Hey SD fans, welcome back to our watery world, and for those here for the first time,
my name s Mark, I am the editor-in-chief of the Scuba Diver media brand,
and welcome to the Scuba Diver YouTube Channel. We are settled into our new studio now,
and this is my co-host Dexter. Say hello Dexter.
He s the strong, silent type We are well and truly into autumn here in the UK now,
and winter is peeking over the horizon, so today we are going to be talking about
cold-water diving, or specifically, how you can make it less of a chore and far more enjoyable,
by using the right kit to stay warm and toasty. Before I entered the diving industry,
nearly all of my diving was in UK waters, both coastal and inland,
and so over the years I have used a lot of different pieces of equipment,
and picked up a few handy hints and advice, which I am going to share with you. Make sure
you watch until the end, as I ll impart a useful hack that will banish glove issues forever.
This may be the UK diving off-season , but there are plenty of hardcore divers out there who are
committed to diving all year round, relishing the quiet dive sites and quite phenomenal
visibility we are often treated to through the winter months. I am one of those certifiable
nutcases - I mean, hardy souls - who dive 12 months of the year in this country,
and as we descend into the coldest times of the winter period, I thought it was a
prime opportunity to pass on some sage advice about the best ways to stay warm
both underwater on the dives themselves, and on the surface before, between and after dives.
Many veteran UK divers will have their thermal protection well dialled in,
but there are always new tips and techniques that you can add to your repertoire,
and for those thinking of venturing into British waters in the winter months for the first time,
hopefully this advice will be useful. First up, keep your undersuit in the house - nothing worse
than donning a cold undersuit that has been languishing in the garage with the rest of your
dive kit. I know that may sound common sense, but you would not believe the number of people
I have seen at dive sites hauling their undersuit out of their kit boxes and then complaining how
cold it is! In fact, I d suggest wearing your undersuit to go to the dive site, or at least
your base layer under your normal clothes, so that you build up a solid core temperature.
You are also going to need an undersuit that is suitable for more-extreme temperatures - you
might get away with a thin base layer in the summer, but that won t cut the mustard
in the winter. Think the likes of Fourth Element s Arctic Expedition or Halo 3D, Weezle s Extreme
or O Three s Point Below Base system. Even with one of these purpose-built undersuits, depending
on the water temperature, you might also want to add additional base layers to give you a thicker
thermal buffer between your body and your drysuit. And remember, if you are in a trilaminate
drysuit, you will need more undergarment protection than with a neoprene drysuit,
as these offer no thermal properties at all, unlike compressed or non-compressed neoprene.
It is also a good idea to bring your drysuit into the house the night before a diving day,
so that it is not icy-cold from being stored in the garage or shed as well.
Every little helps, and no point utilising some of that hard-earned core temperature
on warming up the interior of your drysuit before you have even got near the water.
So that s most of your body sorted, but what about your hands and head? Let s start at the top. I d
say that a minimum of a 5mm hood is essential, and if you can get your hands on a 7mm or even
a 10mm - yes, they do exist! - go for it. When the water is particularly cold, even with a hood on,
you still get a bit of that ice-cream headache when you first go under the water, so the sooner
your head warms up - and stays warm for as long as possible - the better. Whatever thickness of
hood, get it on as soon as you take your thermal hat off to reduce loss of heat. With your hands,
you have a couple of options. You can go for a 5mm or 7mm pair of normal neoprene gloves,
or even a pair of lobster mitts , which keep your thumb and index finger separate, but encase the
other three together. In my experience, these are warmer than standard gloves, but you do lose
a bit of dexterity - it is all about pay-off, and I d sooner have warmer hands, as once your
fingers get cold, you can t feel anything anyway! The main thing is to have them fit
nice and tight, to minimise water ingress. This can make them awkward to get on, but hang around
until the end of the video, I have a nifty hack for that. Alternatively, you could go the dryglove
route. There are some on the market, such as the Scubapro Easy Don DryGlove, which can be worn with
any drysuit. Or you can get the likes of the KUBI DryGlove System, Fourth Element s Ellipse
and Santi s Smart system, which actually attach the drygloves to the sleeves of your suit.
