heated socks! maybe?

[toddbr]

Has anyone ever tried wearing those battery powered “heated” socks with a drysuit? They are the socks with a 9v battery attached and work basically like a heated blanket. Just curious if this might help keep the feet toasty.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have not. I am sure they would work fine, but the thought of getting water in the suit and a DC battery shorting, generating tons of heat and burning the beezeesus out of my calf in a loction where I cannot reach it to disconnect the battery is not real appealing. I'd consider electric socks but only if they incorporated a fuse, so a little soldering would be in order to make them dive ready.

In my experience, if you have adequate underwear and adequate air in the suit, your feet stay warm. Your hands get colder long before your feet.

 

[Karl_in_Calif]

I know of one tech diver who dives with heated thermals under his drysuit. He is thin, and heat loss on deco hangs is probably a major issue for him, beyond simply using argon for warmth.

I have heard he is really happy with the battery warmed thermals as well.

 

[toddbr]

Excellent! I assume that his entire undergarments are heated not just the socks. I wonder what something like that costs? You could theoretically wear fewer layers and have equal warmth with more mobility.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

They sell dedicated dive ready thermal pads that can be used under a wet suit or in a dry suit. With the dry suit model, they use a watertight connection added into the suit to allow the use of a large cannister type battery outside the suit. I have not seen one advertised for a while and am not sure what they cost but if I rememebr corectly it was in the $300-$400 range.

 

[Don Burke]

Here's one of the outfits that sell such things:

http://patcoinc.com/aqua_heaters.html

 

[Karl_in_Calif]

Don Burke once bubbled...
Here's one of the outfits that sell such things:

http://patcoinc.com/aqua_heaters.html

just when I thought I had everything I wanted!

you could actually turn your deco hangs into a sauna-like experience!

 

[ScottyK]

Don Burke once bubbled...
Here's one of the outfits that sell such things:

http://patcoinc.com/aqua_heaters.html

I actually bought on of these units for Jen some years back. When placed on the small of her back, it really warmed her wetsuit up nicely. Having said that, it was also:

Too expensive for the benefit
Too fragile and tempermental
A pain to set up and dismantle

It was a great dive boat conversation piece though At the time (1999ish) I can't remember anyone we spoke to who had even heard about it before.

 

[BOATS313]

I have seen a few different versions of the socks and other underware that are battery heated. I know they make the socks for wadders with the battery pack that goes on your belt. I think those were in Cabella's. I have seen what saltwater does to the batteries in my light when it flooded and don't think I would want that in my suit. Some DIY rigging might make it work though.

 

[yonex]

I know that Kallweit offers them new for
ca. 100€(Euro).
http://www.kwtt.de/english/produkte/basix.html
I don't know them in pratice, bat they have
4 AAA for each foot, you can choose the
heatlevel, batteries can be stored in undersuite as far I can remember.

Yonex