(Extreme) Cold Weather Diving

[Storker]

-21? Impressive.

I usually thumb even before driving to the site if it drops below -10. Colder than that is just too much hassle since everything freezes too quickly after surfacing. Besides, rinsing the gear in below -10 sucks.

And BTW, I never bother with wind chill factors. I have a thermometer outside my kitchen window, and while it's pretty good at telling me the temp, it doesn't calculate wind chill. Which is bound to vary a lot between sites, so it's pretty meaningless IMO.

 

[WarrenZ]

That is more effort to dive than I am willing to do. My question to you is did your pressure gauge get water in it to freeze it at 0 psi or did I miss something?

As far as I am aware most SPGs are dry inside so shouldn't be affected by the cold.

 

[shoredivr]

This morning was forecast to be a balmy -21 Celsius (-6 F) - obviously I decided it was a perfect day for a dive. Extreme cold alert? Bah! I set up most of my gear before I left, put it in my car, and drove off to the site. The conditions were perfect, the water looked beautiful.

View attachment 367705​

Not long after I arrived, my buddy showed up. We decided to go for it, so we started gearing up.

The first thing I noticed was how my dry suit seemed stiffer than usual. Tighter. Still, I got it on with no problem. Pulled out my pre-assembled tank and BP/W setup, put it on the bench. Continued getting ready. Eventually it came time to turn things on... and this is where it got interesting.

I turned on the air... and immediately, there was a problem. My inflator was frozen, and when I got it to work it started free flowing. I warmed it up a little, it seemed to be working, no big deal. Then I went to check my air pressure.

The full tank read 0 PSI. I was getting air, things were working... I just apparently had no pressure. Then my inflator started randomly free-flowing again... and, well, everything put together I decided to call the dive. I'm sure it would have been better under the water (the gear probably would have warmed up) but if I wasn't able to even read my pressure on the surface... well, one could argue my intelligence given that I had decided to go out on a day like this but I'm not THAT foolish to dive without knowing how much air I have on my back!

On the drive home, I started to think about what went wrong... how I might fix it for next time... all those fun things. Perhaps being ready to get into the water faster from land might avoid my problems - drive there in my dry suit, everything pre-assembled and ready to put on from the car... maybe it wouldn't be an issue.

But is this frozen SPG a common issue in cold weather? I'm letting my gear warm up right now, and will see if it remains frozen... but regardless, I'm curious whether there are any tips or ideas I might glean from this forum about approaching this dive in a more intelligent way. And, for that matter, whether anyone here has feedback on what gear works or doesn't work in such environments.

... other than, you know, just not diving. Canadians aren't born with the sense to stay out of the cold.

If you were at Humber Bay....which it looks like you were....I was there the day before, the viz was 40 ft and water temp was 35F or 36F depending on which computer I read.

I do a fair amount of winter diving, and as well as the other good tips on this thread (keep gear warm as possible, don't breathe off the regs till your head's under water) I do two other things.

The inflator mechanism on most BCs or BPW, which is mounted at the top of the BC/wing, hangs down. (Not on a sidemount wing if it's mounted on the bottom OPV fitting but that's another story.) Small amounts of water from previous dives can collect in the mechanism, even with emptying any water and inflating the BC/wing to dry post dive. Even a few drops can freeze the inflator mechanism open. I hang my inflator hose whether SM or BM so the mechanism is elevated, allowing those few drops of water to drain out of the inflator and back into the hose, even on the drive to the dive site. I haven't had an inflator freeze in years combining this with keeping gear warm.

I've noticed second stages can also hold a few drops of water from previous dives which can freeze the second stage open. So my post dive reg care involves turning the second stage so the mouthpiece is down, allowing water droplets to drain. Combining this with warm gear and not breathing off the reg unless I have my face in the water means I've had no free flows here either.

Never had an SPG freeze though. I'd also suspect that there's a few drops of water in the hose somewhere, or maybe in the first stage.

It was -13C IIRC with the windchill on Friday, and the laces on my drysuit boots did freeze solid post dive, and my fins were little blocks of ice. An enjoyable dive, not quite as cold as Saturday though. Nice photo with the mist rising off the lake. Maybe we will run into each other there some day.

