Does water in a wetsuit help or hurt. A myth to be BUSTED or CONFIRMED

[Storker]

If your body has to heat the water that leaks into a suit, then it is a drain of heat, not a source of it.

Yep. But I don't think it was ever claimed that the water was a source of heat, just a reservoir of heat.

Your calculation, assumes that the water entering in the suit is 98,6 degrees, right?

Right. Or, rather, 37 degrees (C)

The reason for the calculation was that I didn't believe that there was enough water trapped inside the suit to effectively work as a heat reservior, like archman claimed it could. And my numbers supported that belief. I looked at the problem from an idealized best (for archman's claim) case POV and didn't consider the fact that I first had to spend heat to heat that water to body temperature, which only serves to make the deal even worse.

 

[supergaijin]

I'm still a little foggy after reading the first pages but...

A wetsuit will flood with water upon entry. There is water inside the neoprene material and water trapped between your skin and the inside of the wetsuit.

Your body warms this inner layer of water and makes a futile attempt to warm all of the water-soaked neoprene which is constantly exposed to the cold water outside the suit. The heat radiates out from the inside of the neoprene until it is overcome by the cold water trying to cool the neoprene from the outside. The colder the water, the faster the heat is lost.

Your body loses heat constantly in this process but hopefully at a slow enough rate to 'survive' the dive. Thicker wetsuits and/or undergarments slow the heat loss via more insulating layers of neoprene.

Ill fitting wetsuits allow the inner water (trapped between skin and wetsuit) to flow in and out. Your body still tries to heat this water... but eventually loses... unless the water happens to be around 37 C.

 

[Rooster59]

So, then it's ok to pee in a rental wetsuit as long as it doesn't fit real tight?

 

[redacted]

The heat reservoir is a good thing as long as it is not your body that has to provide the heat source to bring the temperature up. For example. you can extend the temperature range of your suit by priming it with warm water before you enter the water.

 

[supergaijin]

So, then it's ok to pee in a rental wetsuit as long as it doesn't fit real tight?

If you can put John Holmes to shame then it's better to have it sticking out the side of your shorty.

 

[tracydr]

Heat = Thermal.

Capacity = Storage

Insulation = Environmental Stabilizer

I have some openings available in my Majors Biology class if you are interested in Properties of Water as they relate to living organisms. I can also recommend a Comparative Animal Physiology course from one of my colleagues. It doesn't close enrollments until Thursday. Heh.

Took those classes in the mid80s. Before grad school, before Medical school. I've probably forgotten some of it but I do remember how the basic functions of water in physiology work.
Dry suit better than wet suit
wet suit needs to fit right, air cells in neoprene are what keeps you warm, not the water layer, the more water exchanged the more heat losses, a semi-dry wetsuit is better than a wetsuit because there is less conduction
I don't think the addition of a layer of water has any function, if anything it acts as net loss.

 

[nimoh]

I am having a hard time understanding how this discussion is still going on. It seems so obvious to me, and has been very well explained by multiple people in this thread, so I won't try another explanation.

Is there anyone in this thread that believes water is a good insulator? ...or just better than air?

 

[dfx]

I am having a hard time understanding how this discussion is still going on. It seems so obvious to me, and has been very well explained by multiple people in this thread, so I won't try another explanation.

Is there anyone in this thread that believes water is a good insulator? ...or just better than air?

Well, the OP asked for experiments, not just explanations. I'd be game, but I have no idea how you'd go about testing this properly without some precision instruments (and possibly chopping up a wetsuit).

 

[nimoh]

Well, the OP asked for experiments, not just explanations. I'd be game, but I have no idea how you'd go about testing this properly without some precision instruments (and possibly chopping up a wetsuit).

thanks, I guess the theoretical discussion went on long enough that I forgot about the practical part

 

[kelemvor]

Submit it to mythbusters: Email Us Your Myths! : Discovery Channel

They can certainly afford some test equipment and a few sacrificial wetsuits.