OK I'm a Newbie, we all were once.

[pjdc1]

I have to ask...

How many of you were absolutely SHOCKED at the
change in water temp after you hit the thermocline
for the first time.

I know its something I'll get use to ... but...
I almost started to panic, actually I think i might have
a little, when i passed thru the therm and got into
colder water.

I was wearing a 7mm Farmer John,and on the opinoin
of buddies no hood and thin gloves.

 

[Don Burke]

pjdc1 once bubbled...
I have to ask...

How many of you were absolutely SHOCKED at the
change in water temp after you hit the thermocline
for the first time.

I know its something I'll get use to ... but...
I almost started to panic, actually I think i might have
a little, when i passed thru the therm and got into
colder water.

I was wearing a 7mm Farmer John,and on the opinoin
of buddies no hood and thin gloves.

In my experience, you'll get more dollar for dollar out of a really good hood than anything else.

A 7mm hood and a 2mm wetsuit would have likely been warmer than what you were wearing.

Hanging out on the surface and preloading your suit with somewhat warmer water is a big help as well. You can also get in wearing just your exposure suit and get out to warm up that first load of water in the suit while you are putting the rest of your gear on. Bringing a couple of jugs of warm water to dump in your suit before you get in is a variation of this.

Thermoclines are a shock. Doing something to deal with them is a pretty good idea.

 

[El Orans]

I usually wear a separate hood (5mm) as well as gloves (5mm). Conditions around here are not that good and I prefer to be warm. If you're feeling comfortable in the water, whatever the depth, you're a better diver.

 

[String]

Thermocline? Whats a thermocline?

We tend not to get them here as we have strong currents and the waters always cold anyway. 17c on the surface, about 14c down below 30m but no obvious layer.

I did my first warm water/wetsuit diving a few weeks ago and was surprised at the thermocline myself, you could see it shimmering and it felt markedly colder below it - the first time took my breath away. Mainly psychological though as the computer was showing a drop of only about 1 degree or so.

You'll get used to it with time. Temperature does vary even without thermoclines being present, it just depends on currents, surface conditions and so on. You'll get warm patches and cold patches and although you'll notice them every dive you certainly wont panic at them.

FWIW abroad i wasnt wearing gloves or a hood. At home i wear drysuit, 5mm gloves and 5mm hood every dive.

 

[FFMDiver]

I'm convinced that the ZEN of diving is comfort. Physical and psychological. The farthest you can get from axiety is key for me. That means full 7mm suit and hood. PLUS a full face mask. The thermocline almost made me cancel a dive right after my OW cert...pretty funny now, but it wasnt then. Get the FFM for midwest bro. Quarries down here in Indiana demand the comfort.
ut:

 

[eod]

Hehe, I know the feeling. When I did my first dive after the OW-course I went to the lake Vättern i Sweden. When we went down below 5m it suddenly dropped from around 17 degree C to 8 degree C. That was like many thin needles were driven into your face. Fortunately I was mentally prepared from the briefing, but still, what a shock.

 

[aquaman514]

As you gain more experiences though your diving life you'll know to bring a variety of equipment for each dive. I dive in the lakes outside of Las Vegas, Nevada and living in the desert air temp's reach an easy 100+ surface temps at around the low 80's and diving Lake Mojave the last weekend at 30 feet the thermalcline dropped to 63 degrees. I was wearing a 3mil shortie with no hood, to say the least I wore a hood for comfort the next dive with my 3mil fullsuit. Hope that helps!!!

Aquaman514

 

[JohnCollins]

Right now, the only suit I have is a one piece Tilos 3mm full wetsuit. I'm wondering how far that would take me in quarry diving temperature-wise with a hood. How chilly were you at 63 degrees? Have you gone colder?

I'm torn between getting a one-piece Xcel 7mm wetsuit with integral hood or a dry suit at about 3-4X the price. I can't get either immediately, but obviously, I could get the wet sooner.

I don't need both. I'm wondering how far that wet would take me versus a dry suit. I think I'm better waiting to get the dry. I'll be better off longer-term if I'm patient. But I'm wondering if the 80/20 rule applies. If I can dive 80% of the things I want to see at 1/3 or less the price in the wetsuit, maybe I should be happy with it.

 

[Don Burke]

JohnCollins once bubbled...
Right now, the only suit I have is a one piece Tilos 3mm full wetsuit. I'm wondering how far that would take me in quarry diving temperature-wise with a hood. How chilly were you at 63 degrees? Have you gone colder?

I'm torn between getting a one-piece Xcel 7mm wetsuit with integral hood or a dry suit at about 3-4X the price. I can't get either immediately, but obviously, I could get the wet sooner.

I don't need both. I'm wondering how far that wet would take me versus a dry suit. I think I'm better waiting to get the dry. I'll be better off longer-term if I'm patient. But I'm wondering if the 80/20 rule applies. If I can dive 80% of the things I want to see at 1/3 or less the price in the wetsuit, maybe I should be happy with it.

I have the Henderson gold hood in 7mm and it really extends the temperatures my 3/2 Bare one-piece wetsuit can support. I thought my cheater vest (integrated vest and hood) was great stuff until I got this hood. I would expect the Henderson 7mm cheater vest would be killer.

Heavy wetsuits lost their charm for me when I got the trilaminate drysuit. With the underwear garment, a sweatsuit, t-shift and shorts, or some combination of these, there is some way of staying warm. There are also some tricks with suit gas that seem to help.

I still like the wetsuit. 3/2 is about the thickest suit I expect to own from now on. I believe the one-piece suits are warmer than the thickness would indicate due to less water pumping.

The drysuit was more like 10x the price, about $1800 IIRC. My only regret is I didn't get it sooner.

 

[aquaman514]

John, I went to the same area today with my 7/5 one piece and found it to be a little warm, though the 3mil full suit with the 5mil hood was the ticket for that lake at this time of the year.
I will confess that when winter does come I use my 7/5 religiously and use a vested hood skin too boot in temp's at 55 to 60. Below that I dry suit it for comfort and the sun if unobstucted keeps me warm over my wet suit. Hope that helps!

Aquaman514:shark: