Diving in cold water - does your head freeze?

[Texasguy]

Here in texas water temps probably go down to 50F or so. I am still not really mentally prepared to jump in even if I were to have a dry suit.

Thing is, even if you wear a dry suit, you head still has that wet suit type of hoods. If you don't wear a full face mask then your face is pretty exposed to cold water without any layer at all.

Thus, could you explain to me how it feels to jump in into cold water?

Does you head feel really cold at first because cold water enters a dry hood and it takes a while for the water to warm up? Well, can you describe your experience to make me understand how a cold water dive does not become something life threatening?

When you get out, what do you do to your wet head? I mean, if it is cold outside and your head is wet, I guess it is another avenue to catching a deadly cold.

 

[antattack]

Yes, when I dive really cold water, I get an ice cream headache as the cold water rushes into my hood. It goes away in few minutes and the hood works quite well. I dive a dry suit most of the time which means my neck is not insulated, furthering the cooling effect.

When I get out of the water, I leave my hood on until I get out of my BCD and weight belt. Usually I have a towel and a boat jacket handy at that point, so staying warm isn't a problem.

Some folks keep a tank of hot water and a camp shower handy if they are doing multiple dives, so they can have a warm water rinse, but I'm not that fussy.

 

[lowviz]

Texasguy, it is more fundamental than that. You just get into the situation and ignore the discomfort. The coldest I have ever been was line-tending. I couldn't freaking wait to get back under the ice. Notice that the hole was freezing over...

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

What is worse is the exposed area on your face. No way to really protect that.

Its amazing though, if the D/S keeps your body well insulated, its easier to it to handle the cold head. Part of it is if your core is warm you body will not restrict blood flow to the extremities like it normally wood. The hardcore cold water divers sometimes spring for an Otter Bay custom sized hood. Its almost double normal thickness and fits snug so leakage is slow.

For me at least, a cold body part is not a big deal until frostbite. You can warm it up fast. A cold body core is another issue and a lot more serious.

 

[rx7diver]

I dive a dry suit most of the time which means my neck is not insulated, furthering the cooling effect.

When I was making decisions anticipating my first (and only) dry suit purchase, I decided I wanted to wear a wet hood with it. I chose to have the dry suit made with a neoprene fold-under neck seal so my neck would be well insulated. (I also chose neoprene fold-under wrist seals since I decided I wanted to wear wet gloves.)

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Kind of chilly at first when the water first rushes in, but with a 5mm wet hood, it's all right. I've never ended a dive because of head cold, but I've ended a dive because of feet cold or finger cold or even body cold. The head is generally reasonably comfortable.

 

[BRT]

It really is OK if you have enough drysuit insulation and a good hood. The mask can fit up under the edge of the face opening and the chin can be covered so there is only a little skin exposed. and you can get hoods where the main part is 10 mil or more with thinner neoprene around the face. We dove in December with the surface water temp at 38 and I really didn't notice it when I put my head under.

 

[fisheater]

Otter Bay (Monterey) hoods prevent your head from getting cold.


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[Tug]

Like the others said, it's cold when you first get in but after a little bit you either get used to it or become numb depending on the temperatures...

 

[TSandM]

If it's a shore dive, and you're kind of slowly getting into the water, it's not bad at all. If the hood fits well, the water kind of leaks in, and down to the high 40's, you don't really notice it. Below that, I have gotten an ice-cream headache briefly, but it passes.

JUMPING into water in the low 40's is a different story. You have to be prepared for a few moments of feeling totally out of breath. I mean desperate, "I can't breathe", out of breath. Again, it passes, and you don't notice it for the rest of the dive.