Cold in 80^+ pool in a 7mil...????

[LuvDaOcean]

Last night was my first pool session. I'm dumbfounded as to why I started getting cold after about 2 hours while wearing a 7mil full suit (no vest/hood) in 80 degree-plus pool water. I wasn't shivering, but I was quite chilly. Our OW dives are supposed to be in Monterey, CA (uh, can you say really, really cold water?) and I'm wondering how in the world I'm going to manage that if I get chilled in a 80^ pool?

I've already booked our OW checkout dives in FL, but kind of wanted to finish our OW here so that we could do some easy recreational diving in FL. Is there anyone here that's faced the same problem? Or have some advice other than "drysuit" since it's not possible to take a drysuit class at our LDS before we go to FL?

Thanks bunches, everyone!

 

[mike_s]

was the suit too tight? if it was too tight it might have caused poor blood circulation which would have caused you to get colder.

are you typically cold natured anyway?

 

[LuvDaOcean]

was the suit too tight? if it was too tight it might have caused poor blood circulation which would have caused you to get colder.

are you typically cold natured anyway?

No, I made sure the suit wasn't too tight. The first one they rented me was too tight (couldn't breathe properly), so I switched to the next size up. Is it possible that the suit may have been too loose? How do you know when a suit is too loose?

And, yes, I am one of those people that tend to get cold faster than others. There's nothing I can do about that, so I'm wondering where that leaves me even though everyone keeps telling me, "you'll do just fine in Monterey!"?

 

[dlndavid]

Diving Monterey tomorrow for my first cold water dive. I'll let you know how cold it feels.
There will be some students doing their OW checkout dives and the instructor said they would only be down for 20 minutes.
David

 

[mstudley]

stolen from stupiddivertricks.com:

How Wetsuits Really Work

Okay, I’m not making this one up. It actually says this in a popular diving textbook:

“A wetsuit works by trapping a thin layer of water between the skin and suit. Body heat warms the trapped water to a comfortable temperature. If the suit is too loose, cold water will flow through without providing warmth….”

Oh. My. God. (Did we, like, flunk high school physics or what?)

Come on, boys and girls. Repeat after me:

• Water is not an insulator, it is a conductor.
• Unless it is already warmer than 88 degrees Fahrenheit, there is nothing water can do to “provide” your body with warmth. The only thing water can do is rob your body of heat.
• Uncompressed neoprene foam, on the other hand, is an excellent insulator.
• The more uncompressed neoprene foam you can have next to your skin (and the less water), the warmer you will be.

The fact any water at all gets inside a wetsuit is a design flaw — not a function of “providing” warmth. By keeping the amount of water that circulates through your suit to a minimum, you minimize the amount of body heat lost to it. The warmest exposure suits of all allow no water to circulate, They’re called dry suits.

By the way, no exposure suit “makes” you warm or “provides” you with warmth. Only your own metabolism does that. What exposure suits can do is help reduce heat loss, so that you can complete your dive before losing so much body heat you feel miserable.

One further note: Wetsuits only work in relatively shallow water. Past 60 feet, the neoprene foam is so compressed, it provides almost no insulation whatsoever.

This is why you see cave divers in north-central Florida donning dry suits and thick undergarments in August to dive in 72-degree water. Most north-Florida cave dives are in the 70- to 100-foot range. At this depth, wetsuits are damn near useless. A Florida cave diver in a wetsuit will most likely have lost so much warmth during the dive, his deco — even though made in shallow water — will be cold and miserable (and much less effective).

Water is a more powerful conductor of heat than most divers realize. When selecting exposure protection, always remember that, while it is almost impossible to be too hot under water, it is very easy to be too cold.

 

[mossym]

2 hours? you won't be in the ocean that long, 2 hours will have you cold in most water. and also, for a lot of that 2 hours you were probably not moving very much, you'l be moving a lot more in the ocean which will keep you warmer...but you need to accept, in a wetsuit, you are never going to be warm in Monterey.

 

[cfelliot]

My wife got pretty cold in her 3mm in upper 70's degree water when we started. The addition of a hood and gloves fixed her problems.

Were you wearing these in the pool? There's an awful lot of heat loss through the head.

 

[Geezer]

I remember being chilled at the end of a two hour pool session, then feeling overheated with the same suit for the open-water dives in water that was a little cooler than the pool.

I think it has to do with the different activity level you'll find on your open water dives, and on the overall amount of time spent in the water. A little activity goes a long way in that respect.

 

[Puck]

If your activity level was low (waiting for others to finish exercises and listening to instruction), that may be part of the issue. Not that you will be exerting yourself too much on most dives, but you will probably be more active and not in and out of the water as you are in the pool situations. You may want to invest in a hood or neoprene cap (I have a squid cap that keeps my head a bit warmer and offers some basic level of protection for my oversized cranium. That or get a dry suit.

 

[spectrum]

Last night was my first pool session. I'm dumbfounded as to why I started getting cold after about 2 hours while wearing a 7mil full suit (no vest/hood) in 80 degree-plus pool water. I wasn't shivering, but I was quite chilly. Our OW dives are supposed to be in Monterey, CA (uh, can you say really, really cold water?) and I'm wondering how in the world I'm going to manage that if I get chilled in a 80^ pool?

I've already booked our OW checkout dives in FL, but kind of wanted to finish our OW here so that we could do some easy recreational diving in FL. Is there anyone here that's faced the same problem? Or have some advice other than "drysuit" since it's not possible to take a drysuit class at our LDS before we go to FL?

Thanks bunches, everyone!

Well two hours in water that is sub body temperature can take a toll. If you were cold you were cold, period, how can you correct this? We'd all rather see you be cautious and avoid hypothermia.

If you were doing skills in a group and spent time sitting around on the bottom that's not helping, nor will it be how you dive.

A hood or beanie can do wonders, your head, via your inprotected neck always gets it's share of blood and body heat. Protecting it can help a lot.

If you went up a size and could get into it alone without difficulty it's unlikely to be too tight. Too lose is more likely. How can you tell? It should be a close fit, slightly stretched at the wrist and ankle openings. The close fit will minimize flushing of water and let you warm what does enter. In general it should be a close fit all over with a minumum number of folds. You must have full range of motion and be able to breathe freely.

The suit may have been tired, if it's been on a lot of dives, especially deep it may be compressed and not 7mm anymore. With nothing on your neck it's hard to get a good seal there and doing up & down drill will case more flushing, water exchange. Again a hood or even a hooded vest can do wonders.

The pool thermomenter may have been bogus. I really think that's part of it. The pool water may have been uncomonly stratified with you working in cooler water below.

If the temp was 75 at the thermometer and it was really 70 at the bottom and if the suit was crushed down to 5mm or less and fitting poorly and you were somewhat sedentary practicing skills you should be cold after 2 hours.

It sounds like it's time to get fitted for your own suit, something with good seals in the limbs and include some sort of head protection. Lot's more in the exposure protection forum.

It's often said to be best to can get certified in the most challenging water you plan to dive as a novice.

Keep at it and have fun.
Pete