Tried using a lightweight drysuit for a 60ft wreck dive and almost froze

I swapped my usual thick neoprene for a 3mm compressed neoprene drysuit last week on a job in San Pedro. Thought it would be easier to move around down there, but after 45 minutes at depth I was shivering so bad I couldn't grip my tools right. Had to call topside to pull me up early and finish the inspection from the boat. Anyone else run into trouble trying to cut weight on insulation in cold water?

3 comments

3 Comments

blake6912d ago

Oh man, the "cutting weight on insulation" part got me - I did the same thing in a quarry last fall with a thin wetsuit and spent the whole dive trying to remember if hypothermia feels warm first.

emmaallen2d ago

Ugh same here! Shivering through a whole dive is the worst.

gavin_kelly9122h ago

Nah, that's a rough one but I gotta disagree a bit. A thin wetsuit in a quarry is just asking for trouble, better to be a little warm on the surface than freezing your ass off underwater.