cold water diving

[u4ia]

My buddy and I went diving this past weekend and the water was about 43F which I wouldnt have thought really cold. (in my mind I was thinking <40 F is "really cold"!) so I was surprised how much it affected us. We are both in drysuits for the first time this year and are building up our comfort level with the new equipment, I guess we have about 40 or so dives on them by now. We use DC thinsulate undies and dry gloves. Anyway we did about a 35 minute dive and towards the end both of us experienced our hands getting pretty cold and dexderity getting poor. It is remarkable how the cold can hinder your movement making normal tasks so much more difficult/ impossible and slow to execute. It got me to thinking that encountering any kind of underwater problem or emergency can really get magnified by this (common) situation... and that something that might be a minor problem can mushroom into a major incident very quickly. Maybe I'm just not cut out for cold water diving, but I certainly dont want to give up on it yet!!
What strategies do people use to deal with keeping fingers warm, or if they do get cold -- coping with the inevitable loss of function?

Some thoughts I have are: practice, practice, practice drills and manipulating gear in the cold water to get used to the higher degree of difficulty.
keep the hands warmer somehow--we use glove liners, but the hands always seem the first to go. core felt warm, but maybe not warm enough?
maybe we'll develop some kind of tolerance to the cold water along with getting better at using our drysuit?
other thoughts?

 

[Green_Manelishi]

You are using dry gloves which is good. A thicker liner, assuming you can manuever, might be the ticket. What type of hood are you using? There is a phenomenal heat loss through a-not-well-insulated-head.

As for the core temp, etc. I think your body will maintain brain comfort first then core temp. Your hands and feet are the first to be cheated.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I use a pair of insulated shooting gloves instead of regular liners. The liners that came with the dry gloves left me feeling like I had bare hands. My hands are so small that there was plenty of room inside the dry glove to allow the youth shooting glove fit as a liner.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[piikki]

I&#8217;d like to hear some hand-warming options too. I have appallingly poor circulation to my extremities but I really do not notice my feet being cold (at least not until I am back to shore). My hands on the other hand are killing me in 40-degree water.

I am also a new DS diver, and currently I use the DUI liners that came with their gloves. I once tried latex gloves under liners as I had heard this was a trick some cold-water divers used. I noticed no difference. I have also heard about small hot-packs but how clumsy will those make you?

Just as OP I fear that an emergency would be magnified 10-fold because my problem gets so bad I cannot even show fingers signs after a while (try &#8220;3&#8221; or &#8220;question mark&#8221; , my fingers won&#8217;t bend anymore).


P.S. Anyone know good replacement liner suggestion for the DUI DAM gloves. They need to me stumpier on the wrist or they will go under the seal. And has anyone tried the DUI neo-drygloves?

 

[Tigerman]

My buddy and I went diving this past weekend and the water was about 43F which I wouldnt have thought really cold. (in my mind I was thinking <40 F is "really cold"!) so I was surprised how much it affected us. We are both in drysuits for the first time this year and are building up our comfort level with the new equipment, I guess we have about 40 or so dives on them by now. We use DC thinsulate undies and dry gloves. Anyway we did about a 35 minute dive and towards the end both of us experienced our hands getting pretty cold and dexderity getting poor. It is remarkable how the cold can hinder your movement making normal tasks so much more difficult/ impossible and slow to execute. It got me to thinking that encountering any kind of underwater problem or emergency can really get magnified by this (common) situation... and that something that might be a minor problem can mushroom into a major incident very quickly. Maybe I'm just not cut out for cold water diving, but I certainly dont want to give up on it yet!!
What strategies do people use to deal with keeping fingers warm, or if they do get cold -- coping with the inevitable loss of function?

Some thoughts I have are: practice, practice, practice drills and manipulating gear in the cold water to get used to the higher degree of difficulty.
keep the hands warmer somehow--we use glove liners, but the hands always seem the first to go. core felt warm, but maybe not warm enough?
maybe we'll develop some kind of tolerance to the cold water along with getting better at using our drysuit?
other thoughts?

In cold tempratures, the first things to freeze are your outer extremities, as the body try to concentrate heating to your vital organs, amongst other things by lowering circulation in your extremities. The outer extremities is also normally the bodyparts most exposed to the cold.
The practical meaning of this is that youll first freeze your;
Ears
Nose
Fingers (hands)
Penis and balls (Yep, thats right, its not vital as far as living goes)
Toes (feet)

Wearing wrist and ankle warmers could help combat this, as youll be able to keep your blood a bit hotter untill it enter the hands and feet.
Also, make sure you have taken a toilet break just before entering the water. Having the body carry urine and fecies gives it more mass to heat, thus needing more energy to do so. This in turn giving you more problems keeping your hands and feet hot. If your feet get cold, you will often find that youll have to go take a leak..

Now a little mindboggle.. Do you have to take a leak (dump excessive mass) because you got cold, or did you get cold because you where carrying excessive mass?

