Fingers & Toes in 40 degrees

[WVMike]

I dove in 47 degree water yesterday, wet.
Cause I am waiting on Santa to bring the dry suit.
After 30 minutes my fingers were pretty cold in 5mm gloves.

My question is what kind of masks are you cold water divers using?
I immediately felt the cold, to the point of pain, on the little strip of forehead between the hood and mask, as well as the lips around the reg.

thanks and Happy Holidays All

Mike

 

[TCDiver1]

..., I tried the 3 finger mittens and they are MUCH warmer.

They are, especially the semi-dry three finger mitts. You lose a little dexterity over five finger gloves but who can grab anything with frozen hands anyway?

 

[daveg1]

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????

Rick, This may sound stupid but we all know you loose most of your body heat through your head. Have you tried a thicker hood, or double them up. I know some here in the northeast that do that.

Dave

 

[String]

They are, especially the semi-dry three finger mitts. You lose a little dexterity over five finger gloves but who can grab anything with frozen hands anyway?

The way i see it, my hands are totally numb and inflexible so i basically have NO dexterity at all with my existing 5mm gloves. If i have any movement or feeling at all with the 3 finger ones it'll be a worthwhile improvment.
Trying to undo some clips to deploy a DSMB, clip a torch back on along with surface de-kitting is incredibly hard with near no movement or feeling in the hands.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Assuming your hands are staying dry in the dry gloves and have adequate ventilation from the suit, they should not be getting cold if the rest of you is warm.

When your body core temp drops, your body reduces blood flow to the extremeties to conserve heat causing your hands and feet get cold. So your hands and feet getting cold is normally a good indicator that the rest of you is getting cold whether you actually feel it or not. The best solution is probably more insulation of the head and trunk.

I have found thicker wooly bear type underwear with a little more bulk to it than my thinsulate undergarment resists compression better and my hands my hands stay much warmer. The bulkier insulation also allows a little more air in the suit without developing a bubble in the shoulder area. Minimizing air in the suit has its merits but if you take it to extremes you just get cold in addition to getting squeezed.

 

[Snowbear]

My question is what kind of masks are you cold water divers using?
I immediately felt the cold, to the point of pain, on the little strip of forehead between the hood and mask, as well as the lips around the reg.

thanks and Happy Holidays All

Mike

Just the usual mask. To help prevent the ice cream headache, I make sure the hood is pulled down to the mask. I try to avoid mask removals when the water is <40F - just too painful.

As for the lips - after about the first minute, they are numb enough that I no longer notice. I guess I love diving enough that it just doesn't matter.

 

[Hallmac]

Merry Christmas Gang!!!

Rick I would have to agree you need to warm the core more. Heck I don't use the liners at all until about 45 degrees. Just watch out for sweat build up. Try to put dry max on as a base and add the vest.

Hall

 

[pipedope]

If your feet are cold, put on your hat.

If you are certain that there are not circulation issues to the fingers and toes then general warmth is probably the answer. Your body will work like heck to keep your head warm so a thicker hood and more coverage might be the answer.

 

[Rick Inman]

If your feet are cold, put on your hat.

If you are certain that there are not circulation issues to the fingers and toes then general warmth is probably the answer. Your body will work like heck to keep your head warm so a thicker hood and more coverage might be the answer.

Yeah, good stuff all. Hood and core check. The only bad thing is the additional weight that comes with more undies. It's a trade off worth making, I guess. Thanks!!

 

[Snowbear]

Since my feet have been getting cold from walking around on the ice before I even get in the water, I decided to try something. I bought some "Toasti-Toes" at Wally World. They are designed to be used in a low O2 environment, so I figured I'd give them a try for diving with Argon. I pre-heated them in air and put them between my 2 pair of socks before donning the DS. My toes were definitely toasty during gear-up. They were also toasty for 55 min of the 63 min dive. They also re-heated during the SI and ended up fully functional for the 40 something minute 2nd dive. Apparently "low O2" does not mean "no O2." But instead of having numb toes for 63+ minutes, they were only numb for 8+ minutes. One guy I dive with occasionally has a small amount of pure O2 put in with his Argon fill to keep the Toasti-Toes functioning.