Rec and Sports

Wetsuits – Perfect for the Cold

A triathlon wetsuit, wakeboarding wetsuit, scuba diving wetsuit, or a surfing wetsuit is designed to keep your body warm. Have you ever wondered how wetsuits keep you warm in cold waters?

Hypothermia is a condition where body temperature drops to a certain level that body functioning is impaired. When submerged in water, your body is at more risk of suffering from hypothermia, thus wetsuits are made to primarily protect you from this fatal condition.

All wetsuits, they may be long or short or at any color or thickness, have only one primary purpose, and that is protecting you from hypothermia.

The material in wetsuits is a rubber called Neoprene which is flexible enough for free movement of the wearer. This material has pockets of small nitrogen gas that help prevent the escape of heat from the body.

If you have your wetsuit on and you submerge on the water, water will enter the openings of the suit in the neck, ankles and arms. It is very important that this very limited amount of water stay inside the suit because this will keep the heat from escaping your body.

Some suits like surfing wetsuits have thin copper or titanium metal on them to trap body heat even more and this makes the suit even warmer than the common ones.

It is important to note that whatever advance features your wetsuit may have, if it does not perfectly fit you, it will not work out effectively in protecting you from the cold. A loose wetsuit may allow cold water flowing in and out of the suit, which will deplete body heat than preserve it.

Wetsuits should fit the body snugly without baggy areas so it will work out just perfectly in protecting you from the cold. Other possible entry points of water like the areas near the zipper and the seams are even sealed tightly to make the wetsuit work properly.

Whatever brand or design you may want to have for your wetsuit, the thing is, they all work in the same way in keeping you warm.