How Cold Do You Go

[skeet]

what do you consider to cold for diving a wet suit

 

[Dive-aholic]

Below 50. Did it once through a thermocline, turned around after a couple of minutes. Wife stayed above the thermocline.

 

[mossym]

yup, dive 49/50 in a wet suit in Nor Cal, but couldn't take much colder..

 

[mweitz]

My deepest was also my coldest (shocker, huh).
89' at 49F then
128' at 49F.

I was quite comfy, but they were fairly short dives, about 30 minutes each.

I was in my Xcel 9/7/6. Nice suit.

Narcosis takes the edge off

 

[diver_paula]

I dove the Great Lakes in a wetsuit for 8 years before going to a dry suit. Some of the dives were in the high 30's / low 40's. Dives at those temps aren't always the most comfortable but are very doable IF you are able to get dry and warm following the dive.

I always made sure to change out of the wetsuit and wet bathing suit into something dry and warm. Some times I'd pour warm tap water down the suit before and after a dive. And a for awhile I'd use a heat pack while diving.

The biggest concern would be to have thick gloves. & to gauge your dive length on your hands / toes.

Paula

 

[DA Aquamaster]

The bottom temps here usually run in the lower to mid 40's below 100-130 ft even in late summer when the surface temps may be 70-75. With a good 7mm wet suit, the bottom temps are do-able for the 20 minutes or so you are there as long as you are moving. Where I draw the line and switch to a dry suit is when the water in the shallower layers where I am doing most of the deco stops is too cold for comfort. Anything colder than mid 50's is too cold for a wet suit when you are just hanging at a deco stop.

And like Paula states, it is critical to be able to get warm after the dive and in between dives. This time of year when the air temps are in the 30 to 50 degrees F on a good day, all my diving is dry suit diving as it is just too difficult to recover that much lost heat after or between dives.

 

[HBDiveGirl]

48 degrees F. is my coldest so far in a one piece 7mm with 3mm vest/hood...Santa Cruz Island, Calif., in January 2003. Did four dives, and shivered most of the time. It took 30-45 minutes on deck to really stop shivering. I just purchased a 7mm vest/hood which is much warmer, but I don't think I want to dive below 48 wet. I tried pouring hot jacuzzi water into my suit between the 1st and 2nd dive, but I think it made me colder once I got down. The best thing about that cooooold day....something to compare to 54 degree water so I can truly say, "that's not so bad." Were I to dive below 50 degrees regularly, (IMHO) I would definitely go dry.

 

[DORSETBOY]

still dive semi all year round, pretending I dont feel the cold, just dont fancy splashing out on a dry at the moment. Coldest for me is coming out of the water, it's not too bad inwater as the coldest it gets is 4 deg C, but when you come out of the water and its windy and snowing or sleeting then it really hits ya - think my debriefs tend to be fairly 'prompt'!

 

[Paco]

I, too, have dove the great lakes in a wetsuit. Lake Superior at 92 ft. was 39 F. but my hands and feet got really, really cold.

 

[dkerr]

I call it quits below 45. A guy I work with scallop dives (mind you the season is from Nov-April? here in Maine) and dives wet. Last year he did a dive and at depth it was 24. He said his only problem was he couldn't feel his reg in his mouth anymore so he would take it out and suck his lips inside his mouth to warm them up! Personally I think he's nuts. He has a drysuit but prefers diving wet. Go figure.