Cold hands

[grantmac]

Currently using either polyprop or merino glove liners, seem to be about the same. Water under 9c and dives longer than 80 minutes get pretty painful. White's Mk3 garment which has seen better days seems to keep my core fairly warm although bulky.
Considering going to heated liners or a heated vest. I have the battery but no other components and would welcome input.

 

[rhwestfall]

have you tried using neoprene wet gloves under the dry outers? Something like a 3mm? You probably need to upside the dry glove....

 

[ontdiver]

What glove system are you using?

 

[rhwestfall]

Keep in mind your body shunts circulation to the extremities when cold. Are you warm enough in your core?

The other thing is are your gloves too tight? Wrist seals?

 

[grantmac]

Showa 720 on Rolock 90 with intact seals. I have dove without seals and didn't find a significant change in temperature.

 

[grantmac]

Keep in mind your body shunts circulation to the extremities when cold. Are you warm enough in your core?

The other thing is are your gloves too tight? Wrist seals?

My extremities just get cold in general. I have neoprene socks on my suit and run 6mm booties overtop rather than rockboots.

 

[rhwestfall]

I have Renaud syndrome (modest for me, extreme for my daughter) which is basically a really bad response to cold (painful, and swelling). Hydration is one key as well as the right insulation.... best of luck!

 

[grantctobin]

G

Post in thread 'Bottoms of feet cold (drysuit, 39F / 3.9C water)'

Mar 11, 2021

Feet get cold for two reasons (three if you count misc medical things like reynaud's). Cold core (body moves heat towards things it wants to protect) or poor circulation (body can't put warmth in places blood isn't actively going in and out of).

I do think there's a point in warmth/duration where safety increases for a slightly heavier suit gas:wing ratio and you're about there.

Your options, assuming you're already optimizing caloric intake, pre dive ritual, etc, (imo) in order of decreasing value per warmth unit, include:

-FE XCore vest or similar
-12+ mm Otter Bay custom hood (get...

• grantctobin

• 

Would encourage a read of this. Minor changes I’ve made: one size up of gloves with two sets of wool liners, a Brynje mesh baselayer, even looser wrist seals, silly amounts of high fat food, and taking extreme care not to sweat before getting in the water. 3° 2hr without heat ends up being the hard limit whilst still being able to remove myself from my suit at the end of the dive on the surface. I do have heated gloves and socks but has to be a pretty specific reason or intent to bother plugging them in and bringing them.

 

[Zef]

Do you have anything that disrupts the wrist seal to allow warm air to travel into your gloves?

I use the Rolock 90 system but use the thin silicone tubes that came with the Ultima DGS set that I used to use. The thin flexible tubes allow warm air to pass into the gloves by raising my arms above my body when horizontal, and above my shoulders if verticle. They work surprisingly well. If a glove were to puncture, I can grab the tube through the fabric of my drysuit at my wrist and just pull the tube out of the glove effectively allowing the wrist seal to fully seal around my wrist and prevent water from entering my suit.​

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I use SHOWA 720 glove and the fuzzy yellow acrylic glove liners that come with SHOWA 495 gloves in really cold waters and have not had any issues. I use thinner glove liners (Dakine Storm, if I recall correctly) in waters down to about 10c.​

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The a bought a lenth of the silicone tubing from Amazon because I kept forgetting my originals were in place after the dive and would drop them when taking off my suit. Here is a link...they are 2mm OD x 1mm ID:​

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Silicone Tubing​

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-Z​

 

[grantmac]

I've done thicker/doubled liners but the reduction in dexterity wasn't worth the trade off since they weren't that much warmer.

I tuck my liners into the seal so that gas can flow fairly easily. However my seals might be on the tight side and worth considering a trim on.