I'm still cold!

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I get cold easily, at 77F I'd still be in my drysuit. That said, I don't like 5mm so past 77 I'll wear a 3mm and a hooded vest. I'm a big fan of Lavacore/Sharkskin etc because they're neutrally buoyant and I don't need to add additional weight.

Hoods are nice because (if you wear them over your mask strap) you can remove them if you get too warm
 
i have a 5 mm gold core Henderson wetsuit. I was in Hawaii with water at 77 degrees. By 40 minutes or so I was getting cold and getting back in water for second dive I only lasted 30 mins. Dive master was wearing 8 mm semi dry and said she was toasty but worried about being too toasty. Going to fiji in May. Any words of advice?
Does your dive suit fit properly?

I see lots of people wearing multiple ill fitting layers and complaining about being cold. At least one of their neck, arm or leg seals is too large. It is also common to see large areas of loose suit (arms / legs / trunk too long) that will allow a large amount of water to pool inside - too much water for your body to warm up, especially if you have a constant trickle of fresh water.

I would start by ensuring you have a suit that fits properly and seals properly.
 
I get cold easily, at 77F I'd still be in my drysuit. That said, I don't like 5mm so past 77 I'll wear a 3mm and a hooded vest. I'm a big fan of Lavacore/Sharkskin etc because they're neutrally buoyant and I don't need to add additional weight.

Hoods are nice because (if you wear them over your mask strap) you can remove them if you get too warm
I have found Lavacore not as warm as equivalent wetsuit. I frequently add my hooded vest to my 3, 5 or 7 mm full suit if I am cool. I wear my hooded vest under my full suit and my mask outside of my hood. If I get warm, I let water into my suit rather than remove my hood.
 
In my short time diving I've already been mocked on a few dives for wearing a hood, even in the springs at 72º! I think the stigma about hoods, gloves, or thicker suits is odd, especially considering that I'm usually the one that isn't shivering after the dive...
 
I have found Lavacore not as warm as equivalent wetsuit. I frequently add my hooded vest to my 3, 5 or 7 mm full suit if I am cool.

I would agree. They 'claim' that they are equivalent to a 3mm, I would argue its more like 2mm. Only for a short period here would I use then as my sole protection, and use them as a supplement.

Fit is important too (like wet-suits) my original, and bee retired because its stretched and thus lets water flush through the neck (it had done 400 dives over 3 years and suffered from being pulled on and off whilst wet)

As a supplementary undergarment I find them to be excellent, and I personally prefer their hoods to conventional neoprene.

Obviously the other big advantage is that they breath and are wind proof, so you can keep it on between dives having taken the wetsuit off and stay warm and they dry quickly.

All that said, I have a huge range of exposure protection, not only because of our water temps can change (16F difference between summer and winter temps ) but also the extreme air temps we can get. In teh spring when the water is still warming up, the air temp is already too warm to be comfortable in layers of neoprene, yet below the thermocline you'll definitely need it.

Hence I have a complete range of mix and match and will change the combinations on a weekly basis in the spring and autumn.

Of course what works for me, is not necessarily someone else's ideal solution
 
In my short time diving I've already been mocked on a few dives for wearing a hood, even in the springs at 72º! I think the stigma about hoods, gloves, or thicker suits is odd, especially considering that I'm usually the one that isn't shivering after the dive...
I'm rarely mocked when I'm the only warm one on the boat. I can't count the number of times I've loaned my boat coat or extra jacket to a grateful diver.
 
I'm rarely mocked when I'm the only warm one on the boat. I can't count the number of times I've loaned my boat coat or extra jacket to a grateful diver.
The mocking has taken place before dives, not so much after. One dive shop owner that I did a spring dive with asked me if I was doing an Artic trip when I put on my hood. She was shivering after the second dive and I was comfortable. Go figure.

A young employee at another dive shop told me he didn't like diving springs because he got cold and also didn't like the sand in his hair. Hood anyone?
 
hood is a good, inexpensive place to start for warmth. if its not enough, there are some really good semi-dry suits
 
@annmarie722
You live in a cold climate and don't know how to protect upirself from the cold and keep warm in the cold ?

Perhaps I can provide a wee bit of advice from way out west in California- where diving began

In the genesis of diving prior to the development of the exposure suits (first the Barada dry suit then the Bradner wet suit ) divers used all sorts of coverings for thermal protection- WW11 electrical heated wool flight suits with the wires removed or a set of WW11 wool long underwear- put on the baggy bathing suit, then the flight suit or the long underwear then another bathing suit to keep the thermal protection suit in place.

I was a young dumb kid so I preferred a WW 11 GI khaki wool sweater about 2 sizes too small so it had a sung fit.
(FYI --there are two pictures of me in this costume painted by the great John Steel in the anniversary issue of Skin Diver magazine -about 20 years ago)

It was soon discovered - serendipitously- that if the areas with venous flow nearest the surface were keep warm, such as the ankles, wrist and the head, the diver retained heat for a longer period So enter the gooey sticky cloth backed electrician's tape-- copious amounts were taped around the ankles and wrist to some what keep those areas warm allowing for a few moments more of diving.

Also it was serendipitously discovered that the USN WW11 Surplus submarine lined watch hat complete with a chin strap or a WW 11 surplus US AF fur lined crewmen's cap offered a certain amount of cranial thermal protection

In modern day diving many use dry suits other wet suits...You chose the later - It should be tight fitting with no bunches or gaps-- Your first wet suit you will consider tight - your second should be tighter and the third one -if you grace the diving world that long should be very very tight ,, so there is absolutely no water flow,

The ankles require a reasonably well fitted dive bootie to insure the ankle venous flow is warm- I have, possibly by habit, always pull my wet suit down over the booties it insure a tight fit - My red headed Canadian born wife just the opposite.

When I began diving with a wet suit a WW11 sheet of neoprene could be purchased from Kirkoff Rubber company in Brea California for $1.00 and a can of wet suit glue "Black Magic" also for a dollar.. with some injunity of pattern design wet suit was created for 2 hard earned California Yankee dollars.

As a result I designed my own wet suits which were later graciously cut and glued at no charge by the local wet suit manufactures- All my suits featured an attached hood. Often on those cold SoCal nights when diving for lobsters I wore a neoprene vest under the extremely tight fitting wet suit.

If your head, which is richly endowed with venous flow becomes cold, your body core temperature will drop accordingly. Therefore a good fitting thick hood or even better in extreme cold a hooded vest is appropriate

Therefore three areas to review and improve
Wet suit fit
Wet suit hood
Booties - fit for no flow

Have a serious conversation with your fuzzy faces instructor for additional input

And last and equally important - get in shape ! Join a swim club swim regularly with all the vim and vigor you can muster at 50 plus years.

Sam Miller, III
LA Co UW instructor #11
NAUI instructor # A27
PADI instructor # 241 or 2241 ?
 

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