Howdy!

[BigBubbaJ]

Hey all -

THought I'd say hey - just finished the OW course this weekend at A1. Doing the OW test in a month or so at chatfield...

Im trying to justify buying some gear...

Who here lake and/or res dives?

Cheers!

Justin

 

[ddavies]

Hey all -

THought I'd say hey - just finished the OW course this weekend at A1. Doing the OW test in a month or so at chatfield...

Im trying to justify buying some gear...

Who here lake and/or res dives?

Cheers!

Justin

Welcome.

There are several of us who dive local. We usually post here when we are going. For instance, this past weekend there was a post for going to Aurora for some start of the season diving. Post here when you want to go and you will most likely find one or more of us to go; or jump in when we post. Good luck on your OW class.

Dan

 

[RonFrank]

Lake or Res diving here is a bit of a training exercise. A group of us go several times during the summer. I want to do twin lakes again this year. We will definitely do Aurora a few times. I missed doing it last weekend, but I had other things going on.

We also go to the Blue Hole several times a year. This is the best diving within driving distance. It's a bit of a drive, but for 80' dives in generally good vis it's worth the trip. Add some good friends, and it's all good other than the price of GAS!

Welcome to the board!

 

[BigBubbaJ]

Thanks all!

Are you guys using 7mm suits or dry suits? Seems like summer temps would be ok for the 7mm suits....

Im new... so don't quite know what is par for the course on the lake diving...

 

[RonFrank]

Thanks all!

Are you guys using 7mm suits or dry suits? Seems like summer temps would be ok for the 7mm suits....

Im new... so don't quite know what is par for the course on the lake diving...

I'm diving dry. Dan and Kent also dive dry. Most of the ABQ folks dive dry at Blue Hole. Once you dive dry, you kinda don't want to get into cold water wet anymore. It's almost more for the comfort of getting out of the water dry. Towel off the head, and even if it's cold outside, you're comfortable. One year at Blue Hole I froze in a 7mm not because I was cold in the water, but because my feet froze during the Surface Interval.

You can do lakes in the Summer wet in a 7mm. Water temps can be in the low 50's, so it can be cold wet. By the end of summer I think places like Aurora are in the high 60's, maybe even low 70's.

I no longer dive wet in anything heavier than a 3mm. If I can't be comfortable in a 3mm full suit, I dive dry. My coldest dive to date was at Perch Lake in NM I think last December. Our computers varied, but 41F was the coldest reading. At those temps you want a drysuit. You can pick up some great deals on Drysuits on Ebay assuming you are within a normal size range. I picked up my Bare NexGen from an out of business Diveshop used for under $400 with underwear, and rock boots. It's a low end drysuit, but it keeps me dry unless I break the neck seal, which I do on occasion.