Two lake huron dives for inspiration!!!! And maybe a wreck diving book? Or great beginner scuba book?

[HamTrainChickenLaser]

@HamTrainChickenLaser,

I just read through this thread. Let me add this: I learned to dive in MO freshwater lakes in the late 1980's. We wore a 0.25" FJ and jacket, and bibbed hood, booties, and gloves or mitts--because it didn't take much depth at all before we were diving below the second thermocline. When I first moved to Ann Arbor MI in the early 1990's, I would drive down to Gilboa and White Star and dive wearing the same exposure wear that I wore in MO. These were relatively short-duration, recreational dives to shallow-moderate depths. No problem whatsoever.

Of course, I was used to diving in all the bulk that's required to dive colder water.

You won't know until you dive in colder water, that you actually like it. The shallow side of Gilboa is probably still a great place to sample this type of diving. My advice: Don't buy any gear for this type of diving until you've tried this type of diving.

rx7diver

P.S. Only when I began training to dive deeper, longer exposures did I purchase a (custom) drysuit. (A wetsuit loses more and more of its ability to insulate as you dive deeper.)

Roger that! I have already bought an exposure suit though- but it was an amazing price and only had two dives on it. I couldn't help myself!!!!! Gotcha on deeper dives with a wetsuit. I think that is mostly a function of the pressure at depth squeezing the little air spaces, correct? I mean a 7mm wetsuit will not be 7mm thick at 100', so it won't be as warm.

OK I will calm down with the cold water gear for now. BUT- RK3 fins are fine in the tropics as well, true? I've heard they are popular down there at any rate.

I am in Ann Arbor often for work and it's a great town!!!!