What's the coldest water temp you will wetsuit in??

garydemos · Mar 13, 2012

Living in Ohio the local diving options are quarries (unless you live by Lake Erie). When I did my OW dives last October the quarry water temp was 58. I had a 7 mm farmer john WS and after 2 dives was getting a little COLD. Since I'll no doubt do a fair amount of diving in Ohio I'm either getting a nice 7 mm WS or saving up for a drysuit. I know all you drysuit divers seem to really like them but is it reasonable to think I can get a lot of diving in with a good 7 mm suit? Right now the Circleville quarry water temp is 40 degrees. I don't think I want to attempt that in a wetsuit, right???

Gary

Thalassamania · Mar 13, 2012

With a properly designed and constructed suit, made out of the right material, a 40 degree dive is no problem. Unfortunately a Rubatex, skin two sides, farmer john, attached hood, custom suit is hard to come by these days. I used such a suit in the Arctic for dives of up to an hour with no problem, and that's way colder than 40.

grantwiscour · Mar 13, 2012

That seems cold to me. I have dived in 54 degree water and it wasn't too bad. I had on a triple layer of wetsuits a hood and gloves.

I have heard that the Henderson Aqualock in a 7 mil is a good system and may be worth investigating for your needs but for 40 degree water temp a drysuit is probably the most comfy way to go.

fjpatrum · Mar 13, 2012

So far it's been about 41 or 42F. Too cold... I won't do it often but I'll still do it. Some day, maybe I'll get a dry suit but it's not likely in the near future. I've decided the low 50s is cold enough for me for any "regular" diving. Special dives I might go colder again, but only rarely.

EDIT: I have on a lot more than 7 mm when diving that cold, though my buddies are usually diving 7mm or dry. (I get too cold for that little protection in cold water.)

fdog · Mar 13, 2012

I hit the wall at 74 degrees and switch to a dry suit when scuba diving.

I am not normal though...! I am "King of the cold weenies".

All the best, James

diveprof · Mar 13, 2012

I've been diving down to 40F in a wetsuit. This year has been nice - not much below 50F. I agree with Thalassamania, since everything has has gone super stretch for (alleged) "comfort", finding one that is actually warm has been a challenge. I always thought "comfort" meant warm, but apparently "comfort" means very stretchy and easy to put on.

ajtoady · Mar 13, 2012

I used to do 33-34* F fresh water in a 7mm/ hooded vest, socks, booties, hood, etc. Load up with warm water and a 45-50 min dive was no problem. Second dive would reload and be able to do about 45 min. Depth is one of your enemies as it compresses the neoprene, thus no insulation. Other drawback was standing in the 15-20* breeze changing into dry clothes. I have since moved onto a drysuit and gotta say it's a whole lot nicer in the cold waters!!

Thalassamania · Mar 13, 2012

In my older age I join the weenies, dry suit for me much below 60.

RTee · Mar 13, 2012

Around here some folks will take their Ice diving course wearing full length 7mm wetsuit with an additional 7mm sleeveless shorty with hood, boots and mitts in 39F water. At the local quarry, diving schools will resume OW outdoors certification dives in May at a time where water temp will hover around 43 - 45 F at 60 ft or so and low 50s in the shallower portion.

Refering to my logbook, I got OW certified in 41F water wearing such thermal protection in 78 and one would think technology has somewhat improved since then. Mind you, this was done at a time when no men ever considered waxing. Two years ago, I did upgrade to a drysuit for diving in certain conditions however, I do not hesitate to wear my 7mm full length with either a Bare Chicken vest or a hood in Low 60s water for other types of dives (drift dives through submerged locks for example).

nolatom · Mar 13, 2012

45.

But only if it's 60 at the safety stop.

What's the coldest water temp you will wetsuit in??

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