Have you just newly acquired a wetsuit and you want to get into diving, like scuba diving, free diving, or snorkeling among other underwater activities and you are wondering what wetsuit would suit you best, and what to wear underneath a wetsuit?
This guide would give you insights into what wetsuits are, how useful they are for underwater activities, and what to wear under your wetsuit.
In hindsight, there is no correct answer to this question as some people do not wear anything under their wetsuit and they are extremely comfortable they enjoy themselves as they engage in underwater activities wearing their wetsuit alone without wearing anything underneath it.
Whereas some people tend to wear something before putting on their wetsuit.
In all honesty, it is up to what the individual wants or what he or she is comfortable with.
What Can Be Worn Under A Wetsuit While Diving?
Wetsuits can be worn for various underwater activities, but what it was initially created for was scuba diving before it extended to other activities done underwater.
There is hardly any heat underwater even in the hottest of places where people go diving once you get underwater the temperature drops drastically, in the 1950s wetsuits were created to give divers an extra layer of warmth.
Wetsuits’ main objective is to prevent your body’s heat from escaping your body to keep you toasty underwater where there is hardly any heat.
For those who would prefer to wear something underneath their wetsuit, here are some things to wear under your wetsuit:
- Diving shorts can be worn,
- Boxers; the basic boxers you wear under your clothes can also be worn under wetsuits,
- Briefs,
- You can wear vests that do not have any sleeves,
- Biker shorts,
- Specialized skin suits; these are made purposeful to be worn under a wetsuit for extra warmth in extremely cold diving situations,
- Specialized garments; are also called rash guards as they prevent divers from developing rashes when they engage in diving.
Moving on, there are some specific wetsuits made for icy waters, these wetsuits are very thick to improve the odds of your heat not escaping your body and this makes it hard to move in them.
You have no choice but to make use of these thick wetsuits when diving in the arctic, most of the divers who use these thick wetsuits in the arctic do not wear anything underneath as the wetsuits are already extra thick and are a bit difficult to move in.
But some experienced divers in some other cold environments would still wear a thinner wetsuit but with an extra layer or two underneath for heat and also to be able to move better unlike with the thicker wetsuit.
Reasons Divers Prefer To Wear Something Beneath Wetsuit
There are many reasons why divers prefer to wear something underneath their wetsuit, let’s take a look at some of these reasons below:
Hygiene: Some divers rent wetsuits and when they do this for their hygiene, they wear an extra layer underneath hygiene.
If not for anything else but for the protection of their intimate areas they wear basic undergarments for protection.
Personal comfort: Wetsuits are mostly made up of neoprene with some other materials in them, and the neoprene and these extra materials can cause body rashes.
Decency: Being concerned about public decency when diving around many other divers, divers tend to wear something underneath their wetsuits rather than just wearing their wetsuits alone.
Taking off a wetsuit isn’t exactly “a walk in a park”, you can’t just slip them off and quickly wear something else, it takes effort.