Check out How Wetsuits Protect You from the Cold

by Paul Garnett

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.

There may be slight differences in a triathlon wetsuit from a wakeboarding wetsuit, but their main purpose is to protect you from hypothermia.

The main material in wetsuits that keeps the wearer warm is a waterproofed material called Neoprene. It is a synthetic type of rubber that is filled with small nitrogen gas bubbles that keeps the body warm.

When you are in the cold waters, a little amount of water enters your suit from its openings. When the body warms this water, this will in return protect the body from the cold waters outside. It is important though that this thin layer of water is maintained and no other cold water enters the suit because this will deplete your body heat.

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.

If there are areas in your wetsuit that does not fit snugly on your skin, you will likely have a wetsuit that will not work properly later, defeating its purpose. The seams and the areas along the zipper should also be kept secured so cold water could not seep into them.

In the end, a wakeboarding wetsuit, a triathlon wetsuit, or a surfing wetsuit may differ a bit in its flexibility and fabric but the mechanism on how wetsuits keep you warm in the ocean are all the same.

About the Author:

Author Paul Garnett wrote this article on behalf of WetsuitPro.com, a Cheap Wetsuits Company. They carry the latest in name-brand wetsuits, as well as Mens Scuba Diving Wetsuits, so if you are in need of a brand new wetsuit visit WetsuitPro.com right now for the best deals on wetsuits!