropical waters and thicker wetsuits for colder waters. It is rarely done in a drysuit.
Types of cuts
Depending on the discipline you will need a different type of cut/design. This will determine where the padding (if any) is, how it is put on/taken off, how warm it is, the mobility, etc. I will from now on only talk about wetsuits since these are what are more often used for spearfishing. The main types of cuts are:
- "Shorty": one piece suits with zippers that have short sleeves. They are usually used for watersports in warm waters as they do not insulate well (since water gets in) and do not protect well (arms and legs are bare). I used one of these for summer Mediterranean spearing for several years, it was ok for a beginner as long as I went when the water was at its temperatures, I didn't go very deep and I didn't hunt a long time (or take breaks to warm up in the sun). Here is an example:
- Long sleeved for water sports: one piece suits with zippers that are made for specific watersports (surfing will be different from windsurfing and kayaking for example). They are not made to stay a long time in water, the are usually not thicker than 3mm, they are usually flexible (since you have to make quick movements) and have padding in specific places (depends on the sport). You could use one of these if you are a beginner and if you get a good price; as long as the water is not too cold (~25°C) and you surface hunt. Here is an example:
- SCUBA wetsuits: one piece suits with zippers that are made of a type of neoprene that is much more compact. The reason for this is that SCUBA divers go deeper and thus have the effects of the water pressure. Neoprene that compresses a lot looses it's insulation properties very fast (while you are under pressure). This makes them stiff and not very flexible (aka cardboard wetsuits). SCUBA divers don't make fast movements anyways since they have 150kg of stuff on them, they also do not stay a long time in the water so it is ok for them. However, spearfishing is much more dynamic, you make fast movements at times (thus need flexibility), you spend several hours in the water (thus the need for high insulating neoprene), you don't go as deep and even if you did you don't do it for a long time (in apnea spearfishing you are limited by your capacity to hold your breath). Here is an example:
- Spearfishing wetsuits: Two piece suites (almost exclusively without zippers) that are made of a very stretchy, insulating, flexible, and not compact neoprene. It is a more expensive material. They are exclusively long sleeved and are usually (the good ones) semi-dry suits. There are two types, "Long-Johns" and "High waist" (pants), this will determine how the jacket is. I will talk more about this further down. Here is an example:
There are several reasons for having a two piece wetsuit, here are a couple but there probably are others:
- No zippers (more on this later)
- You can mix and match different thicknesses (e.g. 5mm jacket & 3mm pants) to better fit your needs
- Since spearos spend long hours in the water, it facilitates "call of nature"
- You can replace part of the suit
- It makes it more flexible
- You can mix and match different brands (e.g. Mares jacket & Cressi Pants), this can be useful if one brand's jackets fit you well but not their pants.
They also usually have chest pads to help loading the speargun (useful only if you use a speargun, please see my
spearing apparatus post for more information) and you can get knee-pads to protect your knees when kneeling on rocks. Please see below for more information. Then there are the different finishes: "Open-cell", "Smooth-skin" and "Lined"; more on these later on. I have two two piece wetsuits and one shorty (my first wetsuit, I use it in warm waters).
