Freezing in my 7 mil suit

[AfterDark]

I suspect the good doctor is being misquoted. Putting warm water in a wetsuit is the principal on which warm water commercial suits are based. Any warming up before entering a cold environment gives you a heat reserve that slows down the speed at which you chill.

You are correct, from the good doctors writings:

Will Pouring Warm Water In Your Dive
Suit Help Or Hurt?
On the whole, pouring warm water in your dry suit would enjoy a spectacular lack of success. On the other hand, (arm, leg) with wet suits it helps. Adding warm water to your wet suit is the principle behind hot water suits used commercially. You will not overheat or begin to vasodilate or sweat. That would occur only past a certain heat load that could not be reached from a few cups of warm fluid. The small heat load gained is that much more in the BTU bank for later when you're back in the water spending heat or tyring to warm up between after diving.
https://www.msu.edu/user/manns/Hypothermia.html

 

[j yaeger]

i don't know why it works...
i just know that it works...
and reloading after you get out of the water brings your core temp back up
...and having warm water also melts the freakin' ice off your zippers...
so's you can get into your nice warm car!!!!!

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

One think I have noted about the h/w thing is if you are standing out in the wind, the effects of the h/w are very short lived. I believe the extra water flowing out through the suite also allows increased evaporation and cooling. So if you are trying to use it to keep yourself warm for an hour long SI, you really want a source of h/w for multiple warm-ups every 5-10 minutes. Sometimes it is better just to have one of those long boat coats and keep the wind blocked.

 

[geoff w]

Currently diving with a 7 mm farmer john suit that isn't the best fit. A little loose in upper body/ shoulders and have been freezing! Mostly beach dives in So Cal with surface temps in upper 50s...

You didn't say how old your farmer john is or how many dives on it. My first local dive wetsuit was a $100 7mm farmer john and jacket I bought off the used rack at my LDS, figuring I wouldn't dive much in cold water. It was OK at first. Then I started diving more here, and over time got colder. Earlier this year I bought a new 7mm Pinnacle merino one piece wetsuit and it's a LOT warmer than my old farmer john, as well as much more comfortable and easier to get into. Neoprene loses a little insulating capability each time it's compressed, and just due to age, so if you have hundreds of dives on an old suit, maybe it's just time for a new wetsuit. Unfortunately, this made me realize my 3mm I dive with in the tropics is no longer 3mm as well, so I've got to spend more on wetsuits in the future.

A wetsuit seems much easier to deal with for beach dives if you're talking much surf or dive in places where sand will get into everything, as well as getting in and out of the suit at the beach.

 

[jmyers24!]

The suit was a hand me down from my dad, which is why it doesn't fit perfect..maybe 30-40 dives on it total but it isn't a real high quality suit to begin with (no spine pad, lds brand). I did buy a hooded vest today as a temporary fix until I can afford a new suit, so ill be testing it out this weekend! Still undecided on going dry or semi..my problem is I don't know much about drysuits (crushed neoprene vs tri lam, back vs front zip etc..) and don't have the cajones to drop that kind of money without trying first. Ill do my homework here on the board, thanks again for the help!

 

[geoff w]

You didn't say how old your farmer john is or how many dives on it. My first local dive wetsuit was a $100 7mm farmer john and jacket I bought off the used rack at my LDS, figuring I wouldn't dive much in cold water. It was OK at first. Then I started diving more here, and over time got colder...

The suit was a hand me down from my dad, which is why it doesn't fit perfect..maybe 30-40 dives on it total but it isn't a real high quality suit to begin with (no spine pad, lds brand). I did buy a hooded vest today as a temporary fix until I can afford a new suit, so ill be testing it out this weekend! Still undecided on going dry or semi..my problem is I don't know much about drysuits (crushed neoprene vs tri lam, back vs front zip etc..) and don't have the cajones to drop that kind of money without trying first. Ill do my homework here on the board, thanks again for the help!

What size are you? My wife would love to get my old farmer john and jacket out of the closet

I tried a friend's dry suit in his pool earlier this year, then did the dry suit certification. Depending on your budget, you might want to do the dry suit specialty and rent various types of dry suits to see the differences (most places say you need to be dry suit certified before they will rent a dry suit to you). I don't have a dry suit yet (got a gift cert from the wife for Xmas), but they are more maintenance than a wetsuit

Since you said you just got a hooded vest, but didn't say you had a jacket (you only mentioned farmer john in your original post), you do have a wetsuit jacket, right? If not, it's no wonder you're freezing!

There are some decent, inexpensive 7mm full suits out there at a reasonable price. I bought my wife a new Aqualung 7mm from Sport Chalet for $150 when they were blowing out last year's models. She was warm and toasty when we did a shore dive last month.

 

[ed64]

The the extra space in the torso of your suit is the enemy. a hooded vest should help. Also get neoprene socks to use along with your wetsuit boots that helps with heat retention. If you need to save money, plastic bags on your feet under your boots will help alot. As for SEMI DRY suits, They ar really a wet suit that lets water in much slower the a standard wetsuit therefore if you pee in them, getting the pee out takes more time more time = rash. Much better off with a dry suit and a pee valve.

 

[ed64]

The water you use should be body temp. only No more than 100 deg. F In a wet suit the water takes the place of the air. when you ente rthe water the cold exterior water doesn't flush in quickly therefore you are not expending energy warming cold water. It does work.

 

[jmyers24!]

@Geoff w..I'm 5'10" and 150 lbs and yes I'm diving a jacket as well