Hello yall, I have to say the Navy SEALS have been my new heroes recently and I have taken to watching documentaries on them on the military channel. One of the things that struck me most was what they consistently said was one of the more taxing things they do. They said it's when they do an underwater deployment using an SDV because they would become so cold in the process. I saw that they always wore wetsuits so I guess drysuits are too bulky for them to use? I'm surprised that they don't have a specially made wetsuit for them given their wide budget XD, but I guess it's not enough of a problem that it jeopardizes their missions?
Frozen Navy SEAL
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I’m not sure what you mean. I believe they do have custom made wetsuits for missions — at least they did. I think the main reasons they avoid drysuits is they are too delicate and venting on ascent produces too many bubbles. You can put a lot of tears in a wetsuit and you won’t lose that much insulation. Tear a drysuit and hypothermia can kill you.
There is a limit to how much wetsuit insulation is useful when you aren’t generating much heat from muscles.
There is a limit to how much wetsuit insulation is useful when you aren’t generating much heat from muscles.
Try running with a rucksack, topside, in a zipped-up drysuit, with cold water thermos.
And yeah...bubbles are also a bad thing for a Navy Seal.
And yeah...bubbles are also a bad thing for a Navy Seal.
Chugwhump
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The open and cold manner that the SDV requires the sailors to operate is an issue for the SEALs I have read.
The books I have read on their operations and training have uniformly stated that the SEALS would much prefer a sealed vehicle that they could stay dry and then "flood" (for lack of a better term).
The stated objection has come from the regular navy in maintaining control of "submarines".
I am not the expert, and things may have changed in the past few years as the SOG troops are getting a lot more support than they used to by the senior leadership.
Chug
Not an expert on this.
The books I have read on their operations and training have uniformly stated that the SEALS would much prefer a sealed vehicle that they could stay dry and then "flood" (for lack of a better term).
The stated objection has come from the regular navy in maintaining control of "submarines".
I am not the expert, and things may have changed in the past few years as the SOG troops are getting a lot more support than they used to by the senior leadership.
Chug
Not an expert on this.
A very great deal of the time a drysuit is going to be the only option.
A whole lot of the oceans are just too darn cold for anything else. A drysuit can be made of pretty tough stuff.
Tony Groom makes it clear that the Royal Navy divers used drysuits (great book!)
Amazon.com: Diver: A Royal Navy and Commercial Diver's Journey Through Life, and Around the World (9781574092691): Tony Groom: Books
and the Finnish combat divers use drysuits
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/te...3332-combat-diver-training-finnish-way-2.html
Haaste - taistelusukeltajaksi: Sorsanpojat. 1/3
A whole lot of the oceans are just too darn cold for anything else. A drysuit can be made of pretty tough stuff.
Tony Groom makes it clear that the Royal Navy divers used drysuits (great book!)
Amazon.com: Diver: A Royal Navy and Commercial Diver's Journey Through Life, and Around the World (9781574092691): Tony Groom: Books
and the Finnish combat divers use drysuits
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/te...3332-combat-diver-training-finnish-way-2.html
Haaste - taistelusukeltajaksi: Sorsanpojat. 1/3
oh ya, they could just make the SDV fill with air when they're inside eh. The Royal Navy Divers use drysuits eh? I looked at the book and it was written in 2007 so that's quite recent. I wonder how much heat passes through the neoprene insulation and how much doesn't just leak out of the openings. Well guess since greater thickness= more heat, it would be more of the former. Guess they just need to figure out a material that they can put more bubbles into and it remains strong. I was going to say they should use aerogel but it's quite brittle so that wouldn't work to well XD
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The Navy "had" a dry swimmer delivery vehicle, oddly enough called the "Advanced SEAL Delivery System." I suspect that despite the cover story that the prototype was destroyed in a fire and the program cancelled, it is such an obvious need that I'd guess funding was moved to the black side of the ledger. Just remember that the DSRV was basically a cover story for the submarine mounted DDS that was used to tap the Soviet communication cables.
Eh. Rather doubt a military drysuit would be made of neophrene. They do make them of other, somewhat more appropriate materials. Wear them even on deep wrecks with cold as well as lots of sharp points creating puncture risks.
Also, ever dove a wetsuit at 5C or less for more than 40 min? I have. If the SEAL guys did that all through a 4-year enlistment not a single one of them would ever have had kids.
Also, ever dove a wetsuit at 5C or less for more than 40 min? I have. If the SEAL guys did that all through a 4-year enlistment not a single one of them would ever have had kids.
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The standard NATO drysuit is a black Viking.
I've dove a wetsuit at below 5C for much longer than 40 mins. No problems, but you need the right suit: 9mm, Rubatex GN-231, skin-2-side, farmer john, attached hood, no sippers, no-sole boots (socks) to just below the knee, three finger mitts to just below the elbow, hood cut with an insert to cover you face from the nose down (hole for the regulator).
Chilling the family jewels raises your sperm count.
I've dove a wetsuit at below 5C for much longer than 40 mins. No problems, but you need the right suit: 9mm, Rubatex GN-231, skin-2-side, farmer john, attached hood, no sippers, no-sole boots (socks) to just below the knee, three finger mitts to just below the elbow, hood cut with an insert to cover you face from the nose down (hole for the regulator).
Chilling the family jewels raises your sperm count.
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