Yet another Wetsuit Thickness question

[CuNanoTube]

Just a note on gloves, I wear the three finger gloves on my longer cold water dives (was in the water with them for about 2.5 hours yesterday) in my 7mm farmer john. Most of that time was swimming at the surface, but the water temp maxed out at 10C, was 1-4 C at depth (below the thermocline). I was quite warm the whole time. I find getting the gloves that have no velcro strap work great because you can tuck them under the arm of your suit and the seal is great. I can step out of the water with my gloves tucked in and the water will not drain due to that seal.

 

[Peter_C]

Part Scandinavian, which must count for something! And I lived in Michigan the last 6 out of 7 years, which toughened me up a bit.

I am part Finnish, but was raised a Californian :cool2: So I happen to like warm sunny days, and 86+ degree water.

Anyway, dives mostly in the 40-70ft range, lasting 30-60 min. I'm comfortable on the longer/deeper end of that, but I've had some brand new divers as buddies lately.

Those are shallow short dives, and a wetsuit may work fine for them. Many of us do deeper recreational dives with much longer run times.

My first dives in Monterey, before I added the neoprene socks, my feet were freezing after 35-40 minutes at 50-60ft (plus 10 minutes or so of surface swimming), but since I solved the problem of too much water swishing around my feet, I've been very happy in the wetsuit. I am still amazed at what a big difference that little fix made.

Surface swimming before and after a dive is not the same as jumping off a boat and doing a square dive profile, then jumping back onto the boat. There is no strenuous activity, and once back on board you have no shelter from the wind on the ride home as evaporative cooling kicks in :shocked2:

Interesting how many people talk of cold that you can't even shake on the surface. Between dives, if I'm not already too HOT in my wetsuit, I drop it and throw on a shirt and jacket. If it's taking you hours to warm up your core again you probably really are in danger of hypothermia and you almost certainly are diving the wrong wetsuit.

Try taking your top off in the rain and let me know how warm you are Don't forget to throw in wind too!

Then again, I was certified in Oregon and my first dives in the wild were in 43 degree water...in a wet suit. Now that was friggin cold, but frankly everything since has felt manageable by comparison.

We briefly saw 43 degrees on Saturday at Van Damme with the average temps hovering around 45-46 degrees. My 104lb g/f did an hour long dive in her drysuit without getting cold. The second dive she got cold and we called it after 38 minutes. She would not be diving with me if I had started her in a wetsuit

 

[scribetree]

Consider this an invitation; you're more than welcome to join us for a few dives in Carmel in your wetsuit off of one of the boats that I usually dive off of. Then you can experience first hand what we're talking about. Maybe we are all just a bunch of wimpy wusses who should be diving exclusively in South Florida in the summer, but somehow I doubt it.

I'll likely be diving both days next weekend, and if the seas are decent, we'll be going south both days.

I'd love to, dannobee. And I'll take you up on it in about a month when I can dive again. I just got into a motorcycle wreck and broke a rib and my elbow.

For the record, I'm not saying I'd never get cold under the right circumstances, thus my original post that if I were doing ice or technical I'd dive dry. I just do rec dives within normal limits, mostly from shore, with dives up to an hour on a steel tank. For that, I've yet to be hampered by cold.

I'm also not disparaging anyone else's choice to dive dry. But I also enjoy being "active," and I don't necessarily agree with the universal premise that the better diver you are the less you move. I'm not saying I have to move. I like to. Again, unless I'm diving to extreme limits. I totally understand why tech divers do what they do. When I'm on a rec dive where my buddy is going to get cold or run out of air before I do anyway, I have fun — swim upside-down, slalom through kelp, ya know, enjoy the freedom of weightlessness. If that helps keep me warm, so be it. Oh yeah ...

 

[Guy Alcala]

<snip>

I'm also not disparaging anyone else's choice to dive dry. But I also enjoy being "active," and I don't necessarily agree with the universal premise that the better diver you are the less you move. I'm not saying I have to move. I like to. Again, unless I'm diving to extreme limits. I totally understand why tech divers do what they do. When I'm on a rec dive where my buddy is going to get cold or run out of air before I do anyway, I have fun — swim upside-down, slalom through kelp, ya know, enjoy the freedom of weightlessness. If that helps keep me warm, so be it. Oh yeah ...

The distinction being drawn is less "better diver = less movement', as it is ' better diver = less wasteful movement.' I like to swim and do hydrobatics too, and stay warm enough while doing so in a much thinner undergarment than my dive buddies - I guess we have similar metabolisms. For boat diving, though, except when the vis is unusually good or we know the site really well, we tend to do a lot less swimming and stay in a more confined area so that we can find and ascend up the anchor line, or at least close to the boat. Either that or we run a line from the anchor or some easily identifiable point. The dives are generally close to a square profile as well, and generally deeper than shore dives (Lobos/Monastery etc. excepted).

Also, while hovering to look at something I need to move a lot less than I used to to stay in position, i.e. I'm not flailing around the way I did when I was a newbie. So, I'm a lot colder boat diving than shore diving, where I can just take off swimming if I'm cold, knowing that wherever I end up the shore is that-a-way.

Guy

 

[hqduong]

Thanks Everyone! I think I just sucked it up and bought a drysuit. I like to do a lot of dives in a single day since I got a family now so free single days are all I have. Looking at a good dry suit was over 600 dollars with all the vest and etc. while a dry suit was about 1300 for a bare drysuit.

 

[fofo]

Hi! Sorry I'm late to the party.

You won't regret getting the drysuit. I know one diver who says he gets too warm with a hood around here, but for the majority, a drysuit is definitely a good choice.

I was one of those who thought "Nah, drysuits are too expensive, I'm sure I'll be fine with a wetsuit, it's just going to be a little uncomfortable sometimes" but one day, after a looong dive, I had a hard time opening the trunk of my car to get to the dry clothes (I was shivering so badly), and I decided right there that I was going to get a drysuit. Surface intervals are much, much nicer now.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

To each their own. There is no question that if you regularly dive in water cooler than 70f a dry suit is a welcome part of your equipment inventory.
DivemasterDennis

 

[scribetree]

There is no question that if you regularly dive in water cooler than 70f a dry suit is a welcome part of your equipment inventory.
DivemasterDennis

Sorry, but there is a question. My answer to it is "no thanks." Yours isn't. Let's not confuse opinion, majority or not, with fact. That's all I'm saying. Happy diving.

 

[eelnoraa]

I was one of those who thought "Nah, drysuits are too expensive, I'm sure I'll be fine with a wetsuit, it's just going to be a little uncomfortable sometimes" but one day, after a looong dive, I had a hard time opening the trunk of my car to get to the dry clothes (I was shivering so badly), and I decided right there that I was going to get a drysuit. Surface intervals are much, much nicer now.

Same experience I went throught. To OP, don't make this mistake we did. I bought a Pinnacle 7mm suit & hooded vest, costed me $400+. It is fine for the first shore dive of the day. Anything after that starts to get "uncomfortablely". I was still telling myself I wasn't cold enought to spend the money on drysuit. Then one boat dive later, I was totally convinced. I picked up a very decent and well fit drysuit for $600 and never touch my wetsuit again.

I sold the less than one year old hooded vest for $50, half of what I paid for. And I haven't been able sell my Pinnacle jump suit, even at $100. My lesson learned: If I were to suck it up and went with drysuit at the first place, I would have spent $600 and enjoy every single dive warm. Now, I spent total of $950, ended up with 50 cold dives and wetsuit that I probably won't use again.

Again, no one says you cannot do it with wetsuit but you will definitely be more comfortable with a drysuit while not spending much more