Kids in Scuba - Picking a New Wetsuit - 5mm vs 3mm

Описание: Kids in Scuba - Picking a New Wetsuit - 5mm vs 3mm

Scuba Kitty just outgrew her youth wetsuit as it took great effort and a buddy to force it on for the last dive. It did last almost 2 years which is awesome considering how much she grew in that time. So having said that, we highly recommend the Aqua Lung Quantum Stretch wetsuit for kids! Kids don't have a lot of options in wetsuits like adults. It becomes more problematic as they grow and their shape makes a standard youth wetsuit not fit well anymore, but they still aren't big enough to fit the smallest of adult wetsuits. It's important to have a well-fitting wetsuit to ensure it performs well in keeping the diver warm. If the wetsuit is too big and baggy or too tight then it will make for an uncomfortable dive or possibly even an unsafe dive experience.

Scuba Kitty really wanted a white wetsuit, but most are predominantly black with a bit of color and few colorful options..... but white was a tough one. We found one good option in the Scubapro Everflex for women, but we didn't know if they had a size small enough to fit a kid. Also, the white option was only available in a 3mm, and Scuba Kitty was hoping to move from her old 3mm to a 5mm as the spring dives can get quite cold. The 5mm Everflex only came in black. Kids tend to be at a greater risk of hypothermia due to typically having high body-mass-to-surface-area ratio and a faster rate of heat loss than adults according to www.dansa.org.

So Scuba Kitty had to try on the white 3mm and the black 5mm Scubapro Everflex. The 5mm proved to be more bulky feeling, and the zippers on the arms and legs to make putting on the wetsuit easier made the areas stiff & uncomfortable which may have been due to her size. We found a size 2 in the womens thinking it was the smallest size, but she wasn't tall enough for it. Then to our surprise we found it came in a size 0 which seems like an odd size, but perhaps this was Scubapros option of making the typical women's wetsuit available to a young and smaller female diver. Oh, and the scuba shop was having a MAJOR sale on their Scubapro Everflex wetsuits & Scuba Kitty had saved her Christmas & babysitting money.

As for Scuba Kitty's concern on staying warm on the spring dives, her old Sea Dogs instructor, Mr. Keith, gave her a 3mm BARE vest as an early Christmas present that has helped keep her core warm with 6mm (3mm wetsuit + 3mm vest). Thank you, Mr. Keith!!! So, along with her gloves, cap/hood, and booties, she should be just fine in the springs! And to think she wants to get her drysuit certification to dive in real cold waters one day!

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