Thermal Protection Questions

Hi there:

I live in Laguna Beach and go snorkeling/free diving almost every weekend.

I have an O’Neill Heat surf wetsuit in 4/3 configuration and also use a 3 mil hooded vest when diving. I really like the flexibility this combination affords me—as compared to a 6 mil plush lined farmer john/step in jacket I used to own several years ago, when I was scuba diving.

I am very comfortable in 58-degree water.

As I am a certified diver, I want to start scuba diving again. However, I wonder how this combination will be going to 100 feet where the water temp is 50 degrees at the bottom and 55 on top. I know guys who get cold on their second dive using 7 mil suits in these conditions.

Instead of shelling out $300+ for a 7 mil suit, (which just has thicker arms and legs) what do you think of trying an $80 lined dive skin under my current set up?

Think it will be warm enough? Any suggestions?
Thanks for your input.
Steve Benjamin
Laguna Beach, CA

Steve:
Thermal protection requirements vary by individual and situations. Thin people, for example, tend to need more thermal protection than those with a layer of body fat. Smaller people also chill quicker. Then there is the difficult to measure variable of metabolism.
How will you be diving? With wetsuits, deeper dives require a thicker suit because the suit is compressed making it much less efficient (not to mention the colder waters