Whats the coldest you ever dove wet

[newbasuba]

This is my second thread. Im a new diver curently in an advanced open water class. I have one dive left to complete the corse wich is the deep dive. Im diving wet or i should say semi wet. Ive been diving in around 40 degree water at a max depth of 35', the last few dives and been fine. My question is how much warmth will i lose in a deep dive from the wetsuit compressing. If you dive wet id like to know what the coldest water you ever dove in and if you thick ill be allright with a 8mm semi dry suit with a 5mill vest under.

 

[NEWreckDiver]

This is my second thread. Im a new diver curently in an advanced open water class. I have one dive left to complete the corse wich is the deep dive. Im diving wet or i should say semi wet. Ive been diving in around 40 degree water at a max depth of 35', the last few dives and been fine. My question is how much warmth will i lose in a deep dive from the wetsuit compressing. If you dive wet id like to know what the coldest water you ever dove in and if you thick ill be allright with a 8mm semi dry suit with a 5mill vest under.

Wow, you will be cold. Personally I wouldn't do it in anything except a dry suit.

If the surface temp is 40 degrees, then I hate to think what the temp will be below the thermocline.

Gooood Luck. You are braver than me for even thinking about it.

 

[wetvet]

Newbascuba,

your question can only be answered by you. NEWreckdiver would never think about that kind of dive, while I have done my ice diving course in a wetsuit (see profile pic). The wetsuit was a 7/5 mm farmer john with attaced hood, with 6mm gloves and booties. The water registered as 31 degrees F, and I dove to 46 feet for 28 minutes. The only thing that got really cold was my fingers and toes (Yes, they were REALLY cold), but I have had a lot of experience working outside in cold weather.
It completely depends on your tolerence to cold. My advice: try it, and have the guts to admit that you are cold and call the dive if that is the case. Ive called other dives because I was cold, and that seemed harder to do than doing some really cold dives.

Enjoy

Wetvet

 

[chrpai]

This is my second thread. Im a new diver curently in an advanced open water class. I have one dive left to complete the corse wich is the deep dive. Im diving wet or i should say semi wet. Ive been diving in around 40 degree water at a max depth of 35', the last few dives and been fine. My question is how much warmth will i lose in a deep dive from the wetsuit compressing. If you dive wet id like to know what the coldest water you ever dove in and if you thick ill be allright with a 8mm semi dry suit with a 5mill vest under.

My coldest dive wet was 38F at 90'. It wasn't very fun.

 

[JohnF]

This is my second thread. Im a new diver curently in an advanced open water class. I have one dive left to complete the corse wich is the deep dive. Im diving wet or i should say semi wet. Ive been diving in around 40 degree water at a max depth of 35', the last few dives and been fine. My question is how much warmth will i lose in a deep dive from the wetsuit compressing. If you dive wet id like to know what the coldest water you ever dove in and if you thick ill be allright with a 8mm semi dry suit with a 5mill vest under.

We dove Gilboa at around 34-36 degrees. I wore a 7mm one-piece with warm hood and gloves. I might have had a .5 mm skin underneath but don't remember. It's surprising how comfortable it is ... until you get out. The dives were about 30 minutes each.

JohnF

 

[NEWreckDiver]

Newbascuba,

your question can only be answered by you. NEWreckdiver would never think about that kind of dive, while I have done my ice diving course in a wetsuit (see profile pic). The wetsuit was a 7/5 mm farmer john with attaced hood, with 6mm gloves and booties. The water registered as 31 degrees F, and I dove to 46 feet for 28 minutes. The only thing that got really cold was my fingers and toes (Yes, they were REALLY cold), but I have had a lot of experience working outside in cold weather.
It completely depends on your tolerence to cold. My advice: try it, and have the guts to admit that you are cold and call the dive if that is the case. Ive called other dives because I was cold, and that seemed harder to do than doing some really cold dives.

Enjoy

Wetvet

You are correct on all accounts. Tolerence is the issue. I don't want to have to put out a APB for the family jewels.

That is why I went dry. Nice and toasty. Even is 35 degree water.

Good luck to you. I really hope it goes well for you.

 

[strider]

I have made several dives in less than 40 degree water between 100 and 190 ffw for anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes in a 7mm wetsuit, 5 mm hood, gloves and boots.
I wont say I was warm in any way, but it was tolerable. If there is any space in your booties I would recommend grabbing a pair of cheap 3mm socks, they are the one place I really lost heat and the socks helped tremendously.
I dive dry now, as the repetitive deco dives in a wetsuit were getting a bit too dangerous, but I wouldn't worry too much. Use good judgement and you will be fine.
Stay very warm before the dive, a hat and gloves, turn the dive if you start to shiver or get too cold, dry and put warm clothes on as soon as you can after the dive.
Good luck.
Justin

 

[TKOS]

My coldest was 35F at depth of around 20 feet. It was the first dive of the year for me and I was just gettign reused to things. I wear a 7mm full with a 7mm shorty on top, 5 mm gloves, boots and hood. I stayed down for about 35 minutes or so.

But in the summer I use the same setup and the temp is generally around 40-45F at 50 feet where I like to dive. I can easily do 2 dives of close to an hour each, though I am starting to get a bit chilled by the end of the second.

The worst part is getting in and getting out (if it is a cold day).

 

[jonnythan]

If you've been fine so far, you'll be ok. The surface interval will be the killer... bring some warm water and a towel.

I've personally done 40 degrees in a 2-piece 7mm to 90 feet and was fine.. but 1) I'm a warm person naturally and 2) the surface temp was in the high 50's.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

In the good old days we would have an annual winter dive contest with lots of cool prizes etc. to get the divers out in mid winter. The coldest dives I have probably ever done wet occurred at one of these events. Two dives in a 1/4" high waist wet suit (with the beaver tail and little metal twisty lock thingies) with a 1/4 hood, 3/16"s gloves and 3/16''s boots. We had a 34 degree water temp and an outside air temp of about 10 degrees F with a 20 kt wind. Really frickin cold and I could not actually feel my feet after the second 30 minute dive. It's fun when you are 18 or so but I am now far too old and too smart to do that again.

I use a 7mm semi-dry most of the summer and bottom temps below 100' are in the upper 30's to mid 40's. I never really notice the cold at depth. The suit crushes substantially, but water flow is still minimal and I seem to stay warm as long as I stay moving. (I suspect narcosis may play a factor in "feeling" warmer at depth as well.) Where I notice the cold is in the warmer water near the surface (50-65 degrees) during the deco stops where I am not swimming. Anything below 55 is distinctly uncomfortable when hanging at a deco stop after a long cold dive at depth. So for me the surface temp is normally the critical factor in deciding when to drag out the dry suit for the fall and winter season.