Cold diving and good training

[CBulla]

For some of you this may not constitute cold, for some of you this is colder than you ever care to dive. Bottom temp was 63 and 61° - for me and the average temps I dive, this is very cold and constituted putting something on to cover up. And its not the "oh i'm freezing" squeal, but the fact that cold water makes the shoulder I've had rebuilt 4x really ache and takes the fun out of diving at that point.

Anyway, this past Saturday at our annual Venice Beach Saturday After Thanksgiving Turkey Fry I thought I'd try something new. I had new boots and gloves to break in, borrowed a XXL farmer john (so it'd fit my shoulders, the rest is bunched up), pulled on a hood and off I went for one of the noisiest bubble sound dives of my life. BUT it was fun and I got to play in the water for a while till the cold created ache and took the fun away. I noticed during the dive that I felt far to floaty and uncomfortable (had to borrow a weight belt from a friends son to clip on to create some ballast below the butt) - the worst was feeling like i had a corset on.

For the second dive later in the day I opted to drop the lower half of said farmer John, and because it was noisy, left the hood behind to. Other things to note are that the temp dropped 2° between dives, the sun had moved across the horizon a bit angling towards sunset, and since I was outside all day, probably a bit fatigued.

It was on said dive #2 that I began experiencing some interesting new phenomina I'd not yet experienced without BEvERages playing a factor - nausiated feeling, dizzy or spinning, irrational thought ("Oh.. i can get over this, its just the bottom moving), and my coordination for retrieving teeth from the bottom was nearly farm animal stupid ("Oh.. look at my gloves not working right to pick that up... my fingertips can't even feel it.."). Then clarity.. "HOKEY SMOKES! I'm exhibiting characteristics of hypothermia!" Or at least thats what I believed at the time... I found my buddy, Scuba_Jenny who was also buddies with NetDoc and thumbed her to the surface where I told her what was up and i was calling it a day.

Even after an hour on the surface I was still somewhat loopy with my equilibrium but improving by the minute. I don't really count this as an accident or near miss. I do chalk it up to good training (thanks NetDoc!) and having the presence of mind to recognize boundaries and push limits which may have had this become an accident or near miss. For those wondering, a dry suit is on my wish list, preferably a shell type thats more loose fitting than the others I've seen.

What do you all think? Was I right in my diagnosis of what was going on? Accident or near miss?

Dive safe.. dive WARM!

 

[ffestpirate]

I think you were wise to monitor how you were feeling and call the dive when you realized something was wrong. Now having said that, and having been there with you, I feel the next question is warranted: What kind of crackhead would leave half of his wetsuit off in arctic conditions because it was "loud"?? We already did one dive, you knew how cold it was...I was looking for more clothes and you were undressing

 

[CBulla]

I left the hood off because it felt as if I was getting as much of the exhale in the hood as went around it, though that wasn't the case. Just having that much noise going by my ears was not something that made the dive fun.

I left the lower half of the farmer John off because it was giving me the feeling of being constricted around my chest. I did choose to wear the upper part, which was a thicker neoprene, recognizing that i needed to have coverage on the largest areas of my body that would lose heat.

Afterwards I was looking at my hood trying to figure out how I could make it more comfortable and less of an echo chamber.

 

[ffestpirate]

When we were diving the springs, I had Brian cut a 1/2" slit in the top of my hood and works great. Remember that your head and extremeties are where you lose the most body heat. Keep them insulated

 

[TSandM]

If your hood fits well and is cut close to your face, you'll get less air in it. I only get air in mine when I clear my mask.

Your experience does sound like it could have been hypothermia. I know nausea was a prominent component of my hypothermia experience, along with confusion, weakness, and incoordination (I could barely walk).

 

[boat sju]

Just curious. Were you feeling claustrophobic in the suit? Were you having trouble clearing because of the cold?

 

[Web Monkey]

It was on said dive #2 that I began experiencing some interesting new phenomina I'd not yet experienced without BEvERages playing a factor - nausiated feeling, dizzy or spinning, irrational thought

Cold water inside your ears can cause vertigo.

I wouldn't sweat it, although I'm not a doctor and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

FWIW, a drysuit is a great idea. Also Northern Diver has a drysuit hood that fits so perfectly my ears don't even get wet. (not sure if they sell it without the drysuit, but I suspect they do).

Terry

 

[CBulla]

Your experience does sound like it could have been hypothermia. I know nausea was a prominent component of my hypothermia experience, along with confusion, weakness, and incoordination (I could barely walk).

Everything except the barely walk part. I even was arguing with myself on the surface saying "its just all in my head.. I know that the bottom moves around there.... the grasses always do."

Were you feeling claustrophobic in the suit? Were you having trouble clearing because of the cold?

Neither. I RARELY wear anything like a wetsuit, mostly because I look like a clown in them with long sleeves and legs. The ones cut to my height are to small in the shoulders, the ones that fit my shoulders are intended to cover people 16" taller than me and built like ice cream trucks. The XXL I was wearing obviously was cut different for the torso with the overalls portion than the outer long sleeve shortie bit.. with just the outer bit on I was comfortable.

Cold water inside your ears can cause vertigo.
FWIW, a drysuit is a great idea. Also Northern Diver has a drysuit hood that fits so perfectly my ears don't even get wet. (not sure if they sell it without the drysuit, but I suspect they do).

I'm thinking the cold on the ear drums is what did it the most.. well, that with the motion. At no point was I shivering or felt 'cold', but the combination heat loss through the ole skull cap and cold water on the ear drums and motion..

Yup.. I want to hurl now thinking about it!

 

[wallacm]

you could ahve been narced, dont know how deep you were but it does effect everyone differently. I would definetly suggest a dry suit, I'm used to the 72 degree water and have a drysuit for that. I have had both a shell suit and a neoprene suit, and i like the neoprene better, if it does flood it acts as a wetsuit.

 

[Tagerisatroll]

What your describing is basicly you let yourself get to cold, and you did the right thing, by calling the dive. Farmer Johns are very constrive style of wetsuits and most people feel uncomfortable wearing them. But they are extremly warm, its a trade off. also there are alot of difrent types of hoods out there and honestly you get what you payfor. I use 5mm drysuit hood that cost close to hundred bucks and I've dove water temps of 42 degrees in it and my hands went numb before my head got cold so there you go. Proably your best bet would be to invest in a 7mm semi-dry wetsuit for your 60's and 50 degree water dives, with a good dry suit hood and you'll be very comfortable and warm with your tired shoulder. and you won't be overly floaty as you would with a farmer john.