Thickness
The thickness will help determine the insulating properties of the neoprene. Like mentioned above this is not the only factor in keeping you warm but it is one of the most important ones. These are many different thicknesses, the ones I have seen for spearfishing are:
- 0.5mm, 1.0mm, 1.5mm: Warm tropical waters
- 2.0mm, 2.5mm, 3.0mm: Temperate waters
- 5.0mm: Colder waters
- 7.0mm, 9.0mm: Cold water
Of course the thicker the neoprene the less flexible it will be and the more it will be buoyant (see Material section). I have a 3mm for temperate waters and a 5mm for colder waters. It being a custom made suit keeps me too nice and warm so I need two suits, 5mm is too hot above 24°C. An off the shelf 5mm wetsuit will be less warm usually so you can use it in warmer waters thus you could get away with having only one wetsuit. I found the following table showing the thickness you need for a temperature range, it says it is for scuba wetsuits but it can give you an idea for spearfishing wetsuits:
| Water temp (°C) |
Recommended Thickness |
| 24° - 29° |
1.5mm neoprene, Lycra, Polartec |
| 21° - 29° |
3mm neoprene |
| 18° - 24° |
5mm neoprene |
| 10° - 21° |
7mm neoprene |
| 1.5° - 12° |
9mm neoprene, dry suit |
I found this info on various spearfishing websites, for a spearfishing specific wetsuit they say these are the correct temperature ratings:
| Water temp (°C) |
Recommended Thickness |
| 21° - 25° |
2mm neoprene |
| 10° - 21° |
3mm neoprene |
| 6° - 10° |
5mm neoprene |
| < 6° |
7mm neoprene |
I am not sure if this is only for wetsuits with open cell inside (non inner-lined), I assume so, however a custom made inner-lined wetsuit will still be much warmer than a scuba wetsuit though, so it should be somewhere in between these two tables.They do mention however that in colder water (5mm - 7mm wetsuits) if the water is at the lower temperature in the range the given thickness would allow you to stay two hours in the water
Material
Neoprene is made out of a type of rubber called "Elastomer", it is mixed with Nitrogen into a thick foam (almost a gel) and molded into thick rectangular panels. Then a machine slices them into sheets of the desired thickness (0.5mm, 1.0mm, etc). These panels are then cut by the wetsuit manufacturer and made into wetsuits. Neoprene is buoyant, this means that when you wear a wetsuit you will float more. To counter this you must wear weights (lead), the amount depends on several factors such as the neoprene's thickness, compactness (e.g. 5mm SCUBA-type neoprene is less buoyant than a 5mm spearfishing/freediving type of neoprene), your weight, your build (muscle is less buoyant than fat), the depth at which you will dive, the depth at which you want to be neutral and if yo are in fresh or salt water. A good
website I found (in French but understandable) that helps you find the ideal weight. Like I said it helps, you will have to experiment. It says I need 7kg which turned out to be good for my custom made 5mm spearfishing wetsuit, for salt water. For fresh water I must remove 1kg. The formula used is :
l=round((w*n)+c)
where:
l is the lead weight
w is your weight
n is the neoprene thickness
c is a constant depending on the depth
round() rounds a number to the nearest integer
the constant
c for each depth range used is:
- 0-7m : +1.5
- 8-15m : 0
- >15m : -1.5
This is not very scientific but will give you a starting point :-).
Inner/outer finish
Wetsuits have a variety of finishes, like explained in the Materials section the sheets of neoprene are cut from a thick panel, then you can finish them off by adding lining or finish to change the properties:
- Open-cell: This is the bare neoprene (no finish), since neoprene is a thick rubber and gas foam it has lots of very small bubbles. When it is cut those bubbles are also cut and thus create little craters. If you leave it at that you get a very stretchable wetsuit that sticks incredibly well to your skin, like a suction cup. This keeps the water out and increases the insulation. The downside however is that it is fragile to sharp things (such as fingernails, rocks, etc) and tears easily. Another downside is that you must use something to lubricate your body to but the wetsuit on, such as slightly soapy water or talcum. This can irritate your skin since you will be in contact with it for prolonged periods. Also, bacteria (and mold) love open-cell neoprene as they have perfect (humid, warm, dark) living quarters, thus you will have a smelly wetsuit much faster. Also this type of wetsuit has a tendency to stick together o you have to really be careful during storage, it is best to have it in a cool dry place laid out flat with nothing on it; it can also stretch if you hang it. Although the maintenance is higher and it is more fragile, this is the preferred type of inner finish for spearfishing, especially for pelagic hunting or cold waters. It is not common for the outer finish however, the outside is usually either Smoothskin, mesh skin/shark skin, or Lined.