 

[freename]

Minus 68 or 83 C would be freakish for even extreme Northern Nunavut.

The nice thing about Nunavut - or at least, the part I hailed from - was the colder the temperature became, the calmer the wind. It was also a dry cold, so much easier to dress for than a wet cold that seems to go through your clothes more easily. At least, that's my experience. But I'm getting sidetracked...

If you were at Humber Bay....which it looks like you were....I was there the day before, the viz was 40 ft and water temp was 35F or 36F depending on which computer I read.

Yep, it was indeed at Humber Bay. I've been there pretty much every week, at least once a week - usually on the weekend. If you're there with any frequency, we probably will run into each other eventually!

The inflator mechanism on most BCs or BPW, which is mounted at the top of the BC/wing, hangs down. (Not on a sidemount wing if it's mounted on the bottom OPV fitting but that's another story.) Small amounts of water from previous dives can collect in the mechanism, even with emptying any water and inflating the BC/wing to dry post dive. Even a few drops can freeze the inflator mechanism open. I hang my inflator hose whether SM or BM so the mechanism is elevated, allowing those few drops of water to drain out of the inflator and back into the hose, even on the drive to the dive site.

Good thought - that could very well have been the cause of one of my issues. Over night, my BP/W had been sitting ready to be brought to the car - definitely not with an elevated inflator. I can't say I even considered that to be a potential issue.

Never had an SPG freeze though. I'd also suspect that there's a few drops of water in the hose somewhere, or maybe in the first stage.

That's actually what worried me the most. I mean, I had a full tank (until it started free-flowing) but without even being able to see the air I had left... well, at that point I lost confidence in my gear. Who knows what else might have been frozen or not have worked properly, or that may start leaking as I dove? As unpleasant as the thought of getting under water and having my wing inflate uncontrollably was (it occurs to me that I could probably just dive without the inflator plugged in - I don't really need that much), the idea that there could be something else just waiting to fail me underwater... was what ultimately made me decide to call it.

 

[Patoux01]

(it occurs to me that I could probably just dive without the inflator plugged in

I personnally will not dive with anyone who pulls that kind of tricks. If your gear doesn't work, you either fix it or abort the dive (which I'm happy to see you have done ).

 

[freename]

I personnally will not dive with anyone who pulls that kind of tricks. If your gear doesn't work, you either fix it or abort the dive (which I'm happy to see you have done ).

Haha, I didn't say that I would, just that it could be done. Merely thoughts arising from things I've read about the evolution of BCDs. And the way that I seem to have *perfect* neutral buoyancy at the bottom there in all my winter gear with nothing inflated. I most definitely believe that my gear should function in its intended way. After all, who knows when I might need it unexpectedly. Or for that matter, if my BP/W inflator wasn't working properly.. how could I know that my drysuit inflator would be?

If I can't be confident in part of my gear, I'm not going to be confident in the rest of it. Even if I could bypass part of it.

 

[shoredivr]

I personnally will not dive with anyone who pulls that kind of tricks. If your gear doesn't work, you either fix it or abort the dive (which I'm happy to see you have done ).

Actually, after a fatality at depth under the ice in the St Lawrence River several years ago, where two regulators free flowing, followed by a frozen inflator triggered a runaway ascent to the undersurface of the ice, I reevaluated whether to dive with the Wing inflator disconnected. The deceased diver was a very competent and safety conscious DIR tech diver, and the conclusion some came to was not to connect the wing inflator while diving in extreme cold, to inflate orally as a preventative measure. It is not as daft as you may think.

 

[Littlerayray]

I see where your coming from @shoredivr but diving with something you know isn't working and diving with something that is and it fails are 2 different scenarios I would not consider diving if a piece of my equipment was not working properly not without having my gut screaming at me the whole time

 

[shoredivr]

The actual incedent was reported by the buddy on a now-defunct Ontario board, and links on SB are now 404, but this remains from 2010:

Looking for an Ice Dive course

Anyway it changed my perception of hooking up the inflator in the first place and orally inflating, as a preventative.

YYMV

 

[Bogtrotter]

I haven't dived in such extreme cold conditions, but is unhooking the inflator now practised by some divers when under ice? Is there any change in protocol now for ice diving when it comes to this..?