At what water temp can I start diving wet in a 7mm suit

[Hatul]

Depth is also a factor with wetsuits as the neoprene compresses. But the bottom line is, since you already have your suit, just to try it.

 

[giantfan]

Thanks everyone for the info and tips..... I will be giving it a shot in the next week or so and I will let you know what I come up with.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I regularly dive with a 5 mil over a 3 mil hooded vest in water 55 F and warmer. I also have 5 mils gloves and 5 mil boots. I weigh about 205, and am 5'10". Body mass and body type are big factors when it comes to heat loss in the water. If you are long and lean, use that dry suit. If you are built like me, the wetsuit with hood and gloves will be ok. The cold water diving for me is on training weekends, and over two days I am usually in the water a total of six or seven hours. If the air is warm and the sun is out, I am fine. On cloudy days I am definitely cold by the end of the day. I look forward to the report back here after you go dive the wetsuit.
DivemasterDennis

 

[giantfan]

I regularly dive with a 5 mil over a 3 mil hooded vest in water 55 F and warmer. I also have 5 mils gloves and 5 mil boots. I weigh about 205, and am 5'10". Body mass and body type are big factors when it comes to heat loss in the water. If you are long and lean, use that dry suit. If you are built like me, the wetsuit with hood and gloves will be ok. The cold water diving for me is on training weekends, and over two days I am usually in the water a total of six or seven hours. If the air is warm and the sun is out, I am fine. On cloudy days I am definitely cold by the end of the day. I look forward to the report back here after you go dive the wetsuit.
DivemasterDennis

I'm an inch shorter and have about 5 additional lbs.... sounds like I should be ok as I don't get cold easily. Now if the wind would stop blowing and I can get my boat out of the travel lift.... I will be all set.

Thank you

 

[manni-yunk]

I'm an inch shorter and have about 5 additional lbs.... sounds like I should be ok as I don't get cold easily. Now if the wind would stop blowing and I can get my boat out of the travel lift.... I will be all set.

Thank you

So how is the season going so far on your boat? I dive my boat in SOUTH jersey - and we have had a great year. Vis has been great - wrecks have been great!

 

[windapp]

we had our checkout dives last year april 30th and may 1st
all shore dives in Lake Ontario with air temperature of around 59F but sunny and windy and water temperature of 35F
we lasted anywhere from 30-40 minutes
i had a 2 piece 7mm suit like this one and i was fine, i actually stayed in it between dives, that's how comfy and warm it was, better than taking it off and putting it on wet and cold few hours later

The water temperature was NOT 35 F. It it is IMPOSSIBLE for fresh water to get below 39 when there is no ice present, except at the very surface, and if the air temperature was 59, the surface water temperature was definitely not 35.

Also to Mr. PG 5 Degrees Celcius is not 37 Degrees fahrenheit. It's 41.

 

[Rich Keller]

You should also look into a good hood or hooded vest as about 80-90% of your body heat is lost through your head. Another factor would be what you are doing during a dive. If you are working you will stay warmer then if you are just slowly swimming around.

 

[drdaddy]

My buddy and I dive year around in 7mm wetsuits - 2 piece farmer johns. Temp is 48-52 degrees F. Two dives at a time - about 45min to 1hr each. We do fine and do not want drysuits. We are real men and are still too young (61yrs) and healthy to need anything else. After our dives we beat our chests and scream and laugh to warm ourselves up! Plus our jetty diving (barnacles) rips up anything we wear and holes in a drysuit would ruin the day. Last Friday we were under water for 40 minutes at 50 degrees chasing dungeness crabs - burning up lots of air and never getting cold. Came up with 20 nice legal big ones.

 

[Dhboner]

Up until last yeat I wore a 7mm wetsuit throughout the winter (and Lake Ontario gets pretty cold in winter). I was able to do around 30-40 minutes without getting too cold (uncomfortable but not hypothermic). I made the decision to get a drysuit when I realized that if something went wrong on the dive and I wasn't able to get out of the water when scheduled...OOA that resulted in a long surface swim or assisiting my buddy if they were in trouble, cramping etc., then I would be in real trouble.

So, yes I was fine diving wet all winter as long as everything went according to plan but I realized that 15 extra minutes in the water might be the difference between a safe dive and a tragedy.

Bob (Toronto)

 

[windapp]

Up until last yeat I wore a 7mm wetsuit throughout the winter (and Lake Ontario gets pretty cold in winter). I was able to do around 30-40 minutes without getting too cold (uncomfortable but not hypothermic). I made the decision to get a drysuit when I realized that if something went wrong on the dive and I wasn't able to get out of the water when scheduled...OOA that resulted in a long surface swim or assisiting my buddy if they were in trouble, cramping etc., then I would be in real trouble.

So, yes I was fine diving wet all winter as long as everything went according to plan but I realized that 15 extra minutes in the water might be the difference between a safe dive and a tragedy.

Bob (Toronto)

You make an extremely good point here. If there is a chance that you will not be able to get out of the water quickly at the first sign of hypothermia, then underprotecting thermally would be equivalent to cave diving without any reserve. Dead from drowing and dead from hypothermia are both dead.