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Help spread the wonder of families learning together. We sent you SMS, for complete subscription please reply. Follow Twitter Instagram Facebook. How does a wetsuit work? What are wetsuits made of? Are wetsuits meant to keep you dry? Hugh Bradner. Wonder What's Next? Better hurry! Try It Out Are you ready to dive into some fun? Grab a friend or family member to help you check out the following activities: Have you ever tried on a wetsuit? Ask a friend or family member to take you to a local dive shop or sporting goods store to check out the selection of wetsuits available.
If possible, try one on. What do you think? Is it comfortable? How do you think it would feel in the water? Do you understand how molecules move differently in cold water compared to warm or hot water? In both of the previous situations the cold water entering your body will have an instant cooling effect on your body. Now lets take the first scenario; the tight fitting wetsuit: Here the thin layer of cold water that has squeezed into the suit is warmed up by your body heat.
Because there's not a lot of water it doesn't take long to warm up and doesn't rob your body of a huge amount of heat. When you move about in the water, fresh water from outside is largely prevented from entering the suit as the suit is already 'full'. Having a good fit at the ankles, wrists and neck of the suit will help this resistance to fresh water entry, or 'flushing' as it is known. In the second scenario, that of a baggy wetsuit, much more water will be inside the suit to begin with.
Your body will take much longer to warm it up and the process will rob your body of much more heat. In fact your body may never be able to warm the water up significantly.
When you are immersed in water and start to move around fresh water from outside easily flushes through the suit and displaces or dilutes the water that your body worked so hard to warm up. This constant flushing of cold water will make it impossible to maintain much body heat and will reduce the effectiveness of the wetsuit hugely. So the first thing about wetsuits to understand is that a tight fitting wetsuit is critical to staying warm and a baggy wetsuit is unlikely to keep you warm.
In fact it is fair to say that a well fitted thin wetsuit will probably be warmer than a baggy thick wetsuit.. So now we have a well fitted wetsuit and your body has warmed up the water that is in it. Both your body and the thin film of water around it are pressed hard up against a thin layer of neoprene. On the other side of the neoprene is icy cold water.
As this happens it cools down, and you in turn cool down. So there is constant heat loss through the material if the water outside is cold. This is where thickness comes into play. Thicker neoprene will lose less heat through it that thin neoprene so in simple terms a 5mm wetsuit will be warmer than a 3mm wetsuit of the same fit as less heat is lost through the material as your warmth is better insulated from the outer cold..
If you have ever felt the warmth of the sun on an otherwise cold day you'll know what radiant heat is. It is heat in the form of infra red energy. The sun emits it, the bars on an electric fire emit it , even light bulbs emit it..
Space blankets handed out at race events etc claim to reflect this radiant body heat back towards your body and thus keep you warm. Some wetsuits have a titanium lining, which is a silvery material with a degree of reflecting ability.
We have seen allsorts of claims about what this material does. Some manufacturers claim that the titanium lining can reflect cold! A claim that would change the laws of physics as cold in itself does not exist; cold is merely the absence of heat and you cant reflect something that doesn't exist.
Many wetsuit diagrams will show the body's heat being reflected back towards itself by this material and the graphics certainly look impressive. However in our tests, the benefits of having a titanium lining for the purposes of reflecting the body's heat back towards itself are negligible. The wetsuit catches a thin layer of water between your skin and the neoprene, which is then warmed up by your body heat.
The neoprene in the wetsuit acts as an insulation against the surrounding environment. The thicker the neoprene, the more effective the insulation will be. The neoprene works by containing loads of small air bubbles that provide insulation. Alongside the advancement of wetsuit technology, neoprene has evolved in its properties to continually offer surfers more insulation and flexibility.
Glued and blindstitched, which is also referred to as GBS, is where the material of the wetsuit joins together by being glued and stitched. This process forms a bond that reduces water penetration.
You can find GBS in winter wetsuits that are 5mm thick. The reduction of cold water entering the suit is crucial during the winter season. Some summer wetsuits, which are around 3mm thick, will have a flatlock construction; this is where the material overlaps and is double stitched. A flatlock construction can allow some water to pass through the seams, it is used for water temperatures that are generally more tolerable and warmer. Thermal material is designed to wick water away from the body and act in the same way as thermal underwear.
Thermal material is often soft and is generally fitted in areas such as the chest and kidneys to help maintain warmth in key areas and support blood flow. By insulating these key areas, warm blood can be pumped around the body and keep you warmer. Thermal lining is less flexible than neoprene, so it may reduce flexibility in the areas where it is added.
Liquid seams are designed to further minimize the possibility of water entering the suit. The process involves the seams being GBS before adding the taping to one or both sides of the seams, making the seal impenetrable by water. The advancement of technology has allowed these seams to continuously reduce in thickness and width to promote an increased amount of flexibility, which is still advancing to this day. The more flexible a wetsuit is, the better it will feel, fit and keep you warmer, which is why you should consider a liquid seal when purchasing a wetsuit.
The advancement in wetsuit technology means participating in cold water sports is more accessible for longer periods of time. It is now possible for water sports to be continued and enjoyed during cold winter seasons. Ideally, your wetsuit should be tight fitting all over as each flush will result in further heat loss.
Thanks to scientific advances, you can get wetsuits these days that are so stretchy and snug fitting that you can climb in from the small neck opening! Wetsuits are available in varying thicknesses from 2mm to 6mm, and the greater the thickness means the higher the warmth. It is essential to know the expected water temperature at the sites and dress accordingly.
With greater thickness also comes decreased flexibility so to get past this problem, wetsuits most often will be made from one level of thickness for your torso and another for your arms and legs.
The thickness of any given wetsuit is usually indicated by a set of two or three numbers with dashes in between them. The first number will show how thick the torso area is, the second will represent either your legs or your legs and arms or a third number will represent what your arms would be wearing if it is different to your legs.
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