- Smoothskin: this is like Open-cell except that a smooth lining is applied to the outside. It allows you to have the properties of open-cell but prevents water from going in the material. It makes you glide well in water as you have less resistance. Competitive freedivers use this a lot, so do pelagic hunting spearos. It is still very fragile however so be careful around sharp thing. Another positive thing is that when you are out of the water, in a cool environment, you will cool down less/slower since there is less evaporation. However the opposite is also true in a warm environment.
- Mesh skin/shark skin: this is basically smoothskin with some sort of pattern burned/etched in. You still have the stretchiness of open-cell/smoothskin, a bit more friction but it is a bit more durable.
- Lined: This means that textile material was added to the inner or outer walls of the neoprene. Lining only on one side (usually the outside but it could also be on the inside) is commonly referred to as "Single lined", if both sides have a lining it is commonly referred to as "Double lined". One downside to both types is that you loose a lot of stretchiness. The linings I know of are Nylon, Spandex, Lycra. If used on the outside they protect the neoprene from sharp things and thus reduce tears. They also allow you to add patterns (e.g. camo). The downsides are that you augment friction in the water (so it requires more energy to move) and that when out of the water, in a cool environment, you will cool down faster since there is more evaporation. However the opposite is also true in a warm environment. They also take more time to dry at home. For inner lined wetsuits, the advantages are that you no longer need lube to get in, it is less fragile (finger nails when putting it on or off), and less prone to becoming a bacteria breeding ground (and thus less prone to being stinky). The disadvantage is that the thermal insulation provided by the suction effect of the open-cell is gone, thus these wetsuits are colder than open-cell.
- Titanium, Gold, etc: The inside can also be lined with some sort of metal sprayed on. This is supposed to make it easier to put on, some say that it provides some extra thermal insulation, and it still has the some of the advantages of open-cell/smoothskin. However this coating has a tendency to peel off.
I have to travel to go spearfishing thus a non-lined wetsuit could tear easier if something sharp hits it or the customs offices are not careful, I do not spearfish in very cold waters so the extra thermal properties of open-cell are not really important for me, and I usually hunt along rocky coasts to I can't use suits that don't have an outer lining. For these reasons I use double lined wetsuits.
Pant and Jacket types
The pants of two piece suits can be either Long-johns or high waist. Each has advantages and disadvantages, those being controversial or up to preference.
- Long-johns have the chest area covered and suspenders. The jacket goes over this and looks like a sweater. The positive aspects are that you have a more thickness over the vital areas of your body. The negative aspects are that it restricts your breathing a bit and it is hard to take care of "the call of nature" since you have to remove the jacket, suspenders, etc. Also in warmer environments you may end up overheating. Here is an example:
- High waist pants go up to your lower torso and have no suspenders, the jacket is called a "beaver tail" jacket. It has an extension on the back that goes under your crotch and up to your lower stomach and clips into place. This keeps the pants from sliding down and maintains the water seal. This type keeps you less warm in the vital areas, you could just add a thermal vest to help if needed. It is easier to take care of "the call of nature" since you just unclip the beaver tail, pull up the jacket a bit and pull down the pants. I prefer high wast but this is personal. Here is an example:
Hoods
You loose heat from exposed areas of your body, so wearing a hood will help fight the cold. I read that the 30-40% heat loss from the head argument is a myth, I think it is more like 10-15%, but this is still enough to make you cold. You can have either attached or detached hoods.
- Attached hoods are part of the wetsuit, the advantage is there is less water coming in and you alway have it with you so you can put it on or take it off anytime without having to go back to the boat/shore. The disadvantage is if you are too hot and take it off, it can fill with air when you dive and make you more buoyant, it can fill with water and create more drag, and it can make your neck too tight and restrict your breathing (this doesn't happen to everyone). Here is an example:
- Detached hoods come in two types, the short neck or the long neck and shoulders type. The short neck type is usually used with a long necked jacket, it goes over the jacket's long neck. This requires a well fitting jacket and hood to keep the water out. The Long neck and shoulder type is worn under the jacket and can be used with any jacket type, the seal is done with all the extra material. Water can get in with either type, but I think the first is better if everything fits well, such as in a custom made wetsuit. Here is an example:
I have an attached hood for my custom made 5mm and a detached short neck for my custom made 3mm.
