tips for staying warm while diving dry?

[AfterDark]

For your feet, I'd echo what Hawkwood and TNRonin are saying: Don't stuff too much into your boots. You'll be colder with too much insulation. You need to be able to wiggle your toes, otherwise you'll cut off circulation and you'll be cold.

Also, I'd look into an extra undergarment and/or a little more weight to accommodate more air in your suit. If you start getting on the cold side, your hands and feet are the first parts your body will sacrifice. "If your feet are cold, put on a cap" is a very good advice topside, and the mechanism behind it is equally valid underwater. If the rest of your body is nice and warm - a lot warmer than "just not freezing" - your hands and feet will be a lot warmer as well.

I found long ago that if my core and head are warm my feet and hands will be ok. I dive year round in NE and use 5mm wet gloves without a problem. Only wicking garments touch my skin, dry is warm. Also like another posted air space is important if you don't have enough you'll be cold. My yard stick on this is no suit squeeze. You should not feel your suit pressing against your body at all. A little too much air is better than not enough IMO.

 

[Storker]

Try to keep your head and core as warm as possible

Like this?

 

[lowviz]

Yup.

 

[altaskier]

To emphasize what others have said about not getting things too tight on your feet: one of the best insulating materials out there is air made still. Down jackets are warm not because of the down, but because of the air-trapping properties of down: it kills any convection of the air whereby cold gas molecules cool down on the cold side and then move to the warm side to suck up heat there and on and on. Neoprene is warm because of the air bubbles (until they get squished at depth). So, think of socks that are bulky but light, and that don't get matted down when wet. Lycra or silk underlayer for wicking, wool or fleece on top for air lofting...

 

[Hickdive]

If you're planning multiple dives then hot food during the SI is vital. Hot drinks/soup are good but solid food is much better and a combination of the two is best.

I've seen people come out shivering from the first dive swearing thats them done for the day. I give them hot food and drink and within a short while they're raring to get in the water again.

Get a little gas stove and you can rustle up anything in a short while.

 

[Storker]

I'd like to summarize the excellent advice given in the thread and the physiology behind it:

• Keep your head and neck warm. Your brain is the most vital organ in you body, and your body will sacrifice everything else before your brain, so if your neck and head get cold, your brain will require - and be given - heat from somewhere else. No matter where that heat has to be taken, the brain will get it.
• Keep your core warm. You second most important organs are located in your core. Your fingers and toes, then your hands and feet are the body parts first sacrificed if your body starts thinking "hey' it's cold. Gotta prioritize heat"
• If your core is on the slightly too warm side, your body will start dumping heat by increasing blood flow to the outer parts of your body, including your hands and feet. This warms up your hands and feet.
• Don't restrict circulation. If your blood can't circulate freely, it can't transport heat from your core to the outer parts of your body. That's why it's a bad idea to stuff too many pairs of socks into your boots: It restricts circulation.
• Air is the real insulating material. All insulating garments, fibers etc. that we swear to only serve to trap air and keep it from circulating. That's why a little extra air in your suit and maybe a little extra weight to compensate for that is a good idea in the winter: Even the best undergarments in the world won't give any insulation if they're squeezed flat.
• Keep your skin as dry as possible by using wicking materials next to the skin. We know that water conducts heat very well, why shouldn't it do that inside your suit as well?
• Give the body fuel to burn to produce the heat you need by eating and drinking properly before and between dives. If you serve your body cold food and drink it has to heat it up to your core temp of 37C, that's a heat loss to you. Warm food and drink provides extra heat.

Everything after this (wool vs synthetics, dry gloves vs wet mittens, brand of hood, soup vs. hot chocolate etc.) is really a question of personal preferences and has little bearing on the fundamental physiology of keeping warm.

 

[dbulmer]

If you're planning multiple dives then hot food during the SI is vital. Hot drinks/soup are good but solid food is much better and a combination of the two is best.

I've seen people come out shivering from the first dive swearing thats them done for the day. I give them hot food and drink and within a short while they're raring to get in the water again.

Get a little gas stove and you can rustle up anything in a short while.

That depends on the dive conditions and food eaten. In bumpy seas some food will make cold seem preferable to ralfing.

Hot chocolate works even for the ruths and hueys.

 

[MichelG]

I may repeat some of the above but try not to get cold before the dive, suit up quickly and don't get humidity in your underwear.Keep gloves on your hands and something to keep your head warm as long as you can. Having a hot beverage before the dive is a good idea too. I use two pairs of wool socks to stay hot, but if it's too tight it won't work. Dry gloves are the best, I'm a lot less cold since I use those. If your head is cold, I bought a 10 mil hood from Waterproof and it's the best one I tried. I did dives in 32F with it and my head( and the inside of the hood ) was HOT when I got out of the water. There's always Argon... but I didn't try it yet.

 

[swimmer_spe]

I have my drysuit and undergarments dialed in, but my feet and hands get pretty cold. My boots are attached , and my feet are numb when I I'm in the water and take a while to thaw after.
I've layered socks, but still cold.

Has anyone ever used those chemical foot warmers while diving the cold?

My hands are a different story. I use wet gloves for now, and dip my hands and gloves in the hot water after the dive to thaw them out. But during the dive it just gets plain cold. ?

First suggestion: dry gloves. Even if water leaks in, you hands are much warmer than wet gloves. When they do not leak, you will stay cozy.

Second: for your feet, I wear a nice thick pair of wool socks. Even if I sweat, or if there happens to be a leak that lets in moisture, you still are warm. Wool has the feature that even wet, you are dry.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I learned another neat "comfort" trick a couple weeks ago.

During the winter months I always bring two gallon jugs of hot water in a cooler for after the dive. Even in a drysuit, dumping hot water over your head and body (with the suit on, of course) warms you up almost instantly. One of my students suggested putting a couple of towels in the cooler ... not only to provide more insulation around the jugs, keeping the water warmer ... but it warms up the towel ... and having a warmed towel to dry yourself off with after a dive is just ... heavenly ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added January 28th, 2013 at 05:43 PM ----------

First suggestion: dry gloves. Even if water leaks in, you hands are much warmer than wet gloves.

Not necessarily so. I sprung a leak in my right dry glove early into a 58 minute dive yesterday ... and I can assure you my hand would've been much happier in a 5 mm neoprene wet glove ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)