buhund:
I'm pretty tolerant of colder temperatures. Is there anything else I should consider before deciding whether or not I should do the training this time of year? For example, will I be wearing so much gear to keep me warm that it will make it more challenging to learn the skills?
I'm pretty cold tolerant, as well. Although I can't specifically relate, since I did my classroom and pool work in CA then did the cert dives in HI...
However, I have done quite a few dives with thick neoprene (7mm farmer john w/ 7mm jacket, hood gloves...), both fun dives and high altitude cert dives where skill assessments were part of the package.
Definitely do-able. You will get a little more, um, experience, with buoyancy control, but that's a good thing in the long run.
In case you don’t know it already, neoprene crushes with depth and looses much of it’s buoyancy, then expands when you come back up. The biggest change is in the 10 – 20 foot range. And the more neoprene you wear, the worse the effect.
The biggest challenge is stopping your final ascent for your safety stop. You have to make sure that you are ascending very slowly, or else when the neoprene expands you will not be able to stop at 15’. Don’t get carried away with your BC inflator.
When I did my high altitude cert, the instructors dive plan required a fairly long swim at 12’, both at the beginning and at the end of the dive. Everyone was having buoyancy issues during these swims, and several people popped to the top. Moral is try to avoid having to maintain a 10-20’ depth any more than you have to when wearing heavy exposure protection.
There are lots of people on here with more cold water experience than I. Maybe they can give more advice.
Oh, and don’t forget the hood. It really makes a big difference.
And here's a tidbit I didn't know about at first: With a hood on it's likely you will get air trapped in your ear canals making it more difficult to clear your ears. My solution is to make sure I pull the sides of the hood out away from my head and flood the canals when I first get in the water. You can also take a soldering iron and burn small holes in the hood right over your ears, assuming that: 1. the hood belongs to you and, 2. you are not wearing it at the time... Some people get air trapped in the top of the hood, and burn a small hole there, as well.