Wetsuit diving limits
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Sharky
Guest
It was about 7 yrs ago. I believe I did my navigation specialty and this was my 2nd dive for it. Air temp was 28 Water temp 34. I was wearing a full custom sized 7mm wetsuit with hood and gloves.
I couldn't breath through my regulator at the surface because it would freeze. So went down put the regulator in my mouth for the first breath of compressed air. I had a feeling my whole body was put in the freezer (I'm 6' and weigh 136 pounds). After the initial shock actually it became a bit warmer. We went down to around 40' and did some practice. After the second compass reading I really started to feel uncomfortable. I signaled my divemaster that I actually wanted to go up. He ignored my signals and wanted me to do another reading. I did it and after that I firmly stated I wanted to abort the dive and go up. He insisted me to stay down. I gave him the finger and went up any way.
At the surface our osprey was waiting to pick up some other divers. They pulled me into the boat. But we had to wait another 10 min or so to pick up the others. The boat ride to shore took about 20 minutes. I started to shake and shiver in a uncontrollable way. They put me on the bottom of the boat and 4 of them came really close around me (must have been a weird sight 5 man hugging eachother). Coming to the shore they had to carry me to the showers and put me on the floor and run the shower full open. One of the instructors stayed with me in the shower. With my wetsuit on I was in there for about 45 minutes before I was warm enough and got some control over my limbs so I could stand up again. I drank about 4 cups of warm tea with lots of sugar to get some warmth in the inside again.
So the lesson is, when there is ice on the trees it's really to cold for a wetsuit.
More important listen to your body and your comfort. No one should force you to stay o/w other than yourself. If you start feeling uncomfortable just abort the dive and try again when it's warmer.
P.S. After this experience I bought myself a drysuit and only when the water is warmer than 75 I pull out my wetsuit again.
I couldn't breath through my regulator at the surface because it would freeze. So went down put the regulator in my mouth for the first breath of compressed air. I had a feeling my whole body was put in the freezer (I'm 6' and weigh 136 pounds). After the initial shock actually it became a bit warmer. We went down to around 40' and did some practice. After the second compass reading I really started to feel uncomfortable. I signaled my divemaster that I actually wanted to go up. He ignored my signals and wanted me to do another reading. I did it and after that I firmly stated I wanted to abort the dive and go up. He insisted me to stay down. I gave him the finger and went up any way.
At the surface our osprey was waiting to pick up some other divers. They pulled me into the boat. But we had to wait another 10 min or so to pick up the others. The boat ride to shore took about 20 minutes. I started to shake and shiver in a uncontrollable way. They put me on the bottom of the boat and 4 of them came really close around me (must have been a weird sight 5 man hugging eachother). Coming to the shore they had to carry me to the showers and put me on the floor and run the shower full open. One of the instructors stayed with me in the shower. With my wetsuit on I was in there for about 45 minutes before I was warm enough and got some control over my limbs so I could stand up again. I drank about 4 cups of warm tea with lots of sugar to get some warmth in the inside again.
So the lesson is, when there is ice on the trees it's really to cold for a wetsuit.
More important listen to your body and your comfort. No one should force you to stay o/w other than yourself. If you start feeling uncomfortable just abort the dive and try again when it's warmer.
P.S. After this experience I bought myself a drysuit and only when the water is warmer than 75 I pull out my wetsuit again.
Clear Lake is very do-able with a wet suit, and I have dived it many times in both wet and dry suits. You have heard horror stories about wet suits (see Sharky's post above), but it need not be that way. There are several keys to using a wet suit in cold water:
--Fit is extremely important. If the wet suit allows water to circulate inside, it's like not having a wet suit. The water pumps inside and then out, and takes away body heat. Sharky's experience is probably due to this, and his lack of subcutanious fat (from his discription of height/weight).
--Many people do not realize that today's wet suits are in fact usually wetter than those of yesteryear (if you remember The Lone Ranger, and were diving at that time, you know the difference). Today's wet suits many times leak quite badly through the seams, as they are sewn on both sides of the seams, and the stitching actually puts holes completely through the suit material. Yesteryear's suits were not that way. We used suits that were glued together, and therefore did not have sown seams (before nylon coating was applied to suits). This had a disadvantage if someone ripped the suit. In fact, I dived a Clear Lake dive in the 1960s with a pretty significant rip in my suit's back, which was locally cold, but did not terminate the dive (I was young at that time too). The way to get this today is to get a "skin-in" suit, and they are still being made (neoprene skin on the inside, nylon or other coating material on the outside--get into the suit with powder/corn starch). Henderson has a new skin-in suit, in the thick material (I think in terms of 1/4 inch, but I believe it's now a 7 mm thickness).
