How do you stay warm on a dive?

[CT-Rich]

I always love when people spend other people's money.... a heated drysuit with argon gas and a FFM will keep you toasty... or have surface supplied hot water... or perhaps hop on your chartered jet...

For us monetary mortals, I have found a couple of cheaper solutions (not all perfect but at least not bank breakers). A dive skin under your wetsuit will restrict water flow. I will also bring a jug of hot water to pour in my wetsuit during suit-up (cold water creeping up wetsuit leg towards the family jewels is one of my least favorite parts of diving). A hooded vest is an excellent investment. Of course there is the old tried and true way to warm up a wetsuit during a dive.... Not every ones cup of tea, but does warm you up (for those not figuring it out; it involves several cups of tea....)

---------- Post added September 5th, 2013 at 08:18 AM ----------

Body heat is lost as it is travels directly through the neoprene. In the case of a wetsuit, heat is also lost by water flushing through the wetsuit. These two methods of heat loss are known respectively as heat loss by conduction and convection. The question is, how do you lose most of your body heat when diving - conduction or convection?

heat loss is going to be mostly through conduction in a wetsuit. as the suit compresses the conduction will increase. The quality of fit on a wetsuit will effect the flow of water through the suit. less flow, less heat loss. Air is a much poorer conductor of heat than water, so diving dry will always be warmer. Argon gas is a very poor conductor of heat so it will be even better than air. Convection is the loss of heat as a result of it rising off your body, doesn't really apply to diving.

 

[Jim-SAR]

DRYSUIT!!! With a good undergarment. My suit is an older Andy's Tri-Lam, but they don't make them anymore. I just got dry gloves installed, but before that I just wore a pair of Henderson Titanium Hyperstretch gloves. I also have a thin hood to wear under the latex hood of the suit.

Diving in Lake Michigan and in Lake Superior, the temps get down into the mid to low 30's when you're on the deeper wrecks below 100 feet. Not much different than being under the ice.



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[krawlings]

I dive a 5m w/a lava core under (snug fit ). temps down to 55* water surface above 65* air. in the colder months I go dry

 

[Storker]

I always love when people spend other people's money.... a heated drysuit with argon gas and a FFM will keep you toasty... or have surface supplied hot water... or perhaps hop on your chartered jet...

Um, WTF are you rambling about? The OP asked how people stay warm on a dive and whether a wet- or drysuit was best. I guess we who "spend other people's money" interpreted that question from a functional POV, not a penny-pinching POV...

For us monetary mortals, I have found a couple of cheaper solutions [...] dive skin under your wetsuit [...] a jug of hot water to pour in my wetsuit during suit-up [...] hooded vest [...] the old tried and true way to warm up a wetsuit during a dive....

Another not-bank-breaking alternative is to buy a used neoprene drysuit - they're normally cheaper than membrane suits - and use the long underwear you probably already have in your closet as undergarments since with neoprene you don't need thick specialized diving undergarments. In my neck of the woods, that solution is only marginally more expensive than buying a new wetsuit. And about fifteen times more comfortable...

 

[Lorenzoid]

Lava core is a good start

Lavacore is not as warm as neoprene. I've been disappointed with my Lavacore vest. I think I should have bought a neoprene vest.

 

[drbill]

There is no comparison between a wetsuit and a drysuit. Even if they had the same insulating capability at the surface the wetsuit compresses as you go down. When you come out you blow extra air into your drysuit and warm up. In the wetsuit the water evaporates and cools you down more. Been there, done that.

Ah, but there is... especially if your dry suit leaks like a sieve. My coldest dive was in my dry suit when 4-5 gallons of water entered it on a dive in February!

As for the OP's question, so much depends on your own tolerance of cold. I can go down to 46 F in a 7mm wetsuit with hooded vest but anything below 50 F is uncomfortable. My #1 dive buddy Andrea gets cold quickly in much warmer water diving a 7mm.

 

[Foxfish]

I'm especially interested to hear the experience of people with a range of wetsuits.

I dive in temperatures ranging from 16 - 30 Deg C (61 to 86 deg F). My wetsuits with an indication of the temperature range are as follows:


3 mm Neptune Aggressor steamer (24-30 Deg C)
5 mm Cressi Lontra one piece wetsuit with and without hood (22-25 Deg C)
3 mm 2 piece farmer John pants and jacket Cressi Technica freediving suit (17-24 Deg C freediving only)
6.5 mm Scuba Pro Nova Scotia semi dry with and withoout hood (16-22 Deg C )
Sharkskin vest and hood for use under wetsuits. (Not yet used)

From the posts so far the general consensus seems to be drysuits are warmer than wetsuits. In a recent thread I noticed one diver saying he had a very thick two piece wetsuit and was warm at depths that others wearing drysuits found cold. That got me thinking.

I found some research done by the US navy on the heat loss through wetsuits back in 1972. The testing was extensive. A number of divers were tested. Temperature sensors were placed all over their bodies including one up their rectum :tmi2:. The results indicated that most of the heat was lost through conduction and only about 23% by convection. That seemed to support the argument by our friend with the thick wetsuit. One of the problems I expect from the test and not mentioned in the conclusions was that the divers reclined on an underwater couch during the dive which means there was minimal movement. Increased movement causes increased leakage. I guess it is hard moving around with the various sensors in position. They did suggest that shivering caused increased the leakage. Another limitation it seems was that the dive was relatively shallow. I'd expect that at depth while the insulation properties of neoprene would decrease there would be less flushing due to better sealing.

 

[kenny kustom]

I dive a 7mm full suit w a vskin under it, into the low 40's.

Next weekend will be in the high 30's.

 

[Bopper]

I used a cheaper-but-good 7mm wetsuit for the first year of my diving in Southern California (typical temps are 50 - 60 degrees at depth). But I was cold. Not so much that I couldn't stand it, but at times my mind would be more focused on the cold than the actual dive. So I decided to buy a more expensive 7mm wetsuit for $400. I liked it because it was more flexible. But it really wasn't any warmer (in fact I bought a 5mm hooded vest to go under it so I guess you could say it was colder than the cheap wetsuit). A month later, I found an excellent deal on a used laminate drysuit for $250. I haven't looked back since.

If I were to attempt to quantify my avg ability to 'focus' on a dive vs focus on my temperature comfort, I'd say that when I was in a wetsuit I might have 75% of my focus on the dive and 25% on my discomfort. With a drysuit, I'd say that those numbers go to 95%/5%. When I say 'focus', I mean your ability to - in this case - block out the distraction of being cold in favor of concentrating on the environment. At times with a drysuit, I completely forget about the ambient temperature. However, most times you are at least still a tiny bit cold...even in a drysuit.

 

[oldschoolto]

Real divers ...... Dive wet..... And PEE in their suit.....

Jim....