Cold Water Diving for Beginners

[formernuke]

31 coldest, 83 warmest. The 83 I was fine in the water on the boat I melted though.

 

[VsubT]

Sounds like a silly little detail, but adding a lip shield on your reg’s mouthpiece helps some for heat loss.

Having a cooler filled with hot water comes in handy when you figure out that your gear froze to the picnic table during the surface interval. Learned that tip from the NJ guys who were smart enough to bring one along, but not until they had a good laugh at our predicament.

Diving dry is well worth the cost. Semi-dry seems better suited to water temperatures in the mid-50F+ range from my experience. A good set of dry gloves and rings makes a big difference too.

Stay warm & have fun!

Lance

 

[maj2]

I have a neoprene drysuit for local diving and a 3mm wetsuit from warm water travel.
I find no need for anything in between.
The neoprene drysuit with dry gloves and adequate heavy base layers lasts me all day when we are ice diving. I just ditch the hood for a wool toque when I am not in the water.
In the summer, I just loose insulating layers, and unzip out of the drysuit between dives to keep cool. Sometimes on the warmest days and warmish water-- just T-shirt and shorts under the drysuit.

 

[DAJ]

For me, wet suit/dry suit, depends on water temp, how many dives I plan on doing that day, how long a dive might be, what depth I plan on diving, type of cylinder setup I am using, and condition of area (obstacles/trash to navigate around). Our ocean temp today is 63 degrees so it's not a bad day for a wetsuit. I have gone ice diving in a wetsuit and it's OK for a single dive. If the water temp is in the 40s as you describe, some folks prep their suit by pouring some warm water in their wet suit before they enter the water as noted above. Hydrate well before the dive and if you plan on doing more than one dive, get some type of boat coat to keep you covered up or take off the wet suit between dives. I am probably one of the few people (or maybe the only one) that has a P-valve put in their wet suit. I don't use it on a regular one-hour dive but if I need to be in the water for some time, it's useful. Plenty of time to pee myself when I get too old to control it but at this point, no thanks.

 

[myself]

What is your “adequate exposure” protection? 7mm, semi dry, or drysuit?

Make sure to have warm beverages. If you’re diving wet, have warm water to pour into your suit.

The exposure suit is a heavy wetsuit. thanks.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

I was just wondering what problems I would run into in this scenario

Well, there is the whole pee valve thing... Although it's not as much the valve as it is the glue.

 

[Ian Fatzinger]

Dry suit with a p-valve/she-p. When cold, you will pee more often. I like a K-01 hood. Supposedly YRVA hoods are comparable/even better, but I haven't tried them.

Just ordered a YRVA hood. I'll let you know how good they are

 

[formernuke]

Well, there is the whole pee valve thing... Although it's not as much the valve as it is the glue.

The glue is easy to deal with

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Just ordered a YRVA hood. I'll let you know how good they are

I'd like to compare with a K-01 hood. I might order one and simply compare myself, and leave one in Greece. I did contact YRVA if they do any custom logos, but they haven't responded, so I'll assume the answer is no.

 

[Ian Fatzinger]

I'd like to compare with a K-01 hood. I might order one and simply compare myself, and leave one in Greece. I did contact YRVA if they do any custom logos, but they haven't responded, so I'll assume the answer is no.

Yeah their website is extremely minimalist. I have a K-01 so if you want to save the money I can compare visually and physically