still cold

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danaw

Registered
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Location
Bellingham, WA
# of dives
50 - 99
Getting cold has ended almost all of my dives. This weekend I have a new/tighter neck seal and am contemplating adding a 2nd neoprene hood, on top of the one I will already be wearing. It sounds ridiculous. Does anyone have any experience with this ?
 
Are you diving wet or dry?

As far as hoods go, you CAN'T go wrong with a custom Otter Bay hood. Many of us fans call them "neoprene helmets."
 
Welcome to SB. You do have some chilly waters up yonder. I bought neoprene socks to wear inside my oversized booties after diving Puget. Pouring warm water inside you suit front and back before and after dives helps a lot too.
 
Rest assured, the water gets colder elsewhere (try Maine in March). If you're diving wet, consider going dry. If dry isn't an option try pre-flushing your suit with warm/hot water. The more "custom" a wetsuit is the better the fit and the less you'll experience flushing of water (keeping the water warmed by your body next to your skin and not allowing cold water from the environment). Of course moving seems to wreck that plan frequently.

If all else fails you could go the bioprene route :)
 
Drysuit, 400g undersuit, drygloves. A wetsuit will never keep you warm unless you stay near the surface.

BTW - Waterproof and Santi both sell 10mm hoods for use in arctic temperatures.
 
danaw, what exposure suit are you currently using? At Sund rock, I've seen a few people, mostly students and their instructors, dive wet. Most were in 7mm FJ, for a combined 14mm at core (I assume). I've only seen them go to maybe 35-40fsw. Everyone else dives dry if they're going deeper.
I've only gotten cold 1 time there and that was due to staying completely still while watching a GPO for about 8-10 mins. A few yards of swimming will usually bring me back up to a good temp.

Good luck!
 
You don't give a lot of info about the conditions that keep you cold.
Do you tolerate low temperatures in air fine, or is it about the same situation top side? Getting very cold all the time may be a symptom of your body being out of balance, thyroid activity (too much or too little) can easily mess with your tolerance for cold.

Is the water temperature below 50 or so? In my world the only options to tolerate that: 1- you have to be a teenager, 2- you started diving this temps when you were a teenager and your thermostat is already compromised, so you don't feel the cold, or 3- you use a dry-suit with the proper undergarments.

I'm a wuss for cold and need tons of thermal protection when temp around me is less than 70, topside or underwater. Layers are good, but blindly piling up items on top of each-other sometimes only add bulk and do little for actual protection. If you are going to use 2 hoods, you need to use materials that will work together.
For a while when I was younger I could use a wool-fleece-like material inside on the thick side, and the neoprene on the outside. Soon after I realized all the layering only extended my comfort for just a few minutes while my freedom of movement was limited more and more, so I moved on to a dry suit. After 4 or 5 different dry suits I realized cold is not for me (water or air) so I try to stay away from it. Is not too difficult if it becomes your priority.
 
Diving with a wetsuit, only warm water will keep you warm. Try southern Florida or the Keys.
 
When you say you got a new seal, I assume you are diving dry?

Cold limits almost all my dives nowadays. Here are the things I have learned:

1. Do not waste any heat before you dive. You want, if possible, to be almost uncomfortably warm until you get in the water. If that means wearing your undergarment in the car, do it. For me, it means a hat and a heavy jacket in any temperatures below 60, and sometimes above that, if there is a wind. Ideally, by the time you get the suit zipped, the cold water is looking GOOD.

2. Wear the insulation you need, and put up with the weight you have to carry to do it. I have gone through a number of iterations of undergarment, and each time I change, it seems like I have to add lead. I'm current diving the Whites MK3, which is the warmest undergarment I've found yet, but I use 31 pounds of ballast to sink myself.

3. Don't be overly parsimonious with your weight. People stress the importance of proper weighting, and that is true. But if you weight yourself so that you have to be shrink-wrapped during your safety stop, you are cold at the worst time of the dive to be that way. I want to be able to keep my suit inflated enough to loft that undergarment, all the way to the surface.

4. Use Argon. The studies are conflicting, but there ARE studies that show it makes a difference. And I know an awful lot of people (myself included) who are true believers. I rarely use it during the summer, but once the water goes below 50, it's with me on every dive. It's worth the investment in the gear required. The fills are trivial.

5. Dry gloves. They make a difference.

6. If you are using rock boots, don't cinch them down so tight that you get no air in your feet. Although you obviously have to control air in the feet, you want SOME there, or your feet will get cold really fast.

Using these ideas, I was good for three hour-long dives a day on our recent trip to Browning Pass. But I was darned cold at the end of the last one :)

If they ever come out with an Aerogel undergarment, I'll be first in line . . .
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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