OW cold issues

[raftingtigger]

A lot of good advice. When I dive wet (not by choice anymore) I need to double or double plus my core. 2 layers of 7mm at the core is good, but a single piece has less water circulation. I do both by putting a 3mm shorty under my super stretchy single piece 7mm AND putting a hooded vest over everything. Really cuts down on the water circulation and ends up with about 16mm at the core. Of course dry is better...

 

[vapourinthesea]

16mm at the core!!! wow...guess your ready for ice diving.

 

[raftingtigger]

16mm at the core!!! wow...guess your ready for ice diving.

No just a maximum of 2 dives/day in Monterey Bay (diving wet, no limit found dry). I do get cold You ice divers are made of stronger stuff

 

[Kitty_Kat]

I also did my OW in Puget Sound and now mostly dive throughout California (which contrary to it's "tourist" appeal does not in fact have much warmer water...). I get cold way too easy, but still dive wet most of the time (with classes = convenience) and it's definitely do-able comfortably! A lot of good tips have been mentioned, but i think one of the best for me is switching wetsuits completely if it's a really cold day. Get an extra rental wetsuit so there will be a nice dry one waiting for the second dive. That way it's easier to stay warmer during the surface interval since you're completely dry and out of your wetsuit and you don't have to go through the unpleasantness of having to put a wet wetsuit back on. I've seen quite a few students use the surfer trick of bringing bottles of once boiling water and that seems to help. Hats are also great! I get some great looks wearing my nice knitted ski hat around after getting out of the water when it's 70 degrees outside :cool2: but it helps!

 

[LowDrag]

To divergirl6...where is your friend certifying at? My wife and I are going up from Portland with our LDS for certification next weekend to. It would be cool to meet someone from Scuba Board. We just got our SolaFX wet suits last night. I think they are going to keep us quite comfortable up there. We are going to Sunrise for the weekend. I will post back after the weekend with the results of our dives. Hopefully that will be of help to your friend.

 

[flots am]

A friend of mine is getting certified next week. She's not very nervous except for one thing - the cold. She's diving in the Puget Sound where the water temp currently is around 50 degrees F. OW is done in 7mm wetsuits at the shop she's certifying through and she gets cold pretty easily. One time a lake was too cold for her to swim in and she got cold shock and started to black out. She got pretty worried when I told her that I got cold on the OW dives and I'm highly tolerant to cold water. She wonders how she will survive without a dry suit.

Find a new shop that will let her certify in a drysuit. Unless she's one of those people who "never get cold" 50 degrees is way below the minimum temp for a 7mm wetsuit.

In any case, nobody's opinion of the sufficiency of a 7mm suit matters except hers. I'm not sure about PADI, but if she's too cold, the training standards from my agency do not actually allow the instructor to continue the dives.

flots.

 

[mala]

its almost unbeleivable that any dives in cold water are done in a wetsuit.


this is the 21st century.

wake up over there.

if you cant wake up then at least you could sue someone.

 

[TMHeimer]

its almost unbeleivable that any dives in cold water are done in a wetsuit.


this is the 21st century.

wake up over there.

if you cant wake up then at least you could sue someone.

As usual, it depends on what one considers cold water.
From mid June through early Nov. the water here in NS is 50+ and plenty toasty for my 7 mil farmer john. Jan.-March we are snowbirds somewhere on the northern Gulf of Mexico (55- 65, the latter meaning a shortie). The weather in May in NS is warm enough to warm up between dives even with 40+ water temps. April is equipment servicing. So that leaves part of April and 6 weeks of winter (I do dive then occasionally anyway). No need to buy a $1,000 drysuit and worry about leaks and $300 zippers.

 

[mala]

As usual, it depends on what one considers cold water.
From mid June through early Nov. the water here in NS is 50+ and plenty toasty for my 7 mil farmer john. Jan.-March we are snowbirds somewhere on the northern Gulf of Mexico (55- 65, the latter meaning a shortie). The weather in May in NS is warm enough to warm up between dives even with 40+ water temps. April is equipment servicing. So that leaves part of April and 6 weeks of winter (I do dive then occasionally anyway). No need to buy a $1,000 drysuit and worry about leaks and $300 zippers.

i could not do a 1 hour+ dive in 50 degrees in a wetsuit.

 

[rivers]

As usual, it depends on what one considers cold water.
From mid June through early Nov. the water here in NS is 50+ and plenty toasty for my 7 mil farmer john. Jan.-March we are snowbirds somewhere on the northern Gulf of Mexico (55- 65, the latter meaning a shortie). The weather in May in NS is warm enough to warm up between dives even with 40+ water temps. April is equipment servicing. So that leaves part of April and 6 weeks of winter (I do dive then occasionally anyway). No need to buy a $1,000 drysuit and worry about leaks and $300 zippers.

If it's too cold to wear my shorty, I'm in my drysuit. That said, I've been comfortable for a 40 minute dive down to 2*C in my drysuit, and for hour plus dives in 22*C in it. drysuits are more versatile. just need to switch up the undergarments