OW dive question... newbie with question-- please help!

[MikeeH]

Great advice already posted!
FYI, I finished my last dive for my NAUI certification yesterday at Dutch Springs (Bethlehem, PA). The computer said the water temp was 61 deg but the 7 mil Farmer John, gloves, hood and boots kept me quite comfy. I would only add this to the list of stuff to do to prep for the dive; when you get into the water put your face in the water before you put on your mask and dive. This will get the shock of the cold water hitting your face out of the way, particularly since you'll be doing mask floods/clearing skills once you get down.

Enjoy! Its a blast!!!

 

[twinpop]

You should look into renting a dry suit - even taking a quick dry suit class. The majority of my dives have been in 50-63 water and never a chill.

Kevin

 

[TSandM]

I'm with twinpop. My OW dives were in 54 degrees. Even in a drysuit, I was not warm enough. (Of course, the first rental dry suit leaked BADLY, which didn't help.) But if your class offers a dry suit option, it is better to be warm and complicated than miserably stiff and cold and unable to think or move properly. Just make sure you get a pool session with the dry suit first, preferably two.

 

[Maggie1224]

First I want to thank you all for the responses! What a great community here! I am so glad I found this place!

Well last night hubby and I went to class and the instructors told us that they would not be doing the open water dive next weekend. They said it was too cold. My husband got certified by the Y about 15 years ago, so he didn't need to get re-certified (just taking the PADI course with me since it has been so long). I wanted to get certified before Feb, because in early Feb my husband and I are going to Jamaica and want to dive there.

Now that I have read the responses I think I would have been okay on the open dives. 7 mm suites are available to rent. I really liked the idea about pouring warm water in the suit!! Great thinking and I will definately keep that in mind!

Now I'm looking at maybe getting certified in Jamaica.... I'll post a new thread for that.

Again... thank you so much for the very informative responses!!

 

[Maggie1224]

Great advice already posted!
FYI, I finished my last dive for my NAUI certification yesterday at Dutch Springs (Bethlehem, PA). The computer said the water temp was 61 deg but the 7 mil Farmer John, gloves, hood and boots kept me quite comfy. I would only add this to the list of stuff to do to prep for the dive; when you get into the water put your face in the water before you put on your mask and dive. This will get the shock of the cold water hitting your face out of the way, particularly since you'll be doing mask floods/clearing skills once you get down.

Enjoy! Its a blast!!!

I just read your other thread! Good for you for getting your certification!

 

[Ber Rabbit]

So your instructor is a wuss An "Easy-Up" tent (the white ones you see at street fairs) and a couple of camping heaters that use coleman gas bottles takes the chill off for the group. Heck the tents are large enough you could probably put a kerosene heater in one and be nice and toasty. There are ways to work with the weather if the instructor and shop are willing. We did one set of check-outs in December in Indiana where the windchill was 3 below zero. Nothing quite like having ice form on your gear as you walk from the water to the tent
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Maggie1224]

Ber they go in really cold water, trust me these guys are hard core. They have dry suits though, lol..... if I get into local diving, which I really do want to, then I will start saving for a dry suit. I admit, I am a wimp when it comes to getting too cold. I'm still trying to develop better breathing control (I have a tendency to float up) so I was concerned that the cold would make me too anxious (hard to relax while freezing, you know what I mean?) and I have found I do so much better if I'm relaxed.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Actually the water is going to be warmer than the air. When you head down to the deeper area of the quarry the water is usually 43-47 degrees year round and even colder in the deepest part (120+feet). The water was 73 degrees to a depth of 30 feet this summer. I'm the "freeze queen" my students dive wet and make fun of me freezing in my drysuit and heavy layers of underwear. They can't believe I'm that cold in a drysuit when they are comfortable in their wetsuits. I'm usually warmer in a wetsuit in 60 degree water than I am in the drysuit but I'm finally getting to the point where my expectations of warmth from the drysuit are in line with what it can deliver. That's making the experience better I've found that as long as my hands are warm I'm happy. When I dive wet in cold water I wear 3-finger mitts, you would not believe the difference they make. I invested in a pair of dry gloves for my drysuit last winter and am incredibly happy with that investment. They are a little expensive but worth every penny.

If I could get you into a pool so I could introduce you to a couple of things our NAUI class requires that PADI doesn't I could do your certification but at the moment that's not possible. You're more than welcome to come dive with me once you get your cert One word of caution, early spring (April/May) diving in Ohio involves water in the 40-50 degree range, much colder than fall diving that's for sure--BRRR!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[furby076]

All of the advice sounds great. Farmer johns are really warm because at the core it's two 7MM suits on top of each other. It's a tight fit, for sure, but well worth it. Mind you, you will still be a bit cold (nothing much to be done about that) but it's overall fine. I've used pinnacle merino 7MM at 40 degree water. It's really cold, and not that much fun, but i survived.

Check that your booties are cold weather (e.g. 7MM). My first set of booties were 5MM (highly recommended by my dive shop) and I hated them for two reasons: 1) At Dutch springs it would hurt like hell to walk on the rocks, and 2) my feet were always freezing. I now have these amazing pinnacle 7MM booties. Walking at dutch springs does not hurt, and my feet do not freeze.

Same goes for the gloves. Get good thick ones. They will be marginally more expensive then 5mm gloves, and well worth it.

Have plenty of dry clothes and towels for when you are out of the water. I keep my wetsuit on and wrap up in a large towel. Try and stay out of the wind (you may have to sit on the floor of the boat). Chemical hand warmers are a good idea for when out of the water. Obviously if you can have warm chicken noodle soup with you that is even better Just realize your boat buddies may be looking over at you and hating you for not bringing any for them

Being cold absolutely sucks, and if you plan on diving cold water you may want to think about investing in a dry suit as opposed to a wet suit, just make sure you really like diving because dry suits are expensive (I paid $1,300 for mine with the undergarment, boots, pockets, etc). At dutch springs (Bethlehem PA) they have a dry suit day around april (check out the dutch springs website) where a bunch of dry suit companies come out and let people try them on.

Just realize dive training can suck. It comprises of lack-luster views (especially in a quarry), your dive gear sucks, and you are waiting for your classmates to finish their skills test which means you may be slightly bored while being really cold.

Oh, and if you are not sure how you act on small boats, I highly recomend you get motion sickness medicine (non-drowsy kind). Consult with your doctor before using it. Getting sea-sick also can ruin a day (and prevent you from diving). Ginger candy, ginger-ale, ginger anything may help some.

 

[Jax]

Pssst . . . hey, Furby, what's with resurrection of a six-year-old thread?