You don't know what you don't know until you know it...

[Snarfal]

:blinking:

As a brand new diver certified at the end of August 09, I have been looking forward to the weather getting better so I could start getting some dives in. I purchased a basic set of equipment and have a nice easy dive set up in April with a local dive club.

Sadly though, the weather has been unusually frigid! I mean...its March in south Texas and we were just recently running temps below freezing temps, flurries, sleet, hail, etc. All of this weather was causing me to look longingly at the calendar with a desire for warmer temps giving me a chance to get some more dives under my belt and allow me to work on my winter neglected skills!

This week the temps have been pushing around 68 degrees and the thought creeps into my mind that perhaps I can just jump into my sister-in-law's pool. How bad could it be?! Now, when I did my certification dives, the water temp was about 85-88 degrees topside and about 75-80 at the bottom. At the pool, I dropped my gauge in and the water temp showed about 60. Now, as Im standing there in a Tshirt thinking that the 68 degree weather didnt feel that bad so how much worse would that 8 degree temp really be? Besides, I also had a 3mm wetsuit and 2mm gloves, I figured it would keep me warm enough to get in...test my gear and perhaps work on my buoyancy skill.

See the title of my thread...yeah...now I know!

I think that since I wasnt hooded, I was losing tons of heat through my head. When I got out after testing my gear and TRYING to work on my buoyancy I realize how much the cold had affected me. My head was beet red, felt slightly nauseous, and didn't start to shiver until about 15 mins AFTER I got out of my wetsuit and put on new clothes.

As horrible as it was, I did feel like I learned from this experience. I know understand cold water immersion and its effects a bit better. I understand the importance of the various layers of exposure suits (head and hands!) and also have a better ability to gauge what certain temperatures are good and which...not so much.


While I can appreciate what I learned, I thought I would post this here to share with other new divers. I didn't remember ever being told what levels of suit protection covered what range of temperatures (though I did go back and check my OW manual and saw it referenced in there so was my own faulty memory) and didn't fully comprehend the difference between air temp vs water temp or even the difference from my previous dive temp.

So while perhaps bringing a smile to someone's day as they imagine some poor new diver in a desperate attempt to suck air underwater turning into a Popsicle, I also hope it is informative =0

 

[Steve50]

that's funny it's also March in Oregon ..

 

[TMHeimer]

Snarfal, Where are you in Texas and where did you do your check out dives? In the Gulf? We will be hopefully at S. Padre late May when I hope to get in a charter & shore dives. Heard the water surface temp. is about 77 F then and figure the shorty I just bought would probably be OK. Let me know if you're in the S. Padre area.

 

[gypsyjim]

60d water isn't fun for long, even in a 7/5/3 with hood and adequate gloves. In a 3mil, w/o good head and hand protection, I bet you were a scuba-sicle!. At least you had some sort of gloves, which had to help a bit.

When my daughter did her AOW 100ft dive, in early spring they were below the second thermo-cline here, where it was in the 40's, and cold!!! The young man doing the dive with her forgot his gloves, and he was literally blue and shaking. He figured he could tough it out

You are right, the head is a major source of heat loss, especially in water which conducts heat so much better than air. Everyone has different tolerances for water temps, so there is no real universal rule about wetsuit thickness. In the Caribbean I often dive in a swim suit or skin, and yet I have seen other divers, in 5 mil suits get too cold to dive. You are learning what your tolerances are, and 60d in 3 mil isn't within your comfort zone, for sure! Wouldn't be for most of us either, even a big guy like me, with all my extra insulation built in!!

It's all good. You survived your error. You learned. You got to dive way before the rest of us up here in the great white north too! I am almost jealous.

 

[Snarfal]

Snarfal, Where are you in Texas and where did you do your check out dives? In the Gulf? We will be hopefully at S. Padre late May when I hope to get in a charter & shore dives. Heard the water surface temp. is about 77 F then and figure the shorty I just bought would probably be OK. Let me know if you're in the S. Padre area.

I'm just north of Houston. We did our check out dives in an old quarry called the Blue Lagoon near Huntsville.

I know some people start their diving career in the gulf...but that is a whole lot of water IMO =) I'm thinking I will get some more dives under my belt in some more controlled environments first just so I can get comfortable with my skills. I do have a family trip planned to Port Aransas near Father's day and thought about perhaps doing a dive there..but will really depend on how confident I am by then =)

 

[tstormdiver]

Ah, cold water diving,... Well around KY here, the surface temps are about 38 degrees & below 60ft it's a balmy 42 degrees (it always is, not matter what time of year). Personally, I dove a few days before Christmas, but because of teaching classes haven't been in OW since. for me, if it's too cold for my 3mm suit, then I dive dry. I have a multitude of undergarments to wear under the dry suit; from Under Armor for the warmest waters, light weights, heavy weights & super heavy weights for the coldest waters. I have to wear a hood, as much as I hate those things, in waters colder than 65 degrees. If I don't,... I get instant, severe vertigo when the cold water hits my ears.

As the others have stated, you're learning your tolerances, but be careful, as hypothermia can be life threatening. If you start to feel cold you should abort the dive. Do not try to tough it out. It's not worth your health. Becareful & dive safe!:cool2:

 

[treasurehunter]

Ahh experience, you can't learn it from a book and you can't buy it. You just have to do the time.

 

[pasley]

....At the pool, I dropped my gauge in and the water temp showed about 60. Now, as Im standing there in a Tshirt thinking that the 68 degree weather didn't feel that bad so how much worse would that 8 degree temp really be? .....

Thank you for sharing. If you can laugh at yourself and your own errors you will go a long way. I also applaud your for working on your skills in the off season.

I will refer you back to your basic open water lesson, they one where they taught you that water conducts heat away from the body 25 times more effectively than air. In short 70F degree air feels good, 70F water feels cold. But then you know that...now.

60F water is at least a 5mm wetsuit and preferably a 7mm and anything below that is 7mm territory or better yet dry-suit, and yes the lack of a hood makes a small difference. Current studies show that only 20-30%(http://www.healthline.com/blogs/exercise_fitness/2009/03/do-you-lose-most-of-your-heat-through.html) of body head loss is though the old noggin debunking the old myths of a majority of heat loss is through the head. But that is still 20%.

So thanks for sharing. The important thing here is as you said You don't know what you don't know. Keep that in mind when you are tempted to dive beyond your current training (going deeper than 60 feet or into an overhead environment etc). There are reasons your training is only to 60 feet at the moment and you don't know what you don't know. Avoid "trust me" dives where you rely on the training and skills of another diver to get you through a dive that is beyond your current training such as just taking a peek inside a wreck.

 

[jmasin]

Man, we did our O/W checkout in 56º water a few years back in 7mm, hoods, gloves etc. I was freezing my freakin' tail off...

 

[Herk_Man]

Sooooo, what did you see down there? :rofl: