Immortal divers’ questions. What kind of diving foam to buy?
And where do you plan to dive?
I will mainly dive in Egypt, Croatia , the Baltic Sea, etc.
Foam as it is everyone can see. A wetsuit made of several millimeters of neoprene, or rubber foamed with gas bubbles. Unlike a sponge, the spaces in the foam are closed so the neoprene does not soak up water or allow water to pass through.
Cold water diving foam
Cold water diving foam. For diving in cold water, dry suits are best, so a wetsuit will always be some compromise between purchase price, comfort of use and protection from cold water. In cold water the wetsuit allows you to survive, it is difficult to talk about the pleasure of diving, a particular problem is that between dives, during the surface break, if you come out cold then you will not warm up in the wetsuit; if you take it off then dressing for a second dive in a wetsuit is an overrated experience.
Diving foam for children
Divers also very often ask about diving foams for children. In general, here a certain important feature of such foams is that they should be reasonably cheap because children practically every year grow out of their foams( you have to buy them new ones). Of course, a sure way out is to buy a foam, sell after a year, buy another one, but used foams sell at very low prices, so here two features will be important: Flexibility of this foam – ease of dressing, and its low price. Such features that will be important when buying a foam for let’s call it adults: such as durability, are less important here and the foam is not something where quality would directly affect safety.
Scuba diving foam – women’s
Diving foam for ladies is also a common question. Here the quality of the neoprene from which this foam is made and the cut will be very important. Sometimes it is the case that, despite the fact that we try to size, the foam of one company – none of its size will fit. In the case of another company, we will choose something much easier. The elasticity of the neoprene will be very important, as well as its durability in the sense of maintaining this elasticity for a long time despite repeated dives.
Foam for snorkeling
Beginners often ask for a foam snorkel. Here a lot depends on where you intend to snorkel because there are places like Iceland where you snorkel in dry suits, and there are places where you don’t actually need a wetsuit to snorkel. Regardless of the temperature of the water, the foam is sometimes useful to protect against some abrasions, burns, hence very much depends on where you intend to snorkel. But we will rather think about foams thin 2-3 mm but covering the whole body.
Diving foams vs. foams for other water sports
Sometimes someone asks what features do diving foams have? Can you dive in a windsurfing foam or a foam that someone has for supa. Generally, diving foams are designed to warm the cold water that has seeped underneath, so they are quite fitted, quite thick but, unlike foams for other Water Sports, just tightly fitted. Their cut must be very good, neoprene of high quality, and they must be very flexible. You won’t find many of these features in wetsuits for other water sports, so actually the best choice, however, would be a diving wetsuit.
5mm diving foam vs. 7mm diving foam
What thickness of foam? 5 mm or 7 mm. There is no perfect answer to this, because in general, the thicker the foam, the warmer it is, but also less comfortable, less flexible. Some compromise is a 5 mm foam with a 7 mm insulator. However, the basis is to consider where we want to dive and how soon we intend to buy ourselves a dry suit. If this is to be a foam in which we will dive in cold water for years, however, a 7 mm foam will be better. If somewhere in the future we are thinking about a dry suit, the 5 mm foam will be better, because it will be more versatile. Somehow, to begin with, we have enough – novice divers are warmed by adrenaline. So in the water there is no such problem, and if you buy a dry suit, this 5 mm foam will be very useful for trips to warmer waters than a 7 mm foam.
Dry diving foam
Divers are also interested in whether there is such a thing as a dry diving foam? Of course, there are dry suits made of neoprene including thick neoprene, but here divers tend to think of foam, which simply allows less in the water to seep in. Such foams are called semi-dry foams – they have gas-tight locks and sealers made in such a way that indeed water hardly seeps into them, and it’s such a compromise between comfort and warmth between a dry suit and a typical foam. Such semi-dry foams are ideal when the water is a little colder but it is very hot outside. In such a situation, dressing in a dry suit especially a warmer from one’s wetsuit makes one immediately swim with sweat. As I observe experienced divers – cadres diving in the Mediterranean in the summer, where it is very hot but the water is not very warm from a diving point of view, many of these people are just using semi-dry suits.
When buying a foam, we need to think about what thickness it should be, then ideally with try it on. Here, of course, with today’s operations of mail-order stores, you can safely order two three sizes for home. Quietly try on, send back those that will not fit and choose the best-fitting one. What else do we pay attention to? Generally, foams made of better quality neoprene (probably often more expensive) at first wearing may not differ that much from cheaper foams, but what is the difference in the neoprene they are made of? First of all, less aging means the foam will continue to be flexible even after several years. It will be comfortable to wear it besides it will not get thinner. With each immersion there is compression – compression of the neoprene then this neoprene must return to its normal thickness. In cheaper foams, very often after a number of squashes, the foam gets thin – compacted like jeans much weaker protection from cold water. Better quality foam (probably more expensive) will keep its thickness and elasticity longer.
