Why are Wetsuits Black?
Wetsuits are widely used in many water sports including surfing, scuba diving, kayaking among others. One thing easily notable to anyone watching the sports is that most of the wetsuits are always black. One may wonder why are wetsuits black. Is it a requirement or is there a special reason for this common occurrence?
Most wetsuits are black because black provides maximum UV protection and insulation, it’s slimming and goes with every other color. In addition, a carbon black color filter added to neoprene helps stabilize the synthetic rubber enhancing its tensile strength allowing your wetsuit to last longer.
However, this doesn’t mean you can’t or aren’t allowed to wear other brightly colored wetsuits. In fact today you will find many black wet suits with brightly colored stripes and patterns. Some wet suits are also made using bright colors and no black.
Why black and not other bright colors? It would be easier to spot a lost diver wearing a bright wetsuit than one in a black suit right?
Are sharks and other marine life attracted to bright colors? No, the color of your wetsuit doesn’t attract or keep any marine life away.
We all have many questions relating to wetsuits.
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into why black is the most preferred color for wetsuits, does it improve performance in any way, does it protect you from marine life, and debunk some common myths about wetsuits.
Let’s dive into it.
Wetsuits and Early Rubber
Wetsuits were first produced for surfers in the 1950s. A wet suit was the best attire for surfers to keep them well insulated as water tends to draw heat away from the body which could result in hypothermia easily.
With time, wetsuits gained popularity and acceptance among other water sports and have been around since then.
In the early days, natural rubber was used to make rubber products. Natural rubber isn’t stable and has a whitish color which is prone to quick degradation once exposed to harsh conditions.
During this period, manufacturers used carbon black or soot to help stabilize natural rubber and also prolong its shelf life.
Carbon black gives the rubber the characteristic black color and allows it to offer better UV protection.
Advancements in technology brought changes into the industry and manufacturers were able to produce a synthetic rubber known as neoprene. This form of rubber is more stable compared to natural rubber and degrades at a slower rate
Neoprene is now the most used material to manufacture wet suits among other diving gear. The neoprene used has a carbon black filter to further enhance its ability and strengthen the wetsuits allowing them to withstand harsh conditions.
Synthetic neoprene is easy to color which allows the production of brightly colored wetsuits. These however tend to be more costly compared to black ones.
Why are Scuba suits always Black
As mentioned earlier most wetsuits including scuba diving suits are black for various reasons such as better UV protection, they are sliming, providing better insulation, and lasting longer.
Let’s look into each aspect in more detail;
Black Wetsuits have better UV protection
When scuba diving we spend a lot of time exposed to the sun and the harmful UV radiation. You want to enjoy your dive without worrying about sunburns. Black color absorbs sun rays blocking them from reaching your skin and causing burns.
In addition, since black doesn’t reflect the light you are assured that the exposed body parts such as the face, arms, and legs won’t get sun damage from reflected sun rays.
Brightly colored wetsuits can allow sun rays to penetrate the suit into your skin causing sunburns. It may take some time to notice the damage but it is slowly happening. Moreover, bright colors tend to reflect light meaning your exposed body parts will easily suffer from sunburn.
Black provides better insulation
Due to its heat absorption property, black helps keep the divers warm. Water draws heat rapidly from the body increasing the risk of hypothermia among divers.
Black wetsuits absorb and trap as much heat as they possibly can and reflect very little or none at all. The trapped heat keeps the divers warm for long especially when diving into deep waters that tend to be very cold.
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Black is slimming
In the fashion industry, black has gained popularity among consumers. It’s in fact used as a marketing strategy since black tends to flatter our bodies and give a slimming effect.
Among male divers, the slimming effects help keep every part concealed. Divers don’t have to worry about showing which may be a concern among some people.
Black is also a popular color among shoppers, when torn between two or more colors to pick from, consumers will always go for black regardless of what they are buying be it a pair of jeans or a scuba diving wetsuit.
In all honesty, black wetsuits do look good on everyone. I never meet anyone who didn’t look cool in a black wetsuit.
Your Black wetsuit will last longer
Oxidation is like cancer to natural rubber. When exposed to sunlight and other harsh conditions, natural rubber degrades and wears out very fast.
To counter this and enhance the durability and strength of rubber, carbon black is always added to neoprene. This not only stabilizes the rubber but also enhances its stretching ability. Neoprene is able to last longer since the level of oxidation is lowered by carbon black.
The wetsuit can absorb as much heat from the sun without any worry of fading, flaking, cracking, or tearing. The strengthening power from carbon black also helps the suit withstand harsh conditions without tearing.
Do Black wetsuits attract sharks?
No, black wet suits don’t attract sharks.
Black wetsuits also don’t make you resemble a seal while in water. In fact, there is no proven evidence pointing to any particular wetsuit color that attracts sharks or makes you more appealing to sharks.
Sharks are known to be color blind and only use their heightened senses to attack or hunt for food, nothing to do with the color of your wet suit. A shark attacking a diver will always come from underneath. From this angle, everything above appears dark so the color of your suit doesn’t really matter.
Attack from sharks or other marine life mostly results from disturbance or touching the animals.
Do Black Wetsuits enhance performance?
There is no evidence indicating that a black wetsuit will enhance your diving skills or performance in any other water sport.
What matters the most is the skills and experience gained over the diving career.
Don’t worry, wearing a brightly colored wetsuit won’t affect your performance in any way.
What color wetsuit is the best?
Black is the most preferred color due to the multiple benefits highlighted in this article. Black is also versatile and will probably continue to be the most preferred color in many water sports.
However, this doesn’t mean it’s the best color or has any added performance benefits to it. You can opt to buy scuba diving suits in different colors. The only downside is that they may not last as long as a black wet suit and may not offer utmost UV protection.
Final Take
Did I answer all the questions you have on why are wetsuits black?
We’ve looked into the benefits of black wetsuits and other factors that make them popular among scuba divers. Some of the notable factors include UV protection, durability, better insulation, versatility, and slimming effects and it also doesn’t show dirt easily.
Black wetsuits however do not enhance performance in any way or increase the chances of a shark attack.
Remember to respect marine life each time you dive and stay safe.