--The suit design is important. The warmest is a suit with a pull-over jacket, upside-down zipper entry and an attached hood, and Farmer John pants. I have also used a similarly-designed suit with a high neck, and a dry suit hood. Both work well.
--The suit should have no zippers in the arms or legs. This is another way for water to get in, and pump heat out.
--Pay particular attention to the fit of the hood around the face. It should fit snug, but not tight. Water should not pump into and out of the hood on movement.
--Gloves are very important, and need to be tightly sealed. I like three-finger mitts, and in the old days simply made them myself by taking an outline of my hand, leaving about half an inch space, and cutting two pieces of neoprene out of a sheet. I glued them together, letting the first coat dry completely and the second dry until tacky, and sticking them together. They made very nice, warm gloves that could be reversed when one side became worn.
--Boots must be leak-proof too, and should be without zippers. Wear them under the wet suit pants leg, so water does not flow into the boot.
When thinking of cold water diving, remember that the recovery of the crashed Boeing 707 in Washingtond DC's Potomic River began with Navy divers using the latest Unisuits, and single-hose regulators. (For those who don't remember, or were not around in the 1980s, the jet crashed on takeoff, and ended up going through the ice in the river--the diving was as cold as fresh water gets). After a frustrating time, they switched to wet suits (the dry suits were shredded by the wreckage; wet suits also were ripped, but only the immediate area is affected by the rip, not the integrety of the whole suit's thermal barrier) and double-hose regulators (free-flow problems with the single-hose regs, with is still true today without special modifications, and then it's still possbile).
Do not try to dive Clear Lake with a rented wet suit, fit is too important.
Remember that Clear Lake is an altitude dive. If you are coming from the Willamette Valley, use the lake's level for the altitude (I think it's about 2000 feet). If you are coming over the Cascades from Bend, then you must use the altitude of the Santiam Pass (which I think is just over 5000 feet) if you are traveling back the same day (within 24 hours).
Enclosed is a photo of me diving in the area around the lodge, which is really beautiful (Photo by Lynn Herbert). I'm in a wet suit with attached hood and Farmer John pants. The lake is hour-glass shaped, and you want to dive the upper part. Stay off the bottom, as it is soft, volcanic ash and very fine silt, and getting down will really stir up the water. Look for the submerged row boats, and the petrified trees that are in various areas of the upper lake. There are also springs with beautiful algea formations, that are easily disturbed by a diver getting too close with fins.
Enjoy!
SeaRat
--Fit is extremely important. If the wet suit allows water to circulate inside, it's like not having a wet suit. The water pumps inside and then out, and takes away body heat. Sharky's experience is probably due to this, and his lack of subcutanious fat (from his discription of height/weight).
--Many people do not realize that today's wet suits are in fact usually wetter than those of yesteryear (if you remember The Lone Ranger, and were diving at that time, you know the difference). Today's wet suits many times leak quite badly through the seams, as they are sewn on both sides of the seams, and the stitching actually puts holes completely through the suit material. Yesteryear's suits were not that way. We used suits that were glued together, and therefore did not have sown seams (before nylon coating was applied to suits). This had a disadvantage if someone ripped the suit. In fact, I dived a Clear Lake dive in the 1960s with a pretty significant rip in my suit's back, which was locally cold, but did not terminate the dive (I was young at that time too). The way to get this today is to get a "skin-in" suit, and they are still being made (neoprene skin on the inside, nylon or other coating material on the outside--get into the suit with powder/corn starch). Henderson has a new skin-in suit, in the thick material (I think in terms of 1/4 inch, but I believe it's now a 7 mm thickness).
--The suit design is important. The warmest is a suit with a pull-over jacket, upside-down zipper entry and an attached hood, and Farmer John pants. I have also used a similarly-designed suit with a high neck, and a dry suit hood. Both work well.
--The suit should have no zippers in the arms or legs. This is another way for water to get in, and pump heat out.
--Pay particular attention to the fit of the hood around the face. It should fit snug, but not tight. Water should not pump into and out of the hood on movement.
--Gloves are very important, and need to be tightly sealed. I like three-finger mitts, and in the old days simply made them myself by taking an outline of my hand, leaving about half an inch space, and cutting two pieces of neoprene out of a sheet. I glued them together, letting the first coat dry completely and the second dry until tacky, and sticking them together. They made very nice, warm gloves that could be reversed when one side became worn.
--Boots must be leak-proof too, and should be without zippers. Wear them under the wet suit pants leg, so water does not flow into the boot.
