Question Drysuit temperature and time limits in 13C and 24C water

[berndo]

2C is exponentially colder than 10C

Sure is, but IMHO 10C isn't that cold. The baltic sea is local to me and 10C sounds pretty good to most people around here. Half of the years it's below 10C on the surface and way below a couple meters down... even in summer.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

2C is exponentially colder than 10C, especially on multi-hour dives. Anyone who says otherwise is FoS.

Some hard facts....cough cough... lots of FoS's around here though!

 

[Underwater Tourist]

Perfect, thank you everyone.

I don’t plan to do 2C dives just yet even though I am pretty acclimated to cold.

Will go for a suit with more room in the next 9-12 months when I expect to get training in multi stage dives and get some experience under my belt

 

[rjack321]

Perfect, thank you everyone.

I don’t plan to do 2C dives just yet even though I am pretty acclimated to cold.

Will go for a suit with more room in the next 9-12 months when I expect to get training in multi stage dives and get some experience under my belt

You're going to want 400gm, weezle extreme+ or halo level undergarments once you start doing 2hr stage dives pretty much anywhere outside of MX. Then for the France and local waters you'll be looking at active heat under those. There are significant caves under the Ottawa River for instance but they are very smol and very shallow. The west coast of Canuckistan also has significant caves but they are almost exclusively caver systems not 'diver' systems - with a couple exceptions. They are all very cold.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

I didn't know about caves under the Ottawa River. Since most of them are small, by "significant" you mean that's there are a lot of them?

I probably won't reach Vancouver area caves ever, but Greece and France are definitely on the radar.

 

[berndo]

Then for the France and local waters you'll be looking at active heat under those.

For 2 hours in 13C you want a heater?
I don't think my cold tolerance is good but even I can easily do over 2 hours with thin gloves and thin hood in water that warm.

Two days ago the surface temp in the southern baltic sea was still around 6C-7C... dops to 4C a few meters down... and it's May already.

I looked up what you get in that puget sound... if it's really 8C in winter, that's amazing. When you say the caves in BC are cold... what's cold to you?

 

[rjack321]

I didn't know about caves under the Ottawa River. Since most of them are small, by "significant" you mean that's there are a lot of them?

I probably won't reach Vancouver area caves ever, but Greece and France are definitely on the radar.

There's about 6.5km of flooded cave under the Ottawa River. It's called "Three Island" cave and you can find more info and the surveys in Canadian Caver edition 57. Mostly explored by David Sawatsky. Max depths are in the 10m range but it's almost no-mount tiny with terrible vis.

 

[rjack321]

For 2 hours in 13C you want a heater?
I don't think my cold tolerance is good but even I can easily do over 2 hours with thin gloves and thin hood in water that warm.

Two days ago the surface temp in the southern baltic sea was still around 6C-7C... dops to 4C a few meters down... and it's May already.

I looked up what you get in that puget sound... if it's really 8C in winter, that's amazing. When you say the caves in BC are cold... what's cold to you?

If you are going to sit on deco for an hour+ in 13C you'll want heat. 1) why not? 2) when the chamber is 12+hrs away doing deco "cold" is risky.

Most BC (and AB) caves are in the 2-4C range. Reappearing River is a little warmer at about 8C. Wet Dream is usually warmer still at 9-10C. But both of those systems are low elevation and surface water fed via swallets vs high elevation and 100% groundwater sourced.

I don't think I have ever heard someone complain anywhere about being "too warm" in sub 10C water.

 

[Boarderguy]

I looked up what you get in that puget sound... if it's really 8C in winter, that's amazing.

7-8C is common here during the winter. During summer months we get up to a sweltering 13-14C.

 

[berndo]

7-8C is common here during the winter. During summer months we get up to a sweltering 13-14C.

I never knew the PNW waters stay this warm in winter.

If you are going to sit on deco for an hour+ in 13C you'll want heat. 1) why not? 2) when the chamber is 12+hrs away doing deco "cold" is risky.

Yes, for an hour plus for deco it'd be nicer with a heater. The OP asked for drysuit sizing though. He's probably not going to do dives in France that have an hour of deco any time soon. When you go there as a vacation diver you'll be fine diving without a heater even when it's in the 2 hour range.

I don't think I have ever heard someone complain anywhere about being "too warm" in sub 10C water.

I didn't see anyone saying 10C was too warm in any context. I just said you don't need a heater for a trip to France unless you're doing longer dives in Tx range.