Staying warm during deco.

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Wannabedivebum

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Location
Vancouver Island
# of dives
100 - 199
How? Diving dry with a 400g thinsulate bare undergarment as well as a merino wool top and long johns, i get cold after an hour in the water at depth. What is your secret?!
 
Heated vest, runs off of an external battery.
 
How? Diving dry with a 400g thinsulate bare undergarment as well as a merino wool top and long johns, i get cold after an hour in the water at depth. What is your secret?!

Here is some news none of us wants to hear:

You want to be cold during your bottom phase of the dive!

Here is the news that we want to hear:

You want to be warm during your ascent and deco part of the dive!

Why? Because you on-gas less on the bottom phase and off-gas more efficiently during your ascent and deco phase of the dive.
This "news" is particularly pertinent to us deep divers with long deco! It will decrease your risk for DCS. The study was done at NEDU.

Sorry to side-line your post, but I had to share the news :D

That being said, I hate being cold! I believe in layering. Why? Because (just like in skying, mountain climbing, etc), you need to have a wicking layer as your first to get rid of moisture. Moisture on your skin will chill you! That is why cotton is your enemy! In mountaineering: "Cotton kills". Then you add progressive layers that have different thermal qualities. I recommend looking at the materials that 4th Element sells. If you go on their website, you will get a bit of an education on thermal wear and help to chose what you may want to wear. I

If you live in Europe and can get your hands on Xbionics ski stuff, I highly recommend that as your wicking layer.

cheers
 
You want to be cold during your bottom phase of the dive!

Wrong!

If you're cold during the bottom phase, forget about getting warm and staying warm during deco.

Getting cold is a risk factor for DCS. Stay comfortable throughout the entire dive.

More air in the drysuit = warmer

Muscle activity generates heat, continuous finning and/or helicopter turns will generate warm
 
are you using argon for your dry suit? it's the next step if your layered up and can't stay warm.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
The heated vest sounds like the next step for me, when the 200gm Santi is too cool, rather than the bulk of the 400gm suit.
 
I used to use Argon, and it helped.

But it's spitting into the wind compared with suit heat.

You want to get gradually colder during your bottom time, but you want to be as warm as possible during deco. I turn the suit heater on toward the end of the dive -- by the time I'm heading up, I'm completely toasty. I am using the Santi heated vest, with an NiMH battery. It is worth the rather nausea-inducing cost involved.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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