Drygloves, as the name suggests, keep your hands dry, and you can then wear various thicknesses of
glove liner beneath them. Regardless of brand or design, drygloves do take some getting used to.
They can feel a bit spongy on the surface, with a lack of dexterity, but once you attain
some depth, they compress on to your hands and the feel is more akin to 2-3mm neoprene gloves.
If you really feel the cold, then you might want to draft in some technological help to keep warm.
Several firms, including Thermalution, O Three, Santi, Mares and Ursuit, make heated
vests and suits, which take undergarment thermal protection to a whole new level.
There really is nothing else that can compare with that feeling of battery-operated heat when
you are in seriously chilly conditions. I ve even used a couple of heated vest systems when I have
been out mountain biking over the winter! Taking battery-operated heating systems even further,
Santi even do a heated glove liner! Yes, instead of standard glove liners under your drygloves, you
can have a glove liner that has heating elements built in, keeping your digits nice and toasty.
And if you don t want to get that frozen cheek feeling, then you can swap out your mask and
regular second stage for a full-face mask, like the Ocean Reef Space. Your entire face
is enclosed within the mask, and your hood will seal around the outer skirt,
offering the ultimate in exposure protection for your face. It isn t just when you are underwater
that you need to be properly thermally protected. In fact, when it gets really cold here in the UK,
you often find that the water temperature at inland dive sites - and definitely the sea if you
are lucky enough to get a break in the weather that lets you dive a coastal site - is warmer
than the surface temperatures, so it is vitally important you think about what you are going to
do when you are out of the water. The warmer you are before you venture into the water, the better,
so I d advocate being well wrapped up right until the moment of the dive. So think drysuit
undergarments under thick tracksuit bottoms, or even hiking trousers if it is really cold,
fleece tops of varying thickness, gilets, scarves or neck buffs, fleece hats and gloves for when you
arrive at the dive site and are getting your dive kit assembled. Once you are into your drysuit,
keep the hat and gloves on until the last minute to retain as much warmth in your
body as possible. Equally, as soon as you exit the water and are back at your vehicle,
get that hat and gloves back on. If you have the likes of a DryRobe or Fourth Element s Storm
poncho, slip that over the top of your drysuit - it is amazing how much warmer you will feel
within a very short time by cutting out wind chill and adding another layer of thermal protection.
I d suggest doing this every time you are out of the water, even if it is just during the day
between dives - in fact, this is probably the most vital time to maintain your core temperature,
as you don t want to be getting back in the water for a second dive already feeling
cold, as that is just asking for trouble. When you eventually get out of your drysuit,
leave your undersuit on and then redon all the additional gear - trackie bottoms/hiking trousers,
fleece, gilet, etc - to ensure that your core temperature doesn t plummet.
However, if your undersuit is damp, or wet from a drysuit leak, don t soldier on - get yourself
dry as soon as you can and put dry clothes on. If you are at a remote dive site with no facilities,
make sure you have a thermos of hot tea, coffee or chocolate to further warm up your core.
A chocolate bar can also give you a nice boost, though I am sure this is more mental
than physical! If you are at a commercial inland site, get into the warmth of their
caf or restaurant area, and get some warm food and drink inside you. Oh, that s right,
the gloves hack. As I said, a good tight fit is essential with neoprene gloves, but this can mean
they are a pig to get on, especially when they are wet. All you need are some plastic gloves,
like the kind you find at petrol stations at the fuel pumps. Pop a pair of these on first,
and you will find that your neoprene gloves slide on effortlessly. I am not suggesting
you all go pillage your local garage you can buy packs of hundreds of these very cheaply.
If you enjoyed this video, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel,
and ring that bell so you get notification for all our new videos.
As always, if you are going diving in the coming days, enjoy, keep warm - and stay safe.