I’m eyeing up sleeveless wetsuits - but I was wondering, do they not cause major chafing on the top of the shoulders especially in salt water? The edge of the suit especially with the stitching looks like it would really rub.
Never had an issue with mine, but I only swim in fresh water with it.
i got chafing from my wetsuit. you need to put some kind of vaseline on before you put it on. its very common to do so, most swimmers will apply some kind of vaseline. but then dont touch the insides of your goggles if you have vas on your fingers. gets very blurry
you put the vas on the chafing parts, neck and shoulders etc
+1, vaseline or bodyglide or some other type of lubricant on the hot spots does the trick. I do this around the neck of my (sleeved) wetsuit or else I get chafing.
Yeah I use Oceanlube on the neck of my sleeved wetsuit to prevent chaffing - but something about having a stitched seam running over your shoulder makes me think the chaffing would be much worse than from a soft wetsuit collar. ![]()
I usually wear a sleeveless wetsuit, and I’ve never had shoulder chafing, despite some long sea swims. I prefer sleeveless over sleeved, because it feels freeing.
However, I use Vaseline/Bodyglide for anywhere that could chafe during longer sea swims (armpits, neck, etc.). Chafing is personal, but I find my neck suffers more than anywhere else if I forget to use Vaseline or Bodyglide.
I’ve only found chafing to be an issue in salt water, but VMMV.