@annmarie722
You live in a cold climate and don't know how to protect upirself from the cold and keep warm in the cold ?
Perhaps I can provide a wee bit of advice from way out west in California- where diving began
In the genesis of diving prior to the development of the exposure suits (first the Barada dry suit then the Bradner wet suit ) divers used all sorts of coverings for thermal protection- WW11 electrical heated wool flight suits with the wires removed or a set of WW11 wool long underwear- put on the baggy bathing suit, then the flight suit or the long underwear then another bathing suit to keep the thermal protection suit in place.
I was a young dumb kid so I preferred a WW 11 GI khaki wool sweater about 2 sizes too small so it had a sung fit.
(FYI --there are two pictures of me in this costume painted by the great John Steel in the anniversary issue of Skin Diver magazine -about 20 years ago)
It was soon discovered - serendipitously- that if the areas with venous flow nearest the surface were keep warm, such as the ankles, wrist and the head, the diver retained heat for a longer period So enter the gooey sticky cloth backed electrician's tape-- copious amounts were taped around the ankles and wrist to some what keep those areas warm allowing for a few moments more of diving.
Also it was serendipitously discovered that the USN WW11 Surplus submarine lined watch hat complete with a chin strap or a WW 11 surplus US AF fur lined crewmen's cap offered a certain amount of cranial thermal protection
In modern day diving many use dry suits other wet suits...You chose the later - It should be tight fitting with no bunches or gaps-- Your first wet suit you will consider tight - your second should be tighter and the third one -if you grace the diving world that long should be very very tight ,, so there is absolutely no water flow,
The ankles require a reasonably well fitted dive bootie to insure the ankle venous flow is warm- I have, possibly by habit, always pull my wet suit down over the booties it insure a tight fit - My red headed Canadian born wife just the opposite.
When I began diving with a wet suit a WW11 sheet of neoprene could be purchased from Kirkoff Rubber company in Brea California for $1.00 and a can of wet suit glue "Black Magic" also for a dollar.. with some injunity of pattern design wet suit was created for 2 hard earned California Yankee dollars.
As a result I designed my own wet suits which were later graciously cut and glued at no charge by the local wet suit manufactures- All my suits featured an attached hood. Often on those cold SoCal nights when diving for lobsters I wore a neoprene vest under the extremely tight fitting wet suit.
If your head, which is richly endowed with venous flow becomes cold, your body core temperature will drop accordingly. Therefore a good fitting thick hood or even better in extreme cold a hooded vest is appropriate
Therefore three areas to review and improve
Wet suit fit
Wet suit hood
Booties - fit for no flow
Have a serious conversation with your fuzzy faces instructor for additional input
And last and equally important - get in shape ! Join a swim club swim regularly with all the vim and vigor you can muster at 50 plus years.
Sam Miller, III
LA Co UW instructor #11
NAUI instructor # A27
PADI instructor # 241 or 2241 ?
