Comments on: 5 Reasons Not to Wear a Wetsuit

By: neal

neal — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:25:09 +0000

Hi Phil I don’t smear anything (people that do blend a mixture of lanolin and vasoline. I don’t take magnesium either. Haven’t done either, ever.

These days, I can swim in water down to 56F for about an hour without lasting side effects, colder than that and it starts to get uncomfortable and I can’t stay in the water as long. In my experience cold water acclimatization is all about exposure. Getting used to the water take time. Overtime the body becomes more efficient at shunting blood flow from your periphery and keeping your core warm. That process is painful, and it wears off — just like acclimatization on the mountain. The benefit is no wet suit, which is pretty awesome.

In addition to time in the water, silicon ear plugs, two swimming caps, and a belly full of warm water can really really help.

Sidenote: so many foilks talk about body fat, but just like body smear, there’s no real proof that it helps. Especially when there a lot of it.

By: Phil

Phil — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:23:47 +0000

Having swam in the sea twice with a hired wetsuit, I am trying by all means to do all future swimming without one. Cant stand the zip digging into my neck.

My concern swimming without a wetsuit is leg cramps due to cold. Do you smear anything on the skin for insulation? Do you take any supliments such as Magnesium to help prevent cramps? Any other suggestions are welcome.

Phil

New Zealand

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:34:28 +0000

Thanks for the shout out.

By: Karri

Karri — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:19:01 +0000

I would like to second Mike. It’s just like picking your nose…

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:36:05 +0000

While I agree with this post, and I whole-heartedly believe that wetsuits are for surfers and scuba divers, not for swimmers, I disagree with #5. There are 2 categories of wetsuiters out there: those who admit to peeing in their wetsuits, and those who lie about it.