Temperature reccomendations?

[Gomjew]

Does anyone have a general guide from some sort of medical authority on what you should be diving in and for how long in what temperature?

Like when is it too warm/cold to dive in 7/5mm wet and how hot is too hot for drysuits?

Had some guy very expertly telling me you should never dive wet under 20 celsius in the water (68 fahrenheít) which seemed very silly to me as I usually dive in less than that (I live in sweden) in my 7mm. And then 2 weeks ago I got tired of waiting for the summer here and went diving in my 7mm wet in 4 degrees celsius (39 fahrenheit) for a short (25 minute) dive and I wasn't really cold on anything but but my bottom lip. So a lot of people seem to underestimate the warming capacities of a thick wetsuit?

We had a lovely 10 celsius (50F) in the air and the sun was out, so wasn't that cold when we came up either though.

 

[clifftondiver]

Personally, I'm a drysuit kind of guy over here. But if you want you dive in a wetsuit, no matter the temperature, go for it! Only you know your comfort level. This may be over-stating the obvious, just make sure you can recognize the signs of hypothermia

 

[Gomjew]

Personally, I'm a drysuit kind of guy over here. But if you want you dive in a wetsuit, no matter the temperature, go for it! Only you know your comfort level. This may be over-stating the obvious, just make sure you can recognize the signs of hypothermia

Yeah, seems logical, and it's basically what I'm doing at the moment. The only caveat is that I've never had hypothermia, so I only recognise it in theory

Would be silly to come out of the water and have to perform an emergency amputation of a frozen foot using only my flashlight since I keep dropping my knife. :crocodile:

 

[Greendiver]

Your on the right track, comfort level while in the water and remembering to have a bit of reserve when you get out of the water on a cold day to allow for undressing and drying off.

Looking back at my log over the winter the water temps bottomed at 32f on Jan 1 but have been warming up since! 46f yesterday! Like you I dive wet, a 7mm jumpsuit with a hooded core warmer. Not because I think its best but its what I have been able to afford, for now.

It can be done AND it can be done without being miserable. Have fun!