New user: Dry Suit Warmth Question

[Ber Rabbit]

I have spent the last couple of years freezing in my 400g Thinsulate undies under my shell Viking Xtreme. I ponied up the cash for a pair of dry gloves and bought a pair of winter thinsulate shooting gloves to wear under them for warmth. Recently I learned that I can put my mask skirt over the edges of my attached hood to keep the water off of my head. I'm still experimenting with the best way to do this but having my head dry made 100% difference in how warm I was. Normally I'm froze after 20 minutes and only make one dive. This weekend I made a 55 minute dive and a 52 minute dive (with a flooded right glove) and wasn't cold until the very end of the dives. You can be warm but it may take a lot of experimenting with layers under your suit/dry gloves/hood configuration, etc.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Bobbin-along]

Thanks for the feedback Travis and Ber. I am a cold weenie by nature. We race sailboats and while the rest of the crew is in a mid layer and foulies I'm donning base layer, 2 mid layers and foulies. While not nearly as bad as the other women in our family, who have the seat heaters on in their cars in the dead of summer, I tend to chill quickly. That's why I was shocked that my hands were actually physically warm when we ended the dive, it was a first for me.

I will continue to play with materials and layers as I absolutely love being able to exit the water, strip off the shell, and am dry and ready to go.

Oh and on a side note: any tips to help with that "shrug" move to burp air in the suit? I apparently haven't got that little trick down even though I have the valve on the should set pretty well to ambient pressure.

 

[theskull]

. . . Oh and on a side note: any tips to help with that "shrug" move to burp air in the suit? I apparently haven't got that little trick down even though I have the valve on the should set pretty well to ambient pressure.

Crouch down on one knee and pull in your arms while holding the neck seal slightly open, so you look like you're genuflecting before the dive, which may not be a bad idea as well.

theskull

 

[Bobbin-along]

Oh yea, I love that move, one of my favorites.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I've found that with thick undies I can't get enough air out of the suit on land so after I get in the water I get vertical before descent to force as much air out the shoulder dump as possible. Uncle Pug has a really good post on the board somewhere where he said you should maintain "a 20 foot squeeze" meaning don't add any air to the suit until you are past 20 feet and only add enough to maintain the amount of squeeze you feel while at 20 feet. Following that advice has worked well for me.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[matt_unique]

Short of a leaking suit it's your thermals. I use thick fleece in my 7mm neoprene suit - you would be freezing to use the same thermals in a trilam suit.

--Matt

 

[Tanked]

I use rock boots which is probably part of my cold feet problem, but with all the bulk of jumpsuits, shell, and latex booties wrapped up around my ankles I cant get my usual neoprene boots zipped up.

Throw on a few pairs of warm socks. That should help keep your feet toasty.