Cold water diving

[fisherdvm]

I did 3 dives in our lake last week. Ice thawed about 2 weeks ago. Got a nasty cramp on my left elbow from the cold water that got through the drysuit. My neck stings when I made one of the dives in a wet suit.

Yah, it was so cold it hurts, especially when I took one of the gloves off underwater.... Ouch.

 

[3-Ring Octopus]

Hey Thal...next time you go to the Arctic/Antarctic...can I get an invite?

Cheers,
Austin

 

[beezwax]

For everyone I know hands and fingers are the issue. The waters I dive are 35-45 F year round. I usually have chemical heat packs in my dry gloves. My buddy actually has electric heated glove liners (like the ones for motorcycle or atv riders) with a battery pack he straps to his waist.

I was diving Lake Superior last week and the water was 34 F. The week before I had been diving in Mexico and the water was 79 F. It makes you want to reevaluate some of your choices in life.

 

[do it easy]

I've found that a lobotomy reduces the effect of the brain freeze.

 

[ClevelandDiver]

That's pretty well the same with me. It's the hands and feet that tend to get cold quickest. Dry gloves should improve your warmth, but do make sure that you can equalize them if diving deep. Without equalization, they compress and lose quite a bit of thermal protection, not to mention being somewhat uncomfortable. I once dove without equalization to 200 ft and I can tell you that my blue smurf gloves with the inner liner was like skin.

Which smurf system do you use? I have tried the Si-Tech ring system and the Nordic blue gloves with the drysuit wrist seals glued on them. Both were a huge PITA to put on and leaked more times than not. The Si-Tech ring system was particularily troublesome to put on/take off and was barely big enough to fit my hand through. I have seen a few people with Viking suit that have a dryglove that looks much more user friendly, but I am not sure if I can get it put on my Bare compressed neoprene suit.

 

[beezwax]

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=160296

I hesitated to link to this thread, since you have to deal with jepuskar on his moon time and me throwing down in reply, but it does have some good tips about what may cause the smurf gloves to leak (apparently a very common problem). It also has my suggestion for one alternative, which I have now used for well over a hundred dives without incident. PM me if you would like more details about this latex dry glove system.

 

[Thalassamania]

Hey Thal...next time you go to the Arctic/Antarctic...can I get an invite?

Cheers,
Austin

'fraid it's the other way around, it's people like you who take people like me there.
Write dem grant proposals! Shouldn't be too big deal with the current interest in global warming baselines.

 

[Warren_L]

Which smurf system do you use? I have tried the Si-Tech ring system and the Nordic blue gloves with the drysuit wrist seals glued on them. Both were a huge PITA to put on and leaked more times than not. The Si-Tech ring system was particularily troublesome to put on/take off and was barely big enough to fit my hand through. I have seen a few people with Viking suit that have a dryglove that looks much more user friendly, but I am not sure if I can get it put on my Bare compressed neoprene suit.

I use the SI-Tech ring system with the blue gloves. I have since replaced the blue gloves with el cheapo crappy tire (colloqual term for Canadian Tire, an automotive supply and hardware type store here in Canada) gloves. The problems you describe are not uncommon - they are definitely not built for larger hands and can be difficult to get off.

The first issue of large hands - nothing you can do about that. The second issue of getting them on and off - I lube the o-ring a bit with some silicone and as well, the inner surface of the cuff ring. The instructions say not to do it, but I find that it is necessary. As for the leaking issue, it's really a matter of figuring out a technique that works. I've only had a handful of leaks with over several hundred dives with this system.

 

[matt_unique]

The Canadians will take the trophy on this one....here in MA the coldest temps I've experienced were 33 degrees F, this year my coldest dive was 38 degrees F.

You know the water is painfully cold when the residual water left on the suit AFTER you get out hurts to touch...

--Matt

 

[beezwax]

You know the water is painfully cold when the residual water left on the suit AFTER you get out hurts to touch...

...because it is frozen!


EDIT: a more telling follow-up question to this thread might be "what's the coldest AIR temp you've gone diving in?" For me it's around -25 F. It only takes moments after you get out before your suit is caked in ice.