Zippers
Zippers are essential to one piece wetsuit, you absolutely need them to get in or out of them. They are usually either on the back, straight, and zipped/unzipped using a long piece of fabric attached to the zipper or in the front going from the chin part of the hood or the neck if there is no hood to the groin, in diagonal. The main issue with zippers is that they let water in. Two piece wetsuits have no zippers and thus have a better water seal, however the jacket can require a bit more of acrobatics to get in or out of :-). I don't have any zippers.
Camouflage?
Camouflage or no camouflage, that is the question. Some people say it helps to have it because it hides you and fish don't see you, others say it helps as it makes fish curious and they come see you, others say it's just for looks, some say it keeps sharks away since you don't look like a seal, etc. I think it is just a personal preference. I have camo on mine but for no reason, the wetsuit type I wanted had it and I chose the one that looked the best to me :-). There are many different types of camouflage, some even have red because at depth this is the first color to disappear and turn grey. Most people agree what scares off fish are your eyes since that is one thing they look out for when looking for predators. Here are some examples of different camouflaged wetsuits:
Off the shelf brands vs custom/tailor made
If you have a different than normal body shape then go for custom; if you want it to be warmer and fit better, go for custom; if quality has no price for you, go for custom. If not then just get off the shelf. Custom made is more expensive in most cases and takes longer, about 40 days to make. Then you have to pay for S&H, and maybe customs taxes. I have seen off the shelf wetsuits that cost the same or more than custom made though. I choose custom made wetsuits from Elios (Italy) for all the above reasons. However, it can be tedious to order custom made wetsuits and you have to be sure that the measurements are good. I am very happy with mine I must say. You can Google for off the shelf wetsuit brands, some are: Cressi, Mares, Beuchat, Picasso, Salvimar, JBL, Ulusub, Sporasub, Rob Allen, Omer, Riffe, etc. For custom/tailor made, here are the ones I know of (but again, Google is your friend):
Elios (Italy),
Oceanos (Greece),
Polo Sub (Italy).
Chest-pads/Knee-pads
A chest pad (aka loading pad) is used to help you load a speargun by padding your chest a bit, by adding a non-slip region on the suit and it helps you not tear the suit. If you don't use a speargun but another type of
spearing apparatus then you don't need this. The knee pads protect your knees (and the wetsuit) when kneeling on rocks, I would having recommend this. Here is an example:
Gloves, socks
If the water is cold then you need neoprene gloves and socks, if not it is up to you. I used to no use gloves at all but I now use them to protect my hands from rocks and other sharp things. I don't use neoprene gloves since I don't go in very cold water, the gloves will were out fast anyways and tough neoprene gloves are expensive (> $50). I like thin gloves so that I still have sensitivity on my fingers (trigger pressure, etc) so I use leather palmed and fingered garden gloves, these cost me $15-$20 (for the high quality but thin kind) and they are great. If you get cheaper types then they will probably only last a week. I do not use boots since I don't go in very cold water, but boots are also nice it you take off your flippers when resting on rocks to help protect them from cuts.
Misc Tips
- As I mentioned above, I just garden gloves instead of real neoprene Kevlar reinforced spearfishing gloves. You will save lots of money if your principal need for gloves is not to protect you from the cold.
- To help put the legs in a fabric inner lined wetsuit's pants (one piece or two piece), use a thin plastic bag (like they give for free in grocery stores), put your foot in it and then slide it in the suit and the remove it once it is through. For the arms you can do the same, you can also blow air in around the wrist to adjust the arm a bit. Have a look at this video.
- To put on a lined (skip the lubrication part) or unlined jacket have a look here.
- To take off a lined or unlined jacket have a look here.
