Fingers & Toes in 40 degrees

[Rick Inman]

Water temp:40F

In my dry suit I am warm and comfy. Except my fingers and toes after 30 minutes. I mean, I don't even need to check my bottom time. Everything is good, and then at exactly 30 mins my fingers and toes start to get cold. At 40 mins they go numb and then start to hurt.
I'm wearing the Smurf dry-gloves with liners (which keep the rest of my hands just fine). My socks are 2 layers: polypro liners and fleece (which keep my feet warm, but not the toes!).
I often raise my hands or feet to push warm argon up to them.
Nothing is too tight; circulation is good.
I've tried polypro liners with my gloves. No difference.
I've tried more (or thicker) socks. No difference.
The LDS owner says, "Heck, 30 minutes in 40 degree water in December is long enough."
No! I want warm fingers and toes for the entire dive!
Can anyone help????

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Have you checked with your Doc? Sounds like to me you have bad circulation or something. I have dove for over an hour in 36 deg F water on multiple occasions, and I wear a drysuit with thinsulate booties, and 5mm wetsuit gloves. I dont get cold. Sounds like to me you are a wuss... (kidding)

Anyway, everyone has different responses to cold. It looks like your body doesnt like it. Maybe add more insulation to your chest area to make your whole body warmer...

 

[DS1]

Im doing 50min dives in 35f and my toes stay extremely warm in 400g DUI socks with the turbo soles

For my fingers im in the same boat as you i have the diving concepts dry gloves and some bare dry and i always freeze my fingers until they really start to hurt and i could never find a solution the only one i have is get bigger dry gloves and wear some thicker liners

 

[ColdH20diving]

I dive with 3.5mil gloves, they keep my hands comfortable down to around 42 degrees, any colder and they begin to ache.

 

[Rick Inman]

Sounds like to me you are a wuss... (kidding)

That's it! I'll try steroids! And to think, I was going to try the pink bunny slippers under the boots...

Maybe add more insulation to your chest area to make your whole body warmer...

I like this idea - something I haven't tried. I have a fleece vest. I give it a shot, thanks.

 

[String]

I solved my "toes cold" problem by wearing 3 pairs of snowboarding socks and weezle booties

As for my fingers i dive with 5mm neoprene wet gloves and [...temp conversion...] anything below about 48F my fingers begin to feel cold after about 30 mins and on the surface i have problems undoing my straps and clips to pass my kit up to the boat.
Im tempted to try the 3 finger mittens they use further north to see if they help at all as its coming squarely into "numb hands" time of year again.

 

[Snowbear]

I found the extra glove liners help. I'm also known to swim around with my hands up - not very streamlined for sure, but keeping that gas in those gloves helps A LOT! I'm learning to swim with my feet up, too. This obviously ensures that there's always a bit of gas in the boots. The tricky part has been dealing with the positive foot buoyancy trying to mess up my trim - I refuse to resort to ankle weights!!

 

[Rick Inman]

I found the extra glove liners help. I'm also known to swim around with my hands up - not very streamlined for sure, but keeping that gas in those gloves helps A LOT! I'm learning to swim with my feet up, too. This obviously ensures that there's always a bit of gas in the boots. The tricky part has been dealing with the positive foot buoyancy trying to mess up my trim - I refuse to resort to ankle weights!!

Yeah, I used ankle weights for my first few dry suit dives, then strapped them together around the base of my AL80 where they happily remain. I like a little air in my feet to help keep my fins up. I'm working seriously on my atrocious frog kick, and a little bit of floaty feet seems to help keep my legs in the right position.
Which has nothing to do with frozen fingers and toes. Snowbear, what kind of liners are you using? I tried the thin, ploypros and they didn't seem to help.

 

[Rick Inman]

As for my fingers i dive with 5mm neoprene wet gloves and [...temp conversion...] anything below about 48F my fingers begin to feel cold after about 30 mins and on the surface i have problems undoing my straps and clips to pass my kit up to the boat.
Im tempted to try the 3 finger mittens they use further north to see if they help at all as its coming squarely into "numb hands" time of year again.

When I used wet gloves, I tried the 3 finger mittens and they are MUCH warmer.

 

[Snowbear]

Which has nothing to do with frozen fingers and toes.

Air in the right places has a lot to do with keeping the parts warm :ice: As I'm sure you're aware, the purpose of the undies, glove liners, whatever is to keep that layer of air (or argon) where it does the most good. Unfortunately, when that layer of air gets compressed at depth, it doesn't insulate any more, so we add more. By choosing undies made of stuff like thinsulate or polar fleece, it seems to fluff up a little better when we add that gas. So - to answer your question (finally)

Snowbear, what kind of liners are you using? I tried the thin, ploypros and they didn't seem to help.

I also use the lined smurf gloves. They are plenty adequate for "warmer" water. Now that I've returned from Puget Sound to dive in <40F water, I need more! I started out using the thin stretchy ones that people use under ski gloves. Didn't cut it. Moved up to some that were a tad thicker, but still polypro. Nuh-uh. So I got to thinking about what I said above and got a thin pair of microfleece gloves at REI. I lost some dexterity, but my hands stay warmer, especially if I swim around with them over my head to keep more gas in them. I also use fleece socks plus another pair of thick, non-cotton socks over those for my feet. Good luck - long dives rock! My new record - 92 minutes and didn't get bored for a second:biggrin2: