Cold water diving

[meierdierck]

We dive lake tahoe year round in 7mm fj, it's not that bad, ( new years day 33 degrees), but dry suits are def. The choice of discriminating divers,
just make sure your gloves & hood fit nicely,

 

[ruready7]

42 deg F in 7/5mm wetsuit. Now its drysuit!!

 

[bill-da-ho]

34f in a 3 mil farmer john,,

 

[FDdiver]

40derees in a 6mm farmer john/stepin jacket. I lasted about 15 mins.

 

[Siantis]

28 degrees F in a farmer john 7mm. 15 minutes, and I did not fill my suit with hot water because the deck house had burst.

I was ok until I got back on the boat (I was checking the props & hull), the water was about 15 degrees warmer than the air with the wind chill that day.

 

[oldflounder]

NudeDiver --- You have hit the nail on the head. One can go in with a wetsuit for 45 min dive and maybe deal with water below 40*. BUT --- are they anxious and able to go in for that second 45 min dive after the SI. I want to hear what wetsuit brand that is also. And I tip my hat to those of you that respond positively to NudeDiver's query.

 

[ligersandtions]

The coldest I've been in a (7mm) wetsuit was 52F. The coldest I've ever been warm/comfortable in my wetsuit was....well, I suppose I've never been warm/comfortable in my wetsuit, short of the time I was in Cozumel, in which case a 7mm was probably overkill, but I was never hot.

If you'll be diving in cold water, it's probably worth your money to look into a drysuit. If you're cold on a dive, you won't enjoy it, and you won't want to do a second one....if you're dry and warm, you'll be a lot happier.

 

[Buoyant1]

Like 40-41 degrees F in a 7mm full suit hood and gloves....was fairly comfy, but only for a short while.

Just did a 38 degrees F in a dry suit last weekend.

 

[Pitchblack]

7-8 degrees celcius with a 7+5mm semidry on my OW-course.

 

[MSilvia]

I've done dives as cold as 38 degrees f in a custom tailored S.A.S. (Sub-Aquatic Systems/Suits... sadly no longer in business) farmer john and jacket, but it wasn't particularly comfortable, and I wouldn't have gone for a second dive without pre-warming the suit.

The coldest multiple dives I've done in that suit WITHOUT taking warming precautions were around 45f... maybe 42 at depth.