Heat exhaustion isn't fun

[sunnyboy]

I live in the PNW as well (Vancouver Island), so I'm familiar with the OP's situation.

For me, the drysuit goes on depending on weather. In cold weather, I put it on earlier to help me warm up (likewise in cool/cold rainy weather). In hot and super-hot weather it's the last thing I put on, after everything else is totally ready to go.

If it's really hot, and especially if there's no convenient shade, I will pause before final gear-up and take the time to head into the water just wearing the fully zipped drysuit, but no hood. I go in maybe knee deep, and even dunk my head, just to get evaporation cooling really going. Then I can head back up to the truck and put the hood on, then final gear up and back to the water for the dive.

The only critical step is to have the drysuit fully zipped first before dunking!

The above is my process for shore dives. Most dive boats I've been on have some type of canopy for shade, so it's not as necessary to cool off before donning the gear.

 

[Hatul]

We have the same problem here in S California, the water being cold going down below 60F while the sun is very strong and air is warm. Since most of my local dives are shore dives I don't like using the drysuit. Rather I use a 7mm wetsuit with a hooded vest and an electrically heated vest. In suiting up I repeatedly run water from a portable shower (Ontrackgear.com) and I ride an electric scooter from my car to the stairs of the dive site.

Years ago I nearly passed out on the beach in San Diego trying to shore dive in 7mm neoprene drysuit.

 

[Esprise Me]

I also prefer a wetsuit for SoCal shore dives for that reason; pouring a bunch of water down the suit saves me. But 50 degree water is drysuit territory for me. I guess saturating the hood would be the way to go. I've seen people bring portable tent-like structures for shade; I find the rear door of my hatchback is helpful for that. If I'm the first to be fully geared up I can just sit in the shade with the weight off my back until everyone else is ready.

 

[Hatul]

I was (trying to) dive in Hood Canal (Washington) on Monday, the weather was hot (at least for us), around 85 oF and there was no shade in the suit-up area. Drysuit of course, with the water in the mid 50's. I'm slow when gearing up and started sweating profusely as soon as I put on my fleece jammies. More sweating and overheating putting on the rest of my gear and when I was ready to get into the water, my field of vision had narrowed and all I could think of is getting in the water to cool off. My face was reported to be very flushed and red

I stepped in too deep to put my fins on and with the little surge (as in very little) I lost contact with the bottom. Without fins, rock boots don't provide any propulsion and I floundered trying to move closer to shore. Fortunately, another diver was gearing in the water and was able to pull me to where I could contact the bottom and extract myself from the water.

I had in the back of my mind a plan "C" which was to dump all the air from my wing and suit and crawl along the bottom. Fortunately (again) I didn't have to go there.

Lessons learned:

• Just like too cold to dive, too warm is a reason to scrub a dive too (at least for me).
• A bottle of cold water to pour over my head while gearing up would have been really useful
• Skip the fleece jammies next time in this type of weather. I'll take being a little cold in the dive in preference to doing this again.

You can get a battery operated portable shower from ontrackgear.com and run the shower on your head (with the suit zipped up of course) to cool off. It's also good for rinsing off your gear at the end of dive.

Another option that may help is: rather than wearing thick undergarment, wear a thin one and combine with a thin Thermalution heated vest (Yellow Plus). Leave it off until you get under water. I've never used my heated vest with my drysuit yet so I don't know how well it would work.

By the way did anyone tell you you look just like Elvis Presley?
Adam

 

[MaxBottomtime]

When it's too hot to even rest in the shade, Merry likes to put on her drysuit, get in the water for a minute or so, then put her gear on. We've had a heat wave the past couple of weeks in SoCal but the water around Palos Verdes is still in the low 50s.

 

[wnissen]

I've mentioned this before, but the only time I've ever gotten heat exhaustion in my life was while suiting up in a 7mm in 41C / 106F heat. Normally I am flexible on climate, wearing long sleeves all year (even when it's hot) and not wearing a jacket (even when it's cool). But the wetsuit, in the sun, is just too far from correct temperatures to work sometimes. I was plenty hydrated, but the body can only do so much. In my case I got a nasty case of vertigo the next day, though I can't specifically say it was the heat, because I had other issues going on. Now I only pull my suit past my waist in the heat when I've established my buddy is going to do the same and head for the water expediently.

 

[Chavodel8en]

The only people I refuse to dive with are people who I know are inconsiderate in the timing of suiting up and getting ready to start the shore dive. I can excuse poor buoyancy, even gas hogs, but not this.

Its one thing to have some gear issue come up, no problem. But one dude I dove with a couple of times was constantly just lagging for no good reason. I wont dive with him again.