Need tips on keeping warm before/during/in between/after dives.

[MXGratefulDiver]

Heated water will warm you up immediately ... but you then have to dry off or prevent evaporation fairly quickly (depending on how cold it is outside). In winter I always carry jugs of hot water in a cooler and dump them over my body right after I get out of my rig. It's instant gratification. But it's also just a first step to getting warm again right after the dive.

As others have mentioned ... your real enemy is evaporation. Any steps you take to prevent evaporation ... from covering up your wetsuit with a "boat coat" or blanket, to removing your wetsuit, to wearing a drysuit so that the layer next to your skin never gets wet ... will help you retain body heat.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TSandM]

I am the queen of strategy when it comes to body heat. My dives aren't usually limited by gas or deco, but by "thermal units", and I am wise on how I spend them.

First off, I lose NO avoidable thermal units in dive preparation. This isn't often a problem in the tropics, but if there is a stiff wind, you can be cooler than you think. Windbreakers are useful, and if the temperature is below about 75 F, you may want something warmer than jeans or shorts, and much below that, even a hat. Stay warm before you get in the water.

In the water, be aware that being still is losing heat. I'm still a lot, because I like to watch animals and take photographs. If I'm swimming steadily, I can stay in the water literally for hours (have done), but if I'm just hanging out, I need to watch my time, because I don't know I'm getting cold until the shivering starts. Limit your heat loss with a good hood. They really help.

Often, I used to feel fine in the water, and then FREEZE as soon as I was on the ladder and the wind hit me. That told me I had lost more core heat during the dive than I realized, and made me increase my in-water exposure protection. I eventually figured out that I simply can't stay warm enough to be happy while diving wet.

But short of that, which is a big step for someone who only dives in the tropics, the other ideas mentioned are key. Get dry, even if it involves getting completely out of your wetsuit. At the very least, peel it down to your waist. Wrap up in good insulation that is windproof. TruWest dive parkas are what I use, but I don't know what's available where you are. Cover your head. Drink warm liquids -- you're directly core warming with them, which is much more effective than trying to warm from the skin inward. Move around. It's tempting when you are cold, to huddle in a corner, but muscle activity generates heat, so movement is really helpful, so long as it doesn't require you to stand in a cool wind.

Hope some of those help. I HATE being cold!

 

[scubadada]

Hi there - I get cold very quickly even in my 2x 7mm wetsuit in tropical waters! Need all the advice I can get in keeping warm in order to enjoy my dives (especially the 2nd/3rd dive within a day). Any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

It's not clear to me what your are wearing, a 2 piece 7 mm suit? What is the water temperature you are diving in? Not much wet above a 7 mm, other than a hooded vest, or at least a hood. If your booties and gloves are good, guess you need a heated undergarment or need to go to a drysuit. The SI is critical, a good boat coat goes a long ways, I use one by truWest

 

[KevinNM]

I saw a girl in Hawaii who needed two 7mm suits (layered) to complete the open water dives for her c-card. I was diving a dry suit, but there were people diving in a t-shirt and shorts. The cold tolerance of people varies dramatically.

Dry suits or electric heaters seem like the way to go. Both of which you probably will need to bring with you, as warm water sites rarely have these to rent.

 

[Darnold9999]

All good advice. My approach is to take off the wetsuit as soon as possible after the first dive - change into dry clothes (even if it a dry bathing suit for the next dive) and then use a second dry wetsuit for the second dive. Any time you are wet you are losing heat FAR more rapidly than if you are dry - lose more heat than your body can generate - you get cold. You want to minimize as much as possible the time you are wet.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Google" Hotshotz" My wife is cold natured and I was dreading a dive to Bonne Terre Mo. Where the water is 58 degrees year round. We stopped into a new dive shop and they had these ice pack looking bags that through some chemical magic/possibly voodoo, heat to 130 degrees. The plan is to put one large one between her swim suit and wet suit.

they are about 30-40 each, and last for about an hour, then you just boil the thing for 20 minutes and it is ready to go again. To activate it, you just push a little silver piece of metal about the size of a watch battery. 2 or 3 would get you through the whole day...cheaper than a dry suit...but I plan on a drysuit in my future.

As as far as on the boat all the prior advice is all I know. Get dry, get out of the wind, and get covered with a jacket or other clothing.

Good luck, safe travels,

jay

 

[C Dub]

Another vote for the Surf Fur jacket. Can be put on right over your soaked wetsuit, stopping the wind and warming you up. Best $130 I ever spent. Google their website and you'll have it in a couple of days.

Then get a dry suit.

 

[rhwestfall]

you are a candidate for a semi-dry at a minimum....

 

[AdivingBel]

If you're in the tropics, try a lycra skin (preferably black) under your wetsuit. Makes donning & doffing the wetsuit easier during SI and if you find a sunny spot while wearing the black lycra you'll dryout and heat up pretty quickly.

 

[rhwestfall]

If you're in the tropics, try a lycra skin (preferably black) under your wetsuit. Makes donning & doffing the wetsuit easier during SI and if you find a sunny spot while wearing the black lycra you'll dryout and heat up pretty quickly.

actually, the cooling due to evaporation effect of lycra is quite problematic.... you will get colder first...