Warming between dives?

[FM1520]

I prefer wetsuit diving for California too, and I can handle temps into the high 40s in my wetsuit without problems. The coldest was 48F - it was nippy but entirely do-able. Oh, and unlike what others have alluded to, I do all dives whenever I go out on a boat dive and my dives are all hugging the bottom time of 50-something minutes limits that most boats tend to encourage. Tank runs low by that time anyway.

My technique for keeping warm is to have a nice boat coat/dive parka. .

Same here. Take off the wet suit between dives and put on a jacket. I use hot water from the deck shower to warm up my wetsuit before/during donning, especially the hood.

 

[BluewaterSail]

Take off the wetsuit between dives, and dry off. As long as water is evaporating off you , you will continue to loose heat.

 

[shmuggy]

Have a big thermos with chicken broth or hot chocolate in it and drink it as soon as you can after ending the dive. Then before you put your wetsuit on- pour warm water down your neck and chest. The warm water can be brought in a 2 liter bottle- as hot as you can-almost boiling- then wrapped it in a towel. It will be still warm but not too hot when you need it. Also, consider getting a hooded vest to layer on over your wetsuit-you will be warmer.

 

[Daren785]

I have used one of those camping propane powered hot showers. Leave the wet suit on and fill it with the hot water shower. It works great.

 

[j2s]

Have a big thermos with chicken broth or hot chocolate in it and drink it as soon as you can after ending the dive. Then before you put your wetsuit on- pour warm water down your neck and chest. The warm water can be brought in a 2 liter bottle- as hot as you can-almost boiling- then wrapped it in a towel. It will be still warm but not too hot when you need it. Also, consider getting a hooded vest to layer on over your wetsuit-you will be warmer.

Ditto...Keeping your 'core' warm will help a lot in staying warm on the second dive....No tea or alcohol....Hot chocolate works well, it's not just the warm liquid but also the properties in chocolate that will help.......

 

[fnfalman]

I think that I'm going to a drysuit this year. My wetsuit is too worn and I can easily buy another one. However since that I'm not going to give up on this sport any time soon, a drysuit seems to be a better long term investment. I think that I will miss all the "keep warm" techniques though. Hell, that's half the fun.

 

[SangP]

I agree with a lot of what the guys have said.

Get out of your wetsuit asap, get into dry clothes preferably something like a warm long sleeve sweat tee with a hood, drink something hot like chicken soup/hot chocolate, have a wet weather/water resistant wind breaker or parka.

Lastly pour a warm cup of water into the wetsuit before getting in as fast as possible lol.

 

[tracydr]

Well to give you some idea. I was once doing an experiment. After an hour of diving in a DRY suit in winter in a water with a temp of 37F I measured my body temperature after getting home - it was roughly 1 hour since I got out of the water, I was obviously wearing warm winter cloths. My temperature was about 35.8C . It took me 40mins ! in a hot tab to bring the temperature back to 36.6 and feel normal. So I hope you understand that just taking a cup of tea in between the dives will not help you to warm up enough to do 4 dives in a wetsuit.

If you want to do 3-4 dives a day in forties range you should be looking at a dry suit.

Although I'm absolutely positive that you can do 4 dives 10 mins each

This is really good information and it would be really neat to do a more controlled study to get this kind of stuff.
I really believe with water below 50 degrees you should be diving dry, unless only doing one dive, less than 45-50 minutes. I used to dive Puget Sound wet but we rarely did two dives. Drysuits were not in my budget as a medical intern in the Army.
now, I dive dry if water is below 75, although sometimes air surface temperatures can also be a determining factor in AZ. I don't like dying of heatstroke, if I know I may not be able to get in the water quickly, for instance if I'm helping with an OW class. In colder, CA temperatures, though, I just love getting out of the water dry and not freezing during my surface interval. Especially at night!

---------- Post Merged at 07:52 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:50 PM ----------

I have the same problem. 2 dives and that's it. I think I could do more if I didn't have to pee between dives--putting the wetsuit top back on is a killer. A time or two I have covered my car's driver seat with plastic and sat in there with the heater on during the SI-- a bit helpful.

I can only make it one dive without a nearby bathroom.I have a mini-bladder. The She-P is the very next dive item on my wish-list.

---------- Post Merged at 07:56 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:50 PM ----------

If the air is at least 75degrees and you are in the sun without much of a breeze, leave the wet suit on. Otherwise, take it off, dry off, and put on sweats or other protective/warm gear. I dive in a cold reservoir all summer with student divers, and that is what we have found is the best rule to follow. The hot water suggestion only works if the air is warm enough and calm enough to sustain the temperature level at a comfortable place- that would be 75 degrees and up. Other wise you will be cold again pretty quick.
DivemasterDennis

This is what I usually do when diving wet.

 

[tdtaylor]

I only dive wet if I am with others, such as a class, that are in wetsuits. Most I have done is three long dives in the mid-50s off a boat- fortunately it was in the 50s out of the water, so not much suffering.

Otherwise, I am definitely spoiled. I am extremely cold tolerant (swim a skin until 77 degrees), but reach for my drysuit below 70 degrees. Sound like a lot less of a hassle than working with a wetsuit in challenging conditions. But then again, I dive in the Northeast year round with others who have drysuits (often not a wetsuit onboard), so it is second nature to us.

I do have the upmost respect for those of you who continue diving wet in all conditions.

 

[diverrex]

I dive wet in SoCal all year round and will regularly make 3 or 4 dives. I've never skipped a dive because of being cold. But our water doesn't usually go below 52 and air temp is usually above 60 often with sun. The water temp doesn't bother me as much as being on top when air temp is below 65 and there is no sun. On those days I take off the top of my farmer john (but do leave on my hooded vest), dry off quickly and put on my dive coat and beanie. I have a cup of hot chocolate or even just plain hot water to get warmth inside me. Soup is good when available. I try to stay inside the enclosed galley instead of the open deck. I never pour hot water in my suit but have on occasion used hot water on my gloves right before putting them on. I do think a drysuit is in my future though if I would only stop buying camera gear or dive computers (bought both a Cobalt and VT 3 as a backup in the past 6 months).