Any tips for cold water solo diving

[Nitrox50]

I recently moved from Southeast Asia to Scandinavia. Any tips for solo-diving in cold water? I want to have a go as soon as I am comfortable in my new dry-suit.

I have about a 1000 dives - more than 250 solo dives, but all in warm water and wetsuit. So any good advice from the great minds of Scubaboard?

Safe diving
Nitrox 50

 

[ClayJar]

If you don't have some sort of redundant scuba (doubles, stage, pony, whatever), I'd recommend procuring something. I wouldn't want to risk a first stage freeze without having something else to go to while I shut off the valve to thaw it out -- or while I thumb the dive, as the case may be. (You lose a lot of gas *very* quickly in a free flow.)

Other than that, I don't really see much difference between my solo diving in warm springs (68°F/20°C) and my solo diving in cold quarries (40°F/5°C). Well, that and I wear a bit more insulation on the cold dives, but that's just managing the drysuit.

 

[nereas]

The difference between diving in warm waters (84F) versus in cold waters (42F) is the presence of the drysuit in cold waters, which actually acts as a back-up wing. That is a benefit.

If you lost the fuction of your wing in warm waters, then you would need to swim up your tank (which is weighted down with air/nitrox at 0.08 lbs per cu ft) or else drop your weight belt. Therefore the drysuit gives you an additional option.

I think being new to drysuits, you should be aware of this new option. It helps you.

 

[nereas]

If you don't have some sort of redundant scuba (doubles, stage, pony, whatever), I'd recommend procuring something. I wouldn't want to risk a first stage freeze without having something else to go to while I shut off the valve to thaw it out -- or while I thumb the dive, as the case may be. (You lose a lot of gas *very* quickly in a free flow.)

...

Robert Van Maier talks about redundancy for solo divers in his book SOLO DIVING.

 

[markfm]

You might want to budget a bit of time, assuming that you'll be switching to a drysuit, to really get comfortable with DS diving. No magic, of course, but practicing the various ways to get out of a feet first ascent is probably good to do.

Personally, I do notice a bit more task loading diving cold -- drysuit is more cumbersome than wet/warm, the effects of the cold itself. Acclimation time -- practice with a buddy, and/or in a pool, plus buddy dives in unfamiliar locales, is probably not such a bad thing.

Safe diving!

 

[nereas]

You might want to budget a bit of time, assuming that you'll be switching to a drysuit, to really get comfortable with DS diving. No magic, of course, but practicing the various ways to get out of a feet first ascent is probably good to do.

Personally, I do notice a bit more task loading diving cold -- drysuit is more cumbersome than wet/warm, the effects of the cold itself. Acclimation time -- practice with a buddy, and/or in a pool, plus buddy dives in unfamiliar locales, is probably not such a bad thing.

Safe diving!

I agree with Markfm on this.

There is more task loading on the descent as well as on the re-ascent with a drysuit.


For the descent, my own procedure is this:

Squat and squeeze the air out of the drysuit on deck before I put on my weight belt and tank(s).

Keep the dump valve on the drysuit open all the way during entry and descent.

Enter the water, then vent air from the wing until I can begin to descend slowly, then stop venting.

Put air/argon into the suit to control suit-squeeze during my descent and to slow down.

When near the bottom, put air into my wing to stop my descent completely.

Adjust my dump valve on the suit (normally closing it 1/4 turn).

Then you must maintain neutral buoyancy at all times during the dive, sometimes a combination of both the suit and the wing, depending on your suit squeeze, or need for additional warmth, etc.


For the re-ascent, my own procedure is thus:

Open the dump valve on the drysuit all the way.

Shake my arm to vent excess air from the suit before beginning the ascent.

Begin my ascent by kicking up slowly.

Control my ascent by dumping air from my wing.

Shake my arm to dump air from my suit from time to time.

Neutralize my buoyancy for the 3 min stop.

Surface and then inflate my wing almost completely.


There are thus several steps involved with the drysuit that you do not have with a wetsuit. This you will need to practice.

It also helps to take a drysuit class from an instructor. The store where you buy the suit will often offer this class for free, since you bought the suit there.

 

[mdb]

I think you will have some good comments from experienced cold water divers. The most common one, will, most likely be, make your first dozen or so dives with a good local diver-preferably a local instructor. Nothing like the good locals to take you there and bring you back.

 

[b1gcountry]

I will also add that you might want to have someone available at the surface. Gearing up in a drysuit solo is sometimes not possible depending on the suit, and your flexibility. Getting out of the suit can be even more of a problem, especially if your hands are so cold that they have lost strength. I've been on a dive where my hands got so cold I could not un buckle my fin straps. If it is cold on the surface, and you don't have full function of your hands, it could turn into a Jack London story
"To Unzip a Drysuit" ???

Tom

 

[dave4868]

I'd just add:

Consider limiting your dive time or distance according to how well your hands will work if they get real cold or how far you might be able to swim with a major cold water flooding of your drysuit.

Dave C

 

[Nitrox50]

Thanks for the advice.

I not to scared about the dry-suit feels okay and no black magic involved - just a bit of task-loading. I really miss the solo dives - so I will give it a go as soon as I am comfortable with the suit.