How to Choose the Right Wetwear Wetsuit Thickness and Color

Updated

Wetwear's EZ-ON Jumpsuit comes in four thicknesses — 2mm, 3mm, 5mm, and 7mm — and two neoprene builds: soft-stretch neoprene for entry-level and casual divers, and compression-resistant nitrogen-composed neoprene for active divers. Color options are black, royal blue, purple, yellow, neon green, and red. Thickness should be your first decision because it drives warmth and how much weight you'll need; color is a visibility and preference choice, not a performance one.

Start with thickness: match the suit to your water temperature and dive style

Wetwear lists 2mm, 3mm, 5mm, and 7mm. The site does not publish a temperature-to-thickness chart, so use these as general diving conventions and confirm your choice with Wetwear directly, since fit and personal cold tolerance matter as much as the number.

Thickness Typical use (general diving practice) Trade-off
2mm Warm tropical water, short or shallow dives, high activity Least warmth, most flexibility
3mm Warm to mild water, the common "travel" thickness Balanced warmth and freedom of movement
5mm Cooler water or longer/multiple dives Warmer, but stiffer and needs more weight
7mm Cold water or divers who get cold easily Warmest listed option, least flexible

Two things to keep in mind:

  • Thicker neoprene is more buoyant. Moving from 3mm to 5mm or 7mm usually means adding weight to your kit. Plan for that if you're changing thickness.
  • The "compression charmer test" on the site is Wetwear's own prompt for divers who get cold, framed around compression at depth. If you tend to chill easily, that page is worth reading before you settle on a thickness.

Then choose the neoprene build: casual vs. active diver

Wetwear splits the EZ-ON Jumpsuit into two material options, and this choice is about how hard you dive, not how warm you want to be.

  • Soft-stretch neoprene — described for the entry-level and casual diver. Prioritizes comfort and ease of movement.
  • Compression-resistant nitrogen-composed neoprene — described for the active diver. Built to resist the compression that happens as you descend, which is what causes a suit to lose insulation and fit at depth.

If you dive occasionally in mild conditions, soft-stretch matches the stated use case. If you dive frequently, go deep, or notice your suit flattening out and feeling colder at depth, the compression-resistant option is the one Wetwear positions for you.

Color: pick for visibility and preference

Available colors are black, royal blue, purple, yellow, neon green, and red. Wetwear presents these as a straight choice with no performance claims attached, so treat color as:

  • Visibility — brighter options (yellow, neon green, red) are easier for a buddy or boat crew to spot.
  • Preference and matching — black and royal blue are the conventional choices; purple, yellow, neon green, and red let you stand out.

Note that the site lists two slightly different color sets in different places: one section names black, royal blue, purple, and red, while another adds yellow and neon green. Confirm the current available colors for your chosen thickness when you order.

What the EZ-ON design changes about your decision

The EZ-ON Jumpsuit is built to go on like a shirt and pants rather than a traditional pull-on suit. Two features matter when choosing:

  • Zippers you open after a dive. Wetwear states you can open the zippers to let air flow through and cool off on hot summer or tropical trips.
  • Water intrusion at the zippers. Wetwear says the EZ-ON zippers are backed with coated Lycra expansion gussets (described as polyurethane-coated in one section and lightweight rubber-coated in another) so you don't need to worry about water coming through the zippers.

This design is most useful if getting into a tight suit is a barrier for you, or if you overheat on the surface between dives in warm water.

Fit matters as much as the spec sheet

Thickness and material only work if the suit fits. Wetwear's own customer testimonial comes from Karen McCarthy, who describes being tall with long arms and legs and finding off-the-rack wetsuits impossible to fit, then being warm and comfortable in a custom-made WetWear suit for a dive trip in Indonesia. If you have a hard-to-fit body type, ask about custom sizing rather than forcing a stock size — a poorly fitting 7mm suit can be colder than a well-fitting 5mm one because water flushes through it.

A practical way to decide

  1. Set your thickness from the water you actually dive and how easily you get cold (2mm warm/tropical → 7mm cold or cold-prone).
  2. Pick the build: soft-stretch for casual, compression-resistant for active diving.
  3. Choose color for visibility or preference, and confirm the current color list for your thickness.
  4. Confirm fit — stock or custom — before ordering, especially if you're tall, long-limbed, or between sizes.
  5. Recheck your weighting if you're moving to a thicker suit.

Wetwear's listed hours are Monday–Friday 10 AM to 6 PM, with Saturdays by appointment only, if you want to ask about thickness, fit, or current color availability before ordering.