Secrets to staying cool before diving in Drysuits

[IaDiverJ&L]

Hi:
Just like to hear anyone secrets to staying cool before getting into the cold water in the heat of summer. I know you can hurry, I know about getting everything ready before suiting up. Sometime I get into the water, with just drysuit on, then come out to put gear on. Maybe packing undies in a cooler of ICE? You know when it is in 90's and the water is 50's! Just wonderning.
Thanks
Jeff

 

[matt_unique]

Hi:
Just like to hear anyone secrets to staying cool before getting into the cold water in the heat of summer. I know you can hurry, I know about getting everything ready before suiting up. Sometime I get into the water, with just drysuit on, then come out to put gear on. Maybe packing undies in a cooler of ICE? You know when it is in 90's and the water is 50's! Just wonderning.
Thanks
Jeff

Setup everything as you mentioned such that you get a zip, sit down to strap into the gear, then into the water. There is no other way since the suit needs to be closed to work Stay in the shade if possible as well.

--Matt

 

[DA Aquamaster]

If you have a neoprene or crushed neoprene suit, wetting the outside of the suit will get it running in swamp cooler mode and that will help a lot.

Otherwise get real organized, get everything checked and ready to go before you suit up, keep movement to a minimum and stay in the shade.

Personally, I think there would be a real market for "cool suit" underwear like they use in space suits and full pressure suits. You could pump cold water from an external source through small plastic tubes in the underwear while suiting up. Then you could close the external port and warm the water in the system (with an electric heater ran by cannister mounted battery) and circulate it through the suit during the dive with a small pump.

 

[fmw625]

Personally, I think there would be a real market for "cool suit" underwear like they use in space suits and full pressure suits. You could pump cold water from an external source through small plastic tubes in the underwear while suiting up. Then you could close the external port and warm the water in the system (with an electric heater ran by cannister mounted battery) and circulate it through the suit during the dive with a small pump.

I have seen these at the nuclear plant where I use to work. They were used by the hard hat divers doing work in the warm water of fuel pools. They were pretty neat. I have not seen anything about the use as you perposed. Great idea though.

 

[pipedope]

In lots of commercial work the problem is the water is too hot so we have different diver cooling systems. The simple is a garden hose stuck inside the wetsuit.
A bit more involved is a shroud suit that goes over the drysuit and bathes the diver and suit in cool water.

A bit out of range for sport diving.

Get everything ready before zipping up and then get in the water soon. Also, having shade topside also helps a lot.

 

[OE2X]

On a hot day - get set up first. Get into your suit but don't zip it up. Dip your hood in cold water and put it on. You will instantly feel better. Finish zipping your suit up, and getting the rest of your gear on. Just doing the hood will give you about 10 minutes of comfort or enough time to get into the water.

 

[mech]

Good topic.
I'm still tweaking my 350 for max comfort.
I sweat in my 300 softwear if I have to wait for my buddy.
Some of the people I dive with seem to get paid by the hour :11: .
With water temp around the mid 50's I feel like I'm in an airconditioned room.
In my wet suit I'm actually warmer sometimes.
I think that is from diving sqeezed with trapped sweat.
Cold has never been my problem. I just want max comfort.
OE2X I'm going to try that water in the hood trick.
My 400 thinsulate should be here tomarrow so staying comfy before the dive will probably be harder.
What I normally do is wait for other to be just about ready and then get serious.
Works so so OK.
I think the water will do wonders.
Thanks.
Andy

 

[ScubaSarus]

I sweated quite a bit whil getting ready to go in. The temp of air was near 60. Nothing like hitting 37 deg water while sweating. Just dont know what I could do diff but I suggest making a plan and zipping up at the last minute and moving slow.

 

[AtomicWalrus]

The secret is to keep the suit unzipped and pulled down to your waist until you're ready to gear up and get in, then gear up quickly and get into the water ASAP. There's something particularly gross about feeling your own sweat accumulating in your hood before diving in the summer... If you're shore diving, you can also hang out in the water at the surface once you've suited up. It's funny how good 48°F water feels in the summer!

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

I feel your pain. In South Florida, the Summer humidity is really high, it is about 95+ in the air, and the sun pierces through everything. Since our water is only down into the 60's at depth, I wear 200 gram thinsulate instead of 400. But, that sun makes up for it plenty.

The current here is generally too strong to tie up on the wrecks before the dive. So, we end out doing live drops. This means we have to get geared up first. Then, we try to do our gear checks as the captain pulls the boat up to the drop zone. Then, we stand up and walk back to the platform. Then, we wait for the "go" signal. A couple of minutes seems like hours in that heat.

When I used to dive wet, I liked diving in the Summer better. Now that I dive dry, I prefer the Winter except that it gets rough on the ocean more frequently. You can't win! :11ztongue

I have no perfect answer here. However, there are a couple of things that we do. I don't use dry gloves. So, I take my hood and my gloves, and I soak those before gearing up. I do what I can to stay out of the sun. (That is nearly impossible since everyone else on the boat is trying to do the same thing.) After putting on my drysuit and gearing up, we get one of the crew members to spray us with a hose frequently.

Diving, like most other religions, means suffering!