Recommendations

[MSilvia]

I haven't found evaporative cooling to be a big factor in a drysuit. This weekend, I did two dives a day for two days in 39 degree water with sub-freezing air teps, and was standing on ice during the extended SI. I didn't change out of the suit until I was ready to head home, and I never did get cold once suited up.

Then again, I've probably got 100 lbs on Soggy.

YMMV.

 

[JohnL]

Nothing really special about it, just plan conservatively untill you know how cold you will get. 7mm mits are okay in the water, but cold as soon as you get out, dry gloves are nice when dry. I always keep a hat and gloves handy when I get out, a thermos of hot tea or cocoa is a plus.

As far as sites go it seems like the really shallow sites are pretty barren, but there are allot of anenomies and nudis once you get past 30-35 feet.

One plus of shore diving is that you can load a ton of extra clothing, food and warm beverages into the car in case you do end up cold.

 

[dave4868]

I've never been diving around here in the winter. Just bought a dry suit last year and I would like to try diving in the NE winter, mainly to checkout the awesome viz everyone talks about. Any recommendations on sites or special equipment for a first-timer? Should I do a shore site that I've been to before for familiarity sake or is a charter okay? What about dry gloves or dry hood? Thanks.

LobstaMan

I'd like to add a little to the good advice already given, that I think a shore dive will be a better place to start, since it will give you more time to tweak your gear, especially if you're new to drysuit diving.

Besides, you'll have no time pressure like you would on a boat dive.

Front Beach in Rockport is one of my favorites. At high tide (10:30am this Saturday, the 17th, by the way), the water will be about 40' from the parking area!

Not only that, the Beach Street Bistro diner is about 30' away, another plus!

As far as gear suggestions, since I like long dives and absolutely hate being cold, I use extra insulation in my drysuit, two sets of liners in my drygloves, and a 2mm neoprene "ice cap" underhood with my regular 7mm neoprene hood.

However, the best advice I can give you is to go with what you've got and find out what works for you as you try suggestions from various people.

At the risk of sounding like I'm quoting myself, if you're interested in seeing exactly what I do to have long, comfortable dives in sub-40 degree water, here's a link to a posting:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=2603629#poststop

Getting back to your gear, since you're probably going to use neoprene gloves or mitts to start with, I'd recommend 3-finger mitts with a good smooth wrist seal.

If you don't have that, than a gauntlet-style mitt will help.

Before I got drygloves, I improved the warmth of my gauntlet mitts by wearing some homemade 1/4" neoprene wrist bands about 2-inches wide under the mitts. That gave the gauntlet wrist cinch-straps a fatter surface to seal onto and reduced water infiltration almost completely.

Plus, the extra 1/4" of neoprene over those arteries really helped, I believe.

Pre-warming the mitts in hot water also helped.

In sub-40 degree water, with those preparations to my mitts and wrist bands, my hands would stay comfortably warm about 60 minutes. Then they would begin a pretty quick slide into feeling uncomfortably cold, but still be functional for another 20 minutes or so.

I was so happy when I got the drygloves, because it basically gave me 90 minutes of good comfort and function. At about that point, the cold would be felt and function would start to decline, but still be adequate to the 2-hour point.

Haven't tried going longer yet, but it'll be interesting to try.

It'll be interesting to see what you think, once you experiment a bit.

Good luck!

Dave C

 

[LobstaMan]

Thanks for all the great advice and the invite, Matt. I'm in the process of making a crotch strap, new weight belt and putting larger pocket/s on the drysuit. I might need your help/advice with that stuff, too.

I have been diving several times with the dry suit, including a dive on the Poling, so a winter dive won't be my first in it. I would really love to see the viz on the Poling Soggy talks about. Wow...50 feet!

What about undergarments? No one mentioned what they use/prefer. The only one I have is a Bare T-100. Never been cold with it, but I usually wear some additional layers of protection underneath like a long sleeve fleece, long-underwear and wool socks when water temp goes below 50F or deeper diving. Would that be enough?

Thanks again. I think I'm going to try it when the air temp gets about 40F.

LobstaMan

 

[Soggy]

I have been diving several times with the dry suit, including a dive on the Poling, so a winter dive won't be my first in it. I would really love to see the viz on the Poling Soggy talks about. Wow...50 feet!

It was really spectacular. We were scootering and did a couple laps around it. We also swam out to the Gannet...not something to try unless you are prepared with enough gas and redundancy, but it's a neat little broken up fishing trawler.

The thing with winter diving is, sometimes you go out there and have 50 ft of vis, but other times, you hit the wreck before you see it. It's a real crapshoot. The winds had been from the west for like 2 weeks and this helped push everything out to see rather than blowing stuff in. (That's the theory, at least!)

What about undergarments? No one mentioned what they use/prefer. The only one I have is a Bare T-100. Never been cold with it, but I usually wear some additional layers of protection underneath like a long sleeve fleece, long-underwear and wool socks when water temp goes below 50F or deeper diving. Would that be enough?

For me, I'd die in a 100g thinsulate undergarment. I have a 400g thinsulate from Santi that keeps me warm enough to spend an hour or so in the water. That's with a shell suit. If you have a neoprene suit, I have no idea what kind of garment you'd want.

 

[dave4868]

What about undergarments? No one mentioned what they use/prefer. The only one I have is a Bare T-100. Never been cold with it, but I usually wear some additional layers of protection underneath like a long sleeve fleece, long-underwear and wool socks when water temp goes below 50F or deeper diving. Would that be enough?

Thanks again. I think I'm going to try it when the air temp gets about 40F.

LobstaMan

In my other post in this thread, I put a link to a different post with details about my undergarments, etc. I was trying to spare you the painfully verbose details, if you'd seen it before.

It's got specifics about the different combinations of fleece and/or Weezle undergarments I use, including what I call a fleece "chest pad".

With my arrangement, I'm able to stay warm in the coldest water (low 30's).

You might find it helpful.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=2603629#poststop

Dave C

 

[LobstaMan]

Sorry, I did notice the link, but passed over it. Thanks.

LobstaMan

 

[MSilvia]

I use a Weezle Extreme with heavy wool socks. Even when it flooded with 38 degree water, I was tolerably warm for the dive.

 

[LobstaMan]

I've been warm w/ the T-100 + a layer of polyprop underneath down to 48F for two dives. But, I think I'll go purchase a warmer undergarment before I try the winter thing. What would you wear under that Weezle, Matt? I take it you'd recommend the Weezle X?

LobstaMan

 

[LobstaMan]

Forget what I said about my u/g....I just checked and I've been using the Bare CT-200, not the 100. So, that's why I've been so warm w/ just a layer of polyprop underneath. Also, I don't get very cold easily(some natural insulation). But, I still might consider buying a Weezle or a 400g thinsulate u/g for the temps <40F.

LobstaMan