Finding my tolerance for cold water..

[dburg30]

So far 49 degrees I'm still good in . Granted it's a shallow quarry, so I don't get full compression of the suit, But was amazingly comfortable in my 7mm suit, and hood/gloves/boots.. One thing I do want to do is get a little better / thicker boots. My feet were a bit cold, but even above water I tend to have cold feet. This weekend heading down to NC to dive a quarry, will see what the temp is at about 60' and see what difference I feel with full compression on the suit.

And just so I knew what to expect, I did the mask removal / replacement. That sucks lol.. May I never have to do that again in cold water. Of course, I'm sure I'll practice that more since I don't like it .

Probably need to practice stuff that includes hand use since I have thicker gloves also..

Anywho, am just curious where I'll find my "OK, this isn't fun anymore, time to wait for next spring up here" temperature..

 

[MClark12]

move to FL and you won't have to worry about adapting to cold water....

 

[grf88]

So far 49 degrees I'm still good in . Anywho, am just curious where I'll find my "OK, this isn't fun anymore, time to wait for next spring up here" temperature..

You will probably find it during your surface interval as the air temperature drops especially with a good wind blowing.

 

[dburg30]

You will probably find it during your surface interval as the air temperature drops especially with a good wind blowing.

Oh yea.. found that out the other week. If you are doing multiple dives that really dont require much of an SI, get out, swap tanks and get the hell back in the water . Or do your SI on the actual surface.

 

[Brian Sharpe]

.........

And just so I knew what to expect, I did the mask removal / replacement. That sucks lol.. May I never have to do that again in cold water. Of course, I'm sure I'll practice that more since I don't like it .

Probably need to practice stuff that includes hand use since I have thicker gloves also..

Anywho, am just curious where I'll find my "OK, this isn't fun anymore, time to wait for next spring up here" temperature..

Mask removal & replacement is a skill you should practice regularly, just about guaranteed you'll get your mask kicked off at some point & good idea with the thicker gloves - you sacrifice dexterity for warmth unless.......


you go dry & then you can dive all year 'round and be comfortable at the same time! (My coldest dive this year was 36F - I wouldn't want to do that in a wetsuit)

 

[al248005]

dburg, where were you diving at?? Was it at a quarry in Ohio. I went yesterday to a local pond in eastern Ohio and it was 47F. I was cold but I was in my 5mm Pinnacle suit. It was the first time I was cold in that suit. At 51F I was fine but I could sure tell the diff at 47F.

 

[Soggy_Diver]

If you have a little room in your boots, heavy wool socks are help.

 

[dburg30]

dburg, where were you diving at?? Was it at a quarry in Ohio. I went yesterday to a local pond in eastern Ohio and it was 47F. I was cold but I was in my 5mm Pinnacle suit. It was the first time I was cold in that suit. At 51F I was fine but I could sure tell the diff at 47F.

Circleville.. Funny you mention that, my brother has a 5/4 suit and he had that on. He didnt put my 3mm shortie on over it, and 49 after about 30 minutes he started getting cold. A few minutes later we thumbed it. So that pretty much lines up with what he felt..

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I think you will find that the more you dive, the more cold tolerance is a moving target. The depth of dive, length of dives, number of dives per day wind speed, presence of sunshine, age of wetsuit, etc... all play a significant role in cold tolerance. These combine easy to make a 10-15 degree difference in perceived temperature.

 

[j yaeger]

neoprene socks under boots.....
2mm-3mm
you will not believe the difference
ice dive with 2mm socks and 5mm boots
happy feet!!!!
have fun
yaeg