OW Checkout Dives Tips (5C/42F)

[rick00001967]

For reference, I had a shallow training dive earlier today of 74 minutes in 1-3˚C. I was in a trilam drysuit with 250g merino wool base layer and a 600g thinsulate layer (No Gravity Sea Lion Plus), thick hood (8-10mm?) and drygloves with wool inner gloves and liner. Double pair of wool socks.

Diving in 5˚C water with a trilam suit and just 250g wool layer, like @rick00001967 suggested sounds crazy to me, but maybe that's how they roll in Canada. Your suggestion of 500g total sounds reasonable to me. I don't know if I would want to do any less, personally.

haha crazy canucks eh ??!!

pls keep in mind i was suggesting this for what i called "short training dives" for a basic ow course.

i personally would not consider 74 minutes a short training dive.

our average ow course dives here in those conditions might be half that amount of time. probably avg of 30 minutes.

in summer we would often extend those dives if the students gas allowed, but would have the option to spend as much or as little time as we could tolerate below the thermocline. the rest would be above it where it would be significantly warmer.

 

[aquaticj10]

haha crazy canucks eh ??!!

pls keep in mind i was suggesting this for what i called "short training dives" for a basic ow course.

i personally would not consider 74 minutes a short training dive.

our average ow course dives here in those conditions might be half that amount of time. probably avg of 30 minutes.

in summer we would often extend those dives if the students gas allowed, but would have the option to spend as much or as little time as we could tolerate below the thermocline. the rest would be above it where it would be significantly warmer.

I think my first OW dive will be 20-30 minutes. I might wear all 3 layers together, as I'd prefer to run slightly warmer than too cold, plus I'll be doing the very basics my first couple checkout dives and no deeper than 12M. I'll adjust from there, thanks to both of you for the advice.

 

[Sebs]

Cold tolerance is so different between people that there's really no other way for you to find out than try it yourself.

+1 to what steinbil said. Vent air as often as you need to on ascent. With my new (thicker) undersuit, venting is a lot of work and on the weekend I couldn't vent fast enough and had a bit of uncontrolled ascent. **** happens and hopefully I'll do better in the future.

 

[Still Kicking]

In my experience, students doing their first check out dives are much less aware of the cold.

They are excited/nervous and pumped with adrenaline, have an elevated heart rate and they tend to keep moving. When you have been diving for a while and you become more relaxed and neutrally buoyant, you will likely notice the cold a lot more.

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Your hands will freeze before your body so your dives will be short because you will start losing dexterity and will not be able to finish the skills so you will probably be fine without the one of your layers. If you are diving a rental drysuit, you will get wet anyway .

It's important to time everything - you don't want to sweat while kitting up.

Make sure to stay warm on the surface before and after diving as you are likely to make several dives. I've seen people use a dryrobe or similar over their drysuits. Eat plenty of carbs and drink hot drinks, bring two hats (one can get wet), gloves (surface) and stay off the ground - concrete will make your feet feel very cold.

Also, it helps to put your face with no mask in the water for few seconds right before descent. It cools your face down, which prevents your mask from fogging up later and prepares you for the cold, especially if you have to clear your mask underwater.

 

[Edward3c]

I think my first OW dive will be 20-30 minutes. I might wear all 3 layers together, as I'd prefer to run slightly warmer than too cold, plus I'll be doing the very basics my first couple checkout dives and no deeper than 12M. I'll adjust from there, thanks to both of you for the advice.

What agency you doing your training with, and where in the UK?

 

[ZamaTim]

Hi,

I've discussed this before on here, but I now have my first checkout dive scheduled in the next 2 weeks.

I will be diving in around 5-6C/42F water. I will be using a trilam drysuit with 165g base layer (merino wool), 250g mid layer (merino wool), 100g thinsulate layer (typhoon jumpsuit). Looking for all advice/tips for a nervy but excited diver. Most worried about flailing about in my drysuit.

How much lead do you plan on diving with? Nonetheless, you might want to consider some ankle weights.

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

How much lead do you plan on diving with? Nonetheless, you might want to consider some ankle weights.

Ankle weights are the wrong solution that masks poor skills and leads to poor habits…

 

[ZamaTim]

Ankle weights are the wrong solution that masks poor skills and leads to poor habits…

Doesn't really matter how good his skill level is if he doesn't have any trim. Perhaps I missed it, I didn't see that he had poor skills.

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Doesn't really matter how good his skill level is if he doesn't have any trim. Perhaps I missed it, I didn't see that he had poor skills.

The point is that by using ankle weights, you never learn the proper skills and pick up bad habits.