Muck Divers: Wetsuits for Quarry Dives?

[CRDiver]

My buddy and I now dive dry, but we took a couple of inexperienced guys out to Lake Wazee last weekend down to 70 feet, and they were wearing convential/nothing fancy 6.5mm farmer john's. Temp was low 40's, and they said it wasn't that bad.

 

[AevnsGrandpa]

I have been certified for a little over a year and all I have ever used is a wet suit for quarry dives.

My wet suit is a 5-4-3 and I have 3 mm hood, boots and gloves. Went diving in the begining of May to Haigh Quarry in Kankakee and the water temp at depth was low 50's and I was able to dive for 20-30 minutes in it. Just must be able to tollorate it better than some.

Most I can say is try a 7mm and see what your body says. The dry suit just might be worth it to you afterwards!

Jeff

 

[DA Aquamaster]

My buddy and I now dive dry, but we took a couple of inexperienced guys out to Lake Wazee last weekend down to 70 feet, and they were wearing convential/nothing fancy 6.5mm farmer john's. Temp was low 40's, and they said it wasn't that bad.

We did a tech class at Wazee a couple weeks ago and at 150 ft I was pretty sure that I had made a serious mistake in leaving the drysuit and drygloves at home even if it did have a leaky zipper. The computer recorded a low temp of 42 but recorded this on the way up at a 60' stop and obviously did not fully cold soak during the dive. The water at the max depth of the dive had that odd burning feel you get on exposed flesh and in your fingers in near freezing water around 35-36 degrees. Between the cold water and wet suit compression (7mm semidry with a 5/7 vest/hood) it was chilly below 100 ft. But in the shallows the temp was a balmy 54 degrees and a 7mm semidry was more than enough.

Many flooded quarries are spring fed and the water at depth in them can be very cold depending on the source of the flow. On the other hand if the water feeding the spring is from a fairly deep source it can range from only cool (instead of ice cold) to fairly warm and be consistent in temp all year round if the flow is high enough. We have one spring fed lake locally that ranges from 62 degrees in summer to 58 degrees in the winter and provides a great alternative to ice diving in the winter.

So what works in a local area is largely a local issue.

 

[CRDiver]

"The water at the max depth of the dive had that odd burning feel you get on exposed flesh and in your fingers in near freezing water around 35-36 degrees."

While visiting the gazing globe by the wall, my computer has shown temps as low as 33 degrees in the summer at Wazee. That place is cold.

 

[crawford]

I need a wetsuit. Specifically, I need a wetsuit for local quarry dives. (I already have a 3/2 for tropical).

So what are you wearing at your local midwestern quarries? 1 pc. steamer or farmer johns? Hood or hooded vest? 7 mil? 7/6/5? 5 mil steamer + 3 mil shorty? Can I get by with a thinner suit with the Henderson gold core/hyperstretch or Bare wetsuits or is that all just (expensive) hype? My 7 mil one piece rentals seem hugely thick and I need a ton of weight (18 lbs!) to get down with those, which makes good buoyancy tougher. I noticed my instructor used a 7/6/5, that didn't seem quite so bulky.

Generally is there a conversion chart or formula that ties water temps with wetsuit thicknesses?

I'd also really appreciate if you could point out anything I should be considering and/or that I'm overlooking. Thanks!

FWIW, I was interested in dry suits until I priced them. :11: And I thought golf was expensive!!!

What size are you? I just switched to a dry suit and may sell my 7mm/.25" farmer john if you're interested. It's in pretty good shape, always used in fresh water as far as I know.

Before diving dry I could dive to the bottom of the plane at Mermet with hood and gloves and be fine, maybe a bit of a chill when hitting the 40's, but didn't stay there long enough to let it sink in. Of course everyone has a different tolerance/comfort level.

Good luck.