rottielover
Contributor
I know I'm not even barely a newbie diver (we just started our PADI OW course) but I do know something about veg. oil
What eveyone said about the thermal properties... That why you sometimes use oil to cook with. The oil acts as a "conductor" and allows the heat to move into your food more quickly. The reverse is also true, if you were to coat yourself in oil then jump in water you would loose body heat more quickly than if your skin was just in the water, thus hypothermia would be a very real and very quick possibility, even in "warm" water.
I often wonder about a Sci-Fi idea that seems to come up in movies and books, that of a "gel like" substance used to insulate. Seems like you could sew in pockets of this "gel" into a suit (like a dry suit) thus getting more thermal protection... Interesting idea's, but I'll leave that stuff to the manufacters to work out
What eveyone said about the thermal properties... That why you sometimes use oil to cook with. The oil acts as a "conductor" and allows the heat to move into your food more quickly. The reverse is also true, if you were to coat yourself in oil then jump in water you would loose body heat more quickly than if your skin was just in the water, thus hypothermia would be a very real and very quick possibility, even in "warm" water.
I often wonder about a Sci-Fi idea that seems to come up in movies and books, that of a "gel like" substance used to insulate. Seems like you could sew in pockets of this "gel" into a suit (like a dry suit) thus getting more thermal protection... Interesting idea's, but I'll leave that stuff to the manufacters to work out