Tropical Diving with or without wetsuits?

[Wayward Son]

I always wear at least a skin. I don't like getting stung.

 

[Riger]

I am either stupid, have thick skin or thick blood; but the long and short of it is that I do not easily feel the cold (That is not to say my body does not). Diving in 23C and above, I have a 0.5mm full body suite. I also have a 2.5mm sleeveless hooded vest that I wear or not based on how I feel.

I did my OW course (on holiday) without a suite, just shorts and a rash vest.

Regards

Richard (Riger)

 

[sporket]

I always wear something. I hate getting stung, or bitten.

 

[prskate2]

Riger, we call it a Suit not a suite.

 

[Riger]

Riger, we call it a Suit not a suite.

Great !

So now apart from being stupid and thick skinned (which I recognised without any help) you are telling me I cannot spell either!

tsk tsk tsk ...... We call that adding insult to injury!

 

[jplacson]

Hi Jay... it would really depend how cold you get under water.

I just recently started diving with just board shorts and a short sleeved rash guard (more for my BC straps than anything else.)

During the colder months here in the Phil (Dec-Feb), I use a 1.5mm wetsuit. But again, it depends on a lot of factors... wind chill, actual water temp, dive duration... etc.

All I can say is that, diving with shorts and a rash guard was the most "fun" upgrade I did to my dive gear!

**Oh, and it's a fallacy that we lose most of our body heat through our heads. We lose most of our body heat through the most exposed part of our body... in a normal clothing setting... that's the head... if you were totally naked, heat loss throughout your body will be evenly distributed**

 

[RJP]

**Oh, and it's a fallacy that we lose most of our body heat through our heads. We lose most of our body heat through the most exposed part of our body... in a normal clothing setting... that's the head... if you were totally naked, heat loss throughout your body will be evenly distributed**

That's not exactly true. While you're right about the "75% of heat loss" being due to the head being exposed, you do lose proportionately more heat through your head than any other part of your body (square inch per square inch) due to the combination of higher blood flow and greater capillary density (ever notice that a head laceration bleeds a lot more that a similar size cut elsewhere) thinner skin, and not much insulating fat.

Heat loss through the head is especially problematic in the water, where the hair no longer provides any effective insulation as it does in the air.

Further - and most important in cold situations - unlike every other part of the body, blood flow to the head is NOT restricted/diminished in response to cold. Your hands and feet get numb not due to freezing but due to the fact that blood flow is restricted to extremities in order to keep warm blood flowing to vital organs such as the brain - located in the head.



Here's a citation from the Journal of Applied Physiology

Heat Losses From the Human Head -- Froese and Burton 10 (2): 235 -- Journal of Applied Physiology

 

[Riger]

 

[prskate2]

You lose the most out of your head, arm pits, and groin.

 

[JayWong]

Ayt,
Cheers.. .Will try it out
Thanks for the replies!