Getting warm?

[Mark_N]

I wear a 7mm w/ jacket and hood but today I was being a weeny and wasn't wearing a hood or jacket in mid-upper 60'sF water (probably 65-68ish). The time I got the hypothermia I was wearing the whole kit and was in 50-mid 60's water. In the summer here the water gets mid-upper 70's and I can stay in for a couple hours without the jacket and hood but I still get a chill. I get cold under normal dry-air circumstances more easily than other people as well so I assume it's just a physiological thing. I also have a slightly elevated temperature compared to most people. The only time I wasn't cold was when I dove in the Carribean wearing the 7mm again w/ no hood or jacket. I was perfectly comfortable, not overheated, and I wasn't diving deeper than 60'.

Hey Gidds,
I've heard a couple of different suggestions that may prove usefull to you:

During SI put on a non breathable rain jacket to prevent evaporation with your wet suit still on. Really good for those boat rides between dives.

You might also think about using a thermous of warm water after your dive, just pull suit open at the neck and pour it in to bring that water temp back up. For really cold dives I've also heard this works well when used just before getting into the water as long as you don't have to much flushing with your wet suit.

 

[Gidds]

Quick drysuit question: What happens to dry suit fit if you lose weight? I'm not exactly trying to lose weight at the moment but whilst getting into shape it is possible for me to drop ten pounds or more. Then again I tend to gain weight in the winter. In general my weight fluctuates a lot.

 

[CUunderH2O]

It shouldn't be a problem unless the drysuit you get is very snug, which it shouldn't be. I tend to lose/gain 10 pounds over the course of a year, winter weight and all that.

 

[darylm74]

Quick drysuit question: What happens to dry suit fit if you lose weight? I'm not exactly trying to lose weight at the moment but whilst getting into shape it is possible for me to drop ten pounds or more. Then again I tend to gain weight in the winter. In general my weight fluctuates a lot.

I owned a Viking which I bought off of Bob3. It is a great drysuit and very durable yet cheap compared to most others. Also look at divetank.com for their Bare Drysuits. They are a bit more expensive but you can still get some of their top of the line ones for under a grand. I ended up going with a DUI TLS350 which my LDS sales and they gave me a good deal. I was growing out of the Viking in the shoulders since I do a lot of weight lifting and I was losing a lot of my flexibility due to this, especially when needing a lot of insulation. I got DUI to size mine so that it expects me to wear insulation heavier than 400 gram. Now I don't have to do the drysuit shuffle that everyone else does. I can literally pull up above my head, pull my head and arms through and then out the front zipper. When it comes to fit though and stock suits, I'm sure some of the threads catering to females on here will have plenty of answers.

 

[Azza]

Quick drysuit question: What happens to dry suit fit if you lose weight? I'm not exactly trying to lose weight at the moment but whilst getting into shape it is possible for me to drop ten pounds or more. Then again I tend to gain weight in the winter. In general my weight fluctuates a lot.

Shouldnt be a problem. I lose and gain weight over the years, according to how rigorous or how lazy I get with my excercise regime, and have never had a problem. It's a little snug right now but still comfortable.

 

[Don Burke]

Preloading the wetsuit with warm water can help a bunch.

Flushing the suit with warm water after the dive is pretty effective for warming you up for the next dive.

I am not so sure about this.
If you flush warm water down your suit first, the body starts to warm up and opens your pores to regulate your body temperature. This would leave you pre-disposed to getting colder later on in the dive.

I am. The preload is not to try to heat up the suit, but to prefill spaces before the seawater can. This water need not be all that warm, 90F or so max.

The water for flushing the suit after the dive should be whatever it takes to get comfortable.

In any case, I have never failed to outlast unpreloaded divers no matter what the temp of the preload water was, so I suspect the body is smart enough to close the pores in the time it takes for the heat to conduct out or the water to transfer out.

I do acknowledge the possibility that the effect you are speaking of might occur. I just have not seen it and the only evidence I have seen seems to rule it out.

Checking this out might be a good winter project. I would also like to figure out a way to doubleblind an argon/air/shield mix test. Recruiting the divers always seems to be the tough part.

 

[Wayward Son]

We have hot water on the boats, heated off the inboard cooling systems. For winter dives we shoot hot water down the suits before each drop & it does help. The few times I've forgotten to do it got my attention quick.

The difference between rolling in with water in the suit into cold water & doing so dry & having to heat up that first shock of cold sea water that fills the suit is VERY noticable.

We shoot hot water before the drops & after. It helps.

During the summer we pout cold water in for the same reason, to cool off when we're cooking.

 

[spectrum]

I would also like to figure out a way to doubleblind an argon/air/shield mix test. Recruiting the divers always seems to be the tough part.

Go here and you may get some help studying methane loading of wetsuits.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=111316

FWIW I also am a believer in warm water wetsuit loading in the colder months. I start by filling my booties 1/2 way since that fills them when zipped and pour 1-2 1/2 liter bottles down my collar. I use warm water, basicly hot tap water in plain plastic bottles kept in a small cooler for insulation. Don't go too hot since I agree it will set-up some counter productive circulatory action. I just try to get body temperature fluid in there before the ocean gets in there at 40 something F. If you get out of the water feeling cool another shot down the collar feels wonderful.

Gidds, I honestly belive that the right wetsuit should let you enjoy comfortable shore dives in New England for a good part of the season. If you plan to head out deeper and extend the season dry is the way to go.

Now Gidds, we know that you enjoy skin-diving as part of your activities, have you considered wearing a pony bottle and skin-diving dry? Some suits also provide for oral inflation. I'm asking this as a serious question since I have considered this path.

Pete

 

[D_B]

In the summer here the water gets mid-upper 70's and I can stay in for a couple hours without the jacket and hood but I still get a chill.

I see that you may not be wearing a hood at times , most of your heat loss is from your head and I bet if you wear a 7/5mm hood , or even a 5/3mm one , it would help a lot , and use gloves (SeaSoft is very good) and boots as well

DB

 

[Azza]

Hey thats cool if it works for you guys.
I always found it didnt work for me. We used to do some drift diving in a river that was fed by melting snow from the mountains. The water temp was around 5 degrees Celcius(40 F) and no one relished the thought of jumping in that so we used to pour warm water down our suits first. I always thought it worked somewhat until the day I forgot to do it and actually felt warmer at the end of the dive than I previously had.
Maybe my water was just too hot??

I now dive exclusively dry so I dont have to muck around with that kind of thing anymore