Fingers & Toes in 40 degrees

[Bob3]

3-finger mitts will actually give a person better dexterity than a 5-finger glove of the same thickness. There is less material on the sides of the fingers having to go into tension & compression.
I don't suppose you have an attached hood, eh? I could never see the sense of using a drysuit & diving with a wet head. Sorta like wearing a raincoat but leaving the hood down.

 

[Snowbear]

I don't suppose you have an attached hood, eh? I could never see the sense of using a drysuit & diving with a wet head. Sorta like wearing a raincoat but leaving the hood down.

Actually, I do use a dry hood with a neoprene hood over it for insulation.
I don't see the sense of using a drysuit and diving with wet hands (or feet!) Sorta like wearing a rainsuit but walking through puddles with sneakers on

 

[Rick Inman]

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.

EXACTLY what I've been doing for my toes. It helps. Up to 45 min. before the pain begins. However, my FINGERS still start to really hurt after 20 mins. I've put the toasti-hands in my gloves, and they help with the palm area, but do nothing for the fingers. As our water gets colder and colder, it gets worse and worse. I added a fleece liner under the other one and that helps (I tried one hand with, and one without) but I'm still in pain after 20 mins, and for 30 mins after the dive. I finally asked the Doc and he said I probably have some syndrome I can't pronounce that basically means, poor circulation. There are meds, but I don't car for the side effects. The Doc agrees.
Last week diving in the Puget Sound in warm 48 degree water it was great with the two liners. However, back here in 36 degrees the pain is back.
My wife went on line and found some battery heated glove liners ($50.00) that are really made for motorcycle riders and a 12 volt plug-in, but they also come with a battery pack for D sized batteries, so today we're going down to the local Harley shop to check 'em out. I'll keep you posted!
BTW, SB, as per your other post, hope you find one too! :approve_2

 

[doole]

Just a thought - I haven't had cold hands in the local 37.5f hole since I started using those "deepsee" gloves with the cinched velcro strap - nearly eliminates any water flow. Once or twice I've actually loosened the strap to let a little water in because my hands were uncomfortably warm - and this in a 5-finger glove. (No I'm not a psycho - in fact I'm usually cold before everyone else.)

 

[Rick Inman]

My wife went on line and found some battery heated glove liners ($50.00) that are really made for motorcycle riders and a 12 volt plug-in, but they also come with a battery pack for D sized batteries, so today we're going down to the local Harley shop to check 'em out. I'll keep you posted!

Ended up ordering them online and they arrived today. Just got back from a night dive, water temp. 38f. They worked GREAT! 46 miniutes and my hands stayed warm the entire time! Kind of a hassle, so as soon as the temp. gets back up to 48 degrees, I'll retire them until next winter. In the mean time, it's great to have warm hands.
BTW, here's the site I bought them at:https:https://tp-commerce.techpro.com/kreamer/cartsys/shopexd.asp?id=11

 

[doole]

I gather you're diving with dry gloves, then.

...(zzzt! zap! <sputter>)

 

[Snowbear]

In the post that started this thread

I'm wearing the Smurf dry-gloves with liners

 

[Firediver]

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.

Three Finger Mits are great. I used them here in New Brunswick last winter, but I own 5mm 5 finger kevlar palm gloves and my fingers got cold after 30min because I wasn't using them under water. I find that if I kepp moving them while i am diving at depth they stay warmer. The bay of Fundy Temperature right now is -1 at depth -5 at surface.

 

[doole]

Say Firediver, how would you characterize the diving in the Bay of Fundy (other than a tad cool)? I've always wanted to try the Canadian east coast but there don't seem to be any resorts or anything out there. (Or am I just using the wrong keywords in google?)

To get back on topic, I can also recommend DUI's thinsulate booties if you've got cold tootsies, but that may require larger boots. (And correspondingly larger fins.) It did in my case, but I feel it was worth it. Feet not incredibly toastie, but I'm no longer in pain, at least.

 

[beezwax]

The water's always cold here in northern Minnesota (40-60 F in the summer, especially in the deeper mine pits) and really cold in the winter (30s). Disposable air-activated heat packs are nice if you've got dry gloves (and at fifty cents each are money well spent) but they only work well if you can keep venting air in, so not so great if you're shallow. And they do nothing for the fingers. One tip if you use them, open them an hour before you plan to hit the water, it seems like they take a while to really get cooking.

Someone here mentioned electrically heated glove liners from Kreamer Sports:

http://www.kreamersports.com/

I have no personal experience with these, however this winter for ice dives we've been trying out heated glove liners from Gerbing:

http://www.gerbing.com/

Gerbing really is the gold standard in heated clothing, but you pay for it. A set of their heated glove liners will run you $80. The heating elements cover the BACK of the hand and extend down the back of each finger (motorcycle riders often have heated grips, so the back of the hand makes more sense) so if you really want it toasty you can toss a heat pack in your palm too. The electric cable eliminates the need for venting tubes, and in the event a glove floods there is a disconnect at the wrist so you could push the wire under your wrist seal and avoid flooding the rest of your suit. Gerbing also gives a lifetime warranty on the heating elements. The liners come with the necessary wiring harness, but you're going to need a battery pack and charger. They sell a nice compact NiMH battery pack-- I recommend the 4.0ah rather than the 2.7ah for $10 more. That'll give you at least a couple hours of heat at full draw (there are optional temperature controllers and such, but you'll want it on full and I'm not sure how you'd be able to access the controller anyway). So you're looking at about $150 for the full kit. It's worth it if you do a lot of cold diving. (They also sell heated socks too!)

If anyone else actually tries this let me know what you think!