Wetsuits – How Do They Work?

by Paul Garnett

A wetsuit is indeed your buddy in water sports craze. Whether you love scuba diving, surfing, snorkeling or wakeboarding, your wetsuit is an indispensable equipment you should not miss having. Do not settle with wearing your wetsuit. Know how it works!

Wetsuits are designed for a range of water sports to maintain body heat. When you submerge in the sea, a small amount of water will seep through the suit and this will eventually be warmed from the body heat of the wearer.

The water between the suit and the body will act as 'insulator' avoiding the loss of body heat that leads to hypothermia. The risk of hypothermia in water is higher, thus wetsuits are designed to make you enjoy the water without the risk of hypothermia.

A very flexible rubber called Neoprene makes up a wetsuits. This material is waterproof and has nitrogen gas bubbles in it to prevent the loss of heat from the user's body.

Neoprene is a buoyant material and it helps in making the wearer float easily in water. This is most advantageous to swimmers and triathlon athletes but could be quite a problem with divers. However, there are wetsuits made for scuba diving that adjust the buoyancy of the material with the user's weight.

It is however required that a wetsuit should fit the wearer snugly in order for the wetsuit to work efficiently. A loose wetsuit can let water between the body and the suit escape and can take along the body heat, defeating its purpose. It should not however be too tight that the wearer cannot move freely. For a surfing wetsuit, make sure that the suit fits well on the neck to avoid cold water blasting down into your back.

Wetsuits can make you warm but they can't keep you dry. In fact, a small amount of water should enter into these suits to make it work properly.

You may want to choose a differently styled wetsuit, a stylish one, or a thick one or something with padded knees, but all these wetsuits work the same.

They are made primarily to work as insulators. Other than the risk of hypothermia, wetsuits also provide protection from the stings of jellyfishes, injuries from corals and other hazards underwater.

About the Author:

Author Paul Garnett wrote this article on behalf of WetsuitPro.com, a Discount Wetsuits Company. WetsuitPro.com features the latest in name-brand wetsuits, as well as Hurley Wetsuits, so take a moment and visit them today for the best deals on wetsuits!