Late-season (cold weather) diving

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I see air temps of -25f here and water temps of about 35f ish. In winter. I also only dive dry. Sometimes my face gets wet but if I go omnihood ffm dry gloves I can stay completely dry. Wetsuit no thanks ...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
wow you guys sure do have alot of cold tolerance.. i wish i could do that!
a 5mm wetsuit in 18C was too much for me to handle February of this year.. then i tried a 3mm in 25C and i did feel quite shivery towards the end of the second dive! in my country winters get down to 15C that could be the reason why:idk:

Likewise a bit further south we will hit 18/19C in the Persian / Arabian Gulf and over on the east coast we hit 22/23C it's into a 7mm semi dry or a drysuit fairly soon once the year ends.
 
I see air temps of -25f here and water temps of about 35f ish. In winter. I also only dive dry. Sometimes my face gets wet but if I go omnihood ffm dry gloves I can stay completely dry. Wetsuit no thanks ...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Yeah, I wouldn't be doing that wet either. Like I said in the OP, I'm guessing I'll be good down to ~50 or so in a 7mm wet suit, but I won't know for sure until I try it.
 
wow you guys sure do have alot of cold tolerance.. i wish i could do that!
a 5mm wetsuit in 18C was too much for me to handle February of this year.. then i tried a 3mm in 25C and i did feel quite shivery towards the end of the second dive! in my country winters get down to 15C that could be the reason why:idk:

Our summer water temperatures occasionally get to 15C so it is normally minimum 7mm wet or drysuit conditions. Have to say 10C in 7mm wasn't too bad imo.

Here we can only dream about 25C - or go on holiday to it!
 
Cold water diving in a wetsuit isn't an issue until you get out, then evaporation starts to become a problem. There are ways to reduce it, such as pouring hot water down your suit and putting on a boat coat or blanket, or getting inside a shelter with a heater, but the better idea is to limit your dives to one per day in a wetsuit when the weather's cold.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)
 
I wore a wetsuit throughout the winter for years (even under ice). The first problem is that second dives are out of the question...one 45 minute dive then strip quickly and get warm! The second and VERY serious issue is that if, for any reason, the length of the dive has to be increased or a problem requires a long surface swim you could end up in a life-threatening situation in a hurry. I had this happen a few years back when my partner and I made a navigation error in poor visibility in 38 degree water. I was in a 7mm jumpsuit and he was diving dry. We surfaced to get our bearings and realized we were a long swim from where we entered the water. We dropped back down until our gas supply was getting low then surfaced and finished the trip home by swimming. I was very close to serious hypothermia when we got back. If memory serves I got fitted for my drysuit later that week :)
 
Year round here in Texas, where the water gets to around 50-52 at the least, and generally the air temp is not much cooler aside from a few weeks or a month. Even then, I wear a drysuit for about 1/2 the year. Being cold when you can prevent it is foolish.
 
Like said above, provided the water is still liquid(not frozen) you can pile on the neoprene and strap on an anvil to sink it...but it's the topside temps that usually get you when diving wet. To me this is where drysuits really shine....being able to get that second(or third...or fourth) dive in. I dive all year(traveling or locally)....of course I usually only get a couple in during the month of January but that's because of other obligations and not related to the temps or conditions.
 
Likewise a bit further south we will hit 18/19C in the Persian / Arabian Gulf and over on the east coast we hit 22/23C it's into a 7mm semi dry or a drysuit fairly soon once the year ends.

Yeah Bahrain is a little island in the Persian Gulf so we have similar weather conditions..
then i guess ill also need to get a 7mm soon and a special wardrobe for all these wetsuits:bounce:
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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