When thinking of cold water diving, remember that the recovery of the crashed Boeing 707 in Washingtond DC's Potomic River began with Navy divers using the latest Unisuits, and single-hose regulators. (For those who don't remember, or were not around in the 1980s, the jet crashed on takeoff, and ended up going through the ice in the river--the diving was as cold as fresh water gets). After a frustrating time, they switched to wet suits (the dry suits were shredded by the wreckage; wet suits also were ripped, but only the immediate area is affected by the rip, not the integrety of the whole suit's thermal barrier) and double-hose regulators (free-flow problems with the single-hose regs, with is still true today without special modifications, and then it's still possbile).
Do not try to dive Clear Lake with a rented wet suit, fit is too important.
Remember that Clear Lake is an altitude dive. If you are coming from the Willamette Valley, use the lake's level for the altitude (I think it's about 2000 feet). If you are coming over the Cascades from Bend, then you must use the altitude of the Santiam Pass (which I think is just over 5000 feet) if you are traveling back the same day (within 24 hours).
Enclosed is a photo of me diving in the area around the lodge, which is really beautiful (Photo by Lynn Herbert). I'm in a wet suit with attached hood and Farmer John pants. The lake is hour-glass shaped, and you want to dive the upper part. Stay off the bottom, as it is soft, volcanic ash and very fine silt, and getting down will really stir up the water. Look for the submerged row boats, and the petrified trees that are in various areas of the upper lake. There are also springs with beautiful algea formations, that are easily disturbed by a diver getting too close with fins.
Enjoy!
SeaRat
MASS-Diver
Contributor
If a person can afford a DS it will make him or her never want to dive wet again.
PS Additional ways to use a wet suit in cold water - duct tape all seal (wrsit and ankles) and pour in warm water before hand. Dive very conservative as off gassing will be screwed up in water below 50F, prepare to be very tired after the dive.
PS Additional ways to use a wet suit in cold water - duct tape all seal (wrsit and ankles) and pour in warm water before hand. Dive very conservative as off gassing will be screwed up in water below 50F, prepare to be very tired after the dive.
Agreed on the dry suit, but then there's the $$$$s issue (note the four digits). Here's another shot of me diving Clear Lake, in an Aquala dry suit (Photo by Bruce Higgins).
SeaRat
SeaRat
Sharky
Guest
Good tips from Searat, he is absolutely right about the description of the optimum wetsuit. My wetsuit is custom made, so it is an absolut perfect fit. What I always do is wearing a t-shirt under my wetsuit. It seems to me it has an insulating effect and makes the water movement in the suit noticable less.
My story about my hypothermia was one of my coldest dives. I made many dives in cold water in my wetsuit I totally enjoyed. Sometimes I notice some macho behaviour from some wetsuit divers. The colder the better to prove what ever what. I prefer comfort and safety above cold and macho.
A drysuit is quite an investement, but if you are living in a cold area it is definitly worth it.
My story about my hypothermia was one of my coldest dives. I made many dives in cold water in my wetsuit I totally enjoyed. Sometimes I notice some macho behaviour from some wetsuit divers. The colder the better to prove what ever what. I prefer comfort and safety above cold and macho.
A drysuit is quite an investement, but if you are living in a cold area it is definitly worth it.
Good call all the way around on your part. On the other,:upset: is that DM still working as a DM?! Whatever happened to one of the key safety rules in this sport? ANYONE CAN CALL ANY DIVE AND ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON! Sort out the reason when you get to the surface if you feel the need. This isn't right at all on the part of the DM. Thank you for looking out for your own safety. At least somebody was thinking down there.
I bought a drysuit due to land temps. I was diving in Lake Superior and the water in Munising was about 55. I was comfy on all my dives but the surface intervals were cold. Let me tell you, wet neoprene makes for a positively awful windbreak. LOL
So consider the temps on the surface when you decide to dive wet as well. I am another person that says once you start to dive dry, you won't want to go back to wet.
Sharky
Guest
About three weeks after my dive, that particular divemaster was not at our Diveshop any more. I don't now for sure if my experience with him had something to do with it, but after that dive I complained to the instructors about him.
Apperently he needed to supervise this navigation traininig for his own DM certification, he drove all the way up there to do the training with me. Needless to say there is no justification what so ever, if you see a fellow diver in distress only to follow your own plan, instead of paying attention to your student/buddy.
Apperently he needed to supervise this navigation traininig for his own DM certification, he drove all the way up there to do the training with me. Needless to say there is no justification what so ever, if you see a fellow diver in distress only to follow your own plan, instead of paying attention to your student/buddy.
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