General Tips on Selecting a Wetsuit
I sent this out to my Tri Club after someone mass emailed a few questions regarding purchasing a new wetsuit. I got a lot of great response to it and thought I would stick here as well. I am sure this group is pretty dialed in, but there could be a nugget here,
I taught Scuba for a number of years and it is obviously a very wetsuit intensive sport. Water temp falls quickly the deeper you go.
The two important things to look for when selecting a wetsuit are fit and comfort. Everything else is second! The materials are all about the same and many features are more marketing than anything else. If the cut is wrong for your body type, the material choices and what you paid for it are just meaningless. Expensive or cheap, if the fit is wrong, it is worthless. A well cared for suit will last you years, if your shape stays consistent. Mine moves around a lot and as a result, I have always had many choices in my closet. Just like my "skinny jeans". 
If you use the internet to find the right price point (great way to shop), make sure you have tried it on in a store first if possible. Also, consider the retail gap, if the store was cool, stocked the item for you and the price gap is rather small, consider giving them the business. However, if they were not cool and/or the price gap versus the on-line retailer is too big, spend your money on-line.
When going to try on a wetsuit prepare yourself. Bring a speedo or some tri shorts, whatever you think you will race in as this will impact fit. Baggy swim trunks underneath a wetsuit will ruin a great fit. In fact excess material bunched up around your crotch is not only uncomfortable, but can also decrease blood flow to the legs.
Wrestling your way into a wetsuit is not fun. It can be hot and exhausting, I actually go early in the morning when it is cooler if shopping during the Summer. Shops can have poor A/C and it make sthe process miserable. That being said, you should try on as many as possible - at least three to understand the differences in fit.
Regarding fit, they are SUPPOSED to be tight. It should NOT impede your breathing or constrict you in anyway, but it should be snug all over. This is the first balance - warmth on one end and comfort on the other. This is NOT a pair of coveralls you are buying. This should be a second skin.
As a refresher, here is how it works:
- When you first get in the water the wetsuit will flood or fill up with water. This part is cold. Potentially a good time to pee if you are so inclined.
- That water is held close to you, if your fit is right, and warmed by your body. The suit does not heat anything in anyway. You don't want to let this now warm water out!
- The thickness of the suit you choose is basically the amount of insulation between the water warmed by your body and the open water. Thicker suit = more insulation = warmer, but harder to maneuver and swim. This is a balance between how warm you need to be and how fast you want to go. Most wetsuits for swimming and surfing are 2-3mm in thickness. A Scuba wetsuit is 5-7mm in thickness. Makes sense, you are wearing fins when you scuba dive and don't use your arms.
- Any new water that comes in will cool you down and need to be reheated by your body.
- Therefore, water exchange is the enemy. The only way to combat it is proper fit to prevent water coming and going from any openings.
- Any air pockets felt between your legs or under your arms in the fitting room will be large pools of cold water that are harder to warm when submerged. This is compounded because large blood vessels like the femoral and brachial are near the surface here and will cool your circulating blood. A proper, snug fit will keep you warm as a bug in a rug. Anything else, not so much...
Personally, I don't get that cold when swimming hard because of the work. As a result, I use an armless full suit. Think tank top with long pants. This keeps me cooler, but allows me to better execute my swim form and floats my legs and hips nicely keeping me more hydrodynamic. Again, a balance.
Try a bunch on and figure out what you like.
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Great advice! Didn't know you used to teach scuba. Quite the jack-of-all-trades, aren't you?
I guess I'll add that YMMV when it comes to full-sleeve vs. sleeveless wetsuits. I started off with a sleeveless Xterra wetsuit, and a few months ago when I did a particularly cold swim at Bonelli park, I realized how much it sucked not having that extra warmth. I think it got to the point where I was basically hyperventilating due to the cold. Brought back bad memories of my first tri swim when I panicked because I wasn't able to see and kept swimming off course
. I think that really sapped the energy out of me and jacked up my HR when I got on the bike (was only able to hit a split with IF=.82, ughh!!). I'm a pretty skinny, scrawny guy though, and not having much body fat really sucks in cold temps. Bought a fullsleeve Xterra suit after that experience, and I'm pretty happy with it.