To have had it with wetsuits

[Folicky]

What an ordeal and what's wrong with bathing costumes! They're covered in sand after removal, then the hosing down and trying to dry before the next day. A bathing costume is 100x more straightforward. I don't like feeling cold so was drawn to them but I've had it! Are they not a bit pretentious for children when all they're doing is paddling in the sea? Oh and extra work for parents

Have you tried paddling about or swimming in the North Sea? It’s bloody freezing. Even on a really hot day it’s painfully cold.

If people feel happier in wetsuits. I don’t see why you care about them dealing with the logistics of it. Wetsuits are a pain to put on and take off. So people probably feel the benefit outweighs the additional effort required.

Get a wetsuit jacket, still keeps you a but warm but no where near such a faff. I went years without even bothering with one of those though tbh, I wear cycling shorts for body boarding type stuff otherwise the tops of my legs chafe on the board.

I'm with you generally though - we go to Cornwall a lot and even on really warm days there are whole families there struggling to all get into wetsuits to spend a few minutes in the sea, then you either have to take them off, or be cooked alive in a neoprene skin! And the ones where they are long sleeved and long legged, sand all over them, just.....no.

I think it's partly just a 'looking the part' thing.

We went a swim in the sea at findhorn a few years ago, it was lovely but lots of small jellyfish. We didnt have wetsuits and it was cold but ok. I can imagine a wetsuit makes it much more enjoyable.

Oh give over with the "lifestyle signifier" nastiness. This thread has reminded me I was going to get a wetsuit for me and my 3 year old before we go on holiday next week so thank you. Why? Because we live in the North, going on holiday to Scotland, the sea is always absolutely freezing but my 3 year old loves it and will be in there till she is blue and I would like to go in with her Ince. Is that alright with you or will you be scorning me from up the beach?

I recently visited the outdoor pool where we used to swim in the famously Baltic waters in the 70s wearing just our cossies. All the children were in wetsuits. I was privately very judgemental about that.

I used to need a wetsuit to go in the North Sea. Then I put on a load of weight and am (pretty fit but still) overweight. I can now be fine in the North Sea without a wetsuit. When I was very thin (BMI 19) I felt pain in my bones literally from just walking into the sea.

I don't bother with my youngest as he barely goes in, what you would call paddling, so I understand what your saying. I tend to go in lakes more that the sea as wetsuits do have to be rinsed off with fresh water after. My oldest is in for hours and it gets cold in UK up north. My older son and I wear one when it's less than 18°c though so would need to ATM, we paddle board and like and swimming in a d out for hours.

Some of the responses in this thread remind me of the Billy Connolly joke about offshore riggers being given safety gear because "you wouldn't survive 5 minutes in the North Sea", while on a beach 3 miles away parents are chucking their children into the water in their hand knitted cossies saying "stop greetin ya big jessie" 😂

They do ditalini!

I checked the sea temperature here out of curiosity, it was 13C (apparently), 14C on land according to the car temperature gauge and my eldest DC and I were in the sea for a couple of hours last night. Our wetsuits are dry this morning too 😉

I’ve bought wetsuits for my kids this year so they can spend longer in the sea, didn’t realise it was pretentious or a ‘lifestyle signifier’ 😊

@Bazinga007 what are you talking about? You know you get wetsuits designed just for swimming?!

The buoyancy needs are a bit different. Go tell outdoor swimmers and triathletes that wetsuits aren’t for swimming 😂

Wetsuits are pretentious? I've heard it all now 🤣 I don't own one, just a rash vest to stop me burning but I've never looked at someone in a wetsuit and thought they were trying to portray some sort of lifestyle. They were pretty common where I was growing up on the west coast of Ireland. The Atlantic Ocean is rather chilly.

make you buoyant too

Pretentious? Just don’t buy or wear wetsuits if you don’t like them. Who cares if other people’s kids paddle in wetsuits?

I swim in the North Sea and use one, it means I can stay out longer and get a much better swim in than in skins. I agree they’re pointless for paddling, but for days when the kids want to spend any length of time in the water they use theirs too. The extra buoyancy helps with my swimming position too, as well as the warmth factor.

We have them. Went on holiday in the May half term. It was so cold I had to have my coat on on the beach. 13 degrees with a cold wind. The wetsuits meant that I could play with the kids in the sea for hours without the freezing wind freezing me and them.

Buy a good one with zips on the ankles and arms - makes life so much easier. Buy from a decent surf shop and they’ll even give you money back on it when you change for a bigger size (kids).

For me, I hate a full suit and much prefer a two piece - jacket and leggings. So much nicer and often I just wear the jacket in.

I dont want to brag, but my two are in wetsuits in the paddling pool.

Lifestyle goals.

I'm too fat to find a wetsuit to fit and I have noticed they're much more common now, to the point where I felt embarrassed being in the sea without one. I've now bought swimming leggings and a rash vest which has been great

You definitely shouldn’t feel embarrassed, the hardcore sea swimmers I know don’t wear them, it’s the wimps like me who do!