Good luck with the cold water diving. Hope you find a nice solution to how to stay warmer.

 

[ArcticDiver]

If you are not doing it already; increase circulation by more exercise. It is amazing how cold tolerance can be improved by more aerobic activity that improves circulation to the extremities.

More practice in cold conditions. I notice that when I dive cold water in the winter it doesn't bother me as much as when I do it in the summer when the temperature differentials are greater. Not sure of the mechanism though.

Plus, the practice to a limited degree improves cold weather dexterity. But, surface or submerged one the dexterity goes, it is gone.

Everyone seems to have their personal "tricks" to stay warm. Along the way you'll pick up yours.

 

[scowens]

Hey, U4ia,

Are your gloves' air sealed from your DS air? In other words is the wrist seal still there? I've dove both (with and without the seal in place) and noticed that if the seal IS NOT THERE my hands stayed warmer. The air in my torso could warm up (excange with) the air in my gloves, by moving your hand up and down. Just don't move your hand up too much, cause you hear this muffled "poof, girgle girgle" and notice you hand getting REALLY cold, REALLY QUICK. Then, when back on the surface, you'll see that that o-ring seal needed replacing.

I think you are on the right track: practice (acclimate?), and start looking for that "perfect" liner. One will work better than others, and some one else's may not bo so good for you....just find the pair that works for you.

Good luck and good diving!

Steve

 

[Rick Inman]

How we (try to) do it:

Stay warm BEFORE the dive. If you're cold before you get in, you'll be very cold very quickly. Wear a warm hat and gloves while suiting up or on the boat to the site. If I get too cold/wet before the dive, I'll call it. Keep warm during the SI. I have actually brought hot water in a tub to soak my hands and feet in before the dive to toast them up, and it helps.

Be well Hydrated. It's a good rule anyway, but it will help keep you warmer during the dive. Use warm liquids without caffeine, or just good old water.

Wear enough insulation. Layer up. If you want to keep your hands and feet warm, keep your trunk warm. If the mid heart/lung area of you is warm, warm blood will be pumped to the extremities. If it gets cold, the body can shut down blood flow to the hands and feet. Wear layers, a vest, whatever will do the job. Use thick glove liners and socks, but not so thick as to imped circulation. Make sure you are using a tube between your wrist seals and dry gloves to keep air flowing to your hands.

Get a Pee Valve. Don't ask me why, but needing to pee makes you colder. And if you are hydrated enough, you'll need to pee. Ladies will need Depends. But holdin' it makes you colder faster.

Make shorter dives. The cold can sneak up on you. Get out before it does. Never be afraid to call the dive early. Hypothermia is no joke.

Get in and Get Going. Have your act together before you leave the house and be ready to dive. The more time you spend messing around out in the cold, the faster you'll get cold during the dive. Once you hit the water, get to diving. The longer you spend in the water on the surface, the shorter your dive. As soon as you're wet, the clock starts ticking. This DOES NOT mean to rush and cut corners and be unsafe. It just means to spend time at home being properly prepared. I will sometimes get into my drysuit at home and drive to the site suited up. I lube my mask at home. My kit is completely assembled and ready to slip into. From the time I get out of my warm truck, I can be in the water in less than five minutes.

Use Argon. Some say it is a placebo. Whatever, it makes me think I'm warmer, and that's good enough for me.

Don't dive. Or call it early. There are always other dives. Hypothermia is no joke. And being cold can exasperate the onset of DCS. Be conservative. If in doubt, get out.

We are diving all year in snowy cold weather and water in the 30's and 40's. It's a blast, it's quite, it's serene, and we enjoy going where others won't. Just be safe, take the cold seriously and you'll be fine.

That's my .02, FWIW.

 

[JohnnyH]

One other thing to keep in mind with cold water diving and keeping warm. Typically speaking, your body tends to get colder as the dive progresses (i.e. as you are on-gassing). Your capillaries become less efficient as they get cold, thereby inhibiting gas exchange (which means off-gassing as you begin your ascent) and increasing the risk of DCS...

Definitely use adequate thermal protection (I wear 400g DUI in New England, dry gloves from Diving Concepts - like them much better than then DUI dry gloves - with no seal between suit and gloves, and I wear two layers of liners.) Also don't skimp on purchasing a good set of wicking undergarments. I use Under Armor and am pretty happy with them

John

 

[sharkattack]

+ 1 for the Argon. Not much warmer but I will tell you what. It isn't as cold coming through the inflator valve. I feel a big difference with the argon.

A thick hood is one of my favorites. I got some nice gloves from REI for my dry gloves. Form fitting with good dextarity. One thing I like to do when my hands feel a bit chilly is to put them both up above my head so thay fill with the air/argon. Helps for sure even if it's just for a few seconds. Double up on the socks.

But the best thing ever is to add a fleece vest on under your undergarment. Just that extra added layer works wonders. Typically on a second dive.