Rules of thumb for comfort at various water temps??

[Kourtjestr]

For me: 45-50*F to 70* - 7mm john - It's what I own. In 80* water: tshirt, bcd, swim trunks....

 

[irishsquid]

Your tolerances to temp will be part of the factor for what is comfortable. I grew up swimming in mountain streams. I have 3 suits.
When I was diving the Keys, it was my 3/2mm suit, no gloves or hood. N.Carolina wrecks I break out my 5/4/3 suit with 2mm gloves and a hood.
The springs in Fla. gets the same as N.Carolina as does the local quarries. I break out the DS in winter here locally with 5mm gloves.
Basically:
+75F = 3mm
60F - 75F = 5mm w/hood & 2mm gloves
Below 60F = Drysuit, though I have on occassion used the 5mm. Those times are based on ambient air temps.
Ditto what Dumpster Diver says. A hood can make huge differences in comfort.

 

[ddmattos]

I wear my Santi E-Lite drysuit for all my diving.
I just change the undergarments.
I use the fourth element system.
+ 80 - 75 drybase no gloves but have thin gloves in my pocket just incase i need to touch things, no hood
74 - 65 zerotherm 3mm fourth element gloves, hood
64 - 50 zerotherm and artic layered 3mm fourth element gloves and hood
Below 49 baselayer, zerotherm, and artic layered 5mm fourth element gloves and hood.

If the suit fits you correctly, it will be joy to dive.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

Here's my list for Florida Keys diving:

Summer = ~85+º water and ~85º-90º+ air = Dive skin (just for sun/stingy protection). This works fine for me even for four-dive days, although I never do more than one of those in a row, and typically do only two dives a day. (Conversely, I froze in the deep tropics snorkeling in 80º-85º water with 90º air, but I think that's because I spent 4+ sequential hours or more per day in the water. Doing boat dives in the Keys, it's more like 50 minutes, then topside where it's hot, then another dive, etc. I've never been cold mid-summer diving there in just the dive skin.)

Late fall = ~78º-80º water and ~80º air = 3mm full suit, add hood for lower temps.

Winter = 70º - 78º water and 70's air = 5mm full suit and hood. Big fluffy boat coat would be nice.

There is some "fudge factor" in those ranges depending on whether it is warm or cold in the air, how many dives I'm doing, etc. Even the 5mm full suit and hood is a bit marginal for water temps down below 72º or so, but again a lot depends on the weather topside.

 

[Hank49]

I will add one comment about: hoods....


A diver will generally try to wear the least amount of bouyant wetsuit that is necessary for the dive. The more wetsuit you wear, the more lead you need, the more buoyancy change you will experience and more restricted the diver will be. Most people will agree with this premise, although people with big steel tank may NEED more wetsuit..

When thermal protection is a consideration, keeping your head warm is of the utmost importance, since it is poorly insulated with fat, the neck blood vessels are close to the skin surface and it is necessary to keep your brain from cooling to any significant degree.

For these two reasons, it makes sense to wear a hood on most any dive. It is more efficient to put on a hood that might have 1 lb of bouyancy than a thicker jacket that adds 4-5 lbs. I could probably dive without a hood in maybe 65 degree water, but anything below 82, I am generally wearing a hood. I hear many people complain that a hood is restrictive, uncomfortable and blocks their hearing.

Can't do much about the hearing, but if people would choose 2-3 mm hoods that are somewhat loosely fittiing, I think they would find them reasonably comfortable and provide more than enough thermal protection and worth using in cool waters... maybe 68-80 degrees.... Colder than that, you probably really do need a really well fitting and thicker hood.

I like a hood also because it protects from stinging stuff, banging my head, trigger fish and sunburn.

Another issue that most cool water surfers know about, but I rarely "hear" discussed by divers is the following malady, which a hood almost defintely helps.

Surfer's ear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm hooked on hoods now.

Regarding surfer's ear, I had a good friend back in the 80s while living on Kauai. He grew up near San Francisco and surfed there. He was only 25 or so when we met but he talked real loud due to his surfer ear. The canal starts to close off to protect the ear from the cold?

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I read the linked article about surfer's ear and it made me wonder about cold-water diving. I wear a hood for the not-yet-very cold water diving I've done (65º-70º), but I found that if I don't make holes in the hood over my ears then I have a hard time equalizing (the hood "seals" to my ears without the holes). So maybe the hood is/would not be not protecting me too well against surfer's ear (when I eventually dive in colder water).

But I wonder how necessary the wind component is? They seemed to emphasize cold AND windy, although then they did mention that divers were also susceptible (so how important is the wind component, really?).

Also: Do some people not have problems equalizing against a sealed hood?

 

[Hank49]

I read the linked article about surfer's ear and it made me wonder about cold-water diving. I wear a hood for the not-yet-very cold water diving I've done (65º-70º), but I found that if I don't make holes in the hood over my ears then I have a hard time equalizing (the hood "seals" to my ears without the holes). So maybe the hood is/would not be not protecting me too well against surfer's ear (when I eventually dive in colder water).

But I wonder how necessary the wind component is? They seemed to emphasize cold AND windy, although then they did mention that divers were also susceptible (so how important is the wind component, really?).

Also: Do some people not have problems equalizing against a sealed hood?

Not sure about the wind but that makes sense.
I had problems equalizing with a hood at first. But I poked a couple tiny holes in them Not a lot of water flows in and out and I still can't hear well, but it does make the fast equalization during free diving easier.

 

[nolatom]

I have only a 3mm full and a 3mm hoodie vest. the vest allows me to "cheat" down to about 71 deg. Below that, I rent something thicker.

A couple of cheap tricks for us who only occasionally dive cool water: With the hood on, exhale thru your nose, the bubbles going from mask into your hood are warm (hood drainholes needed obviously). And with tropical gloves, slip on some Playtex gloves underneath.

I will refrain from commenting on one other reliable warm-up method, but always stay well hydrated, it's important...;-)

 

[fjpatrum]

Wow, this should be interesting. For people like me who get cold easily, the answer is always "as little as possible to still keep warm".

For what it's worth, I'm 6'1 and 170 so very similar to you in the "bioprene" department.

In an 80 degree pool (supposedly) I needed a 2.5 mm spring suit (long sleeves short legs). In 100+ degree weather at an outdoor pool I still wear at least a 1mm top.
In 70+ degree water I wear at a minimum a 3mm full suit. Generally I wear a 4/3 full suit. I've also done this with a hooded vest under a spring suit in 74 degree water and was not warm enough.
In 60-70 degree water, I wear the full suit plus a 5/3 hooded vest. I am cold on my second dive. I have also done this with a 5mm stacked on top of my 4/3 without the hooded vest (mistake). I was still cold--the hood makes a huge difference.
In anything below 60 degree water I wear the full suit, the vest, and a 7mm step in jacket. 7mm booties and 5mm gloves. This keeps me warm enough to do about 40 minutes at a time down to 40 degrees or so. I need hot liquids between dives and my second dive is almost always shorter.

I've never dived dry, though I have considered it. If I find more time to dive locally, I'll eventually get a dry suit.

 

[TMHeimer]

To date I have done only 2 dives a day, rarely 2 days in a row:
about 75F+ body suit, reef gloves (both for protection), swimmer's cap (to keep water from ears)
63-75- shortie, reef gloves, 7 mil hood (to keep water from ears)
60-63- top only of my 7 mil farmer john, hood, reef gloves
Below 60 down to about 42- 7 mil farmer john, hood, 5 fingered gloves
42 down to 33- 7 mil farmer john, hood, 3 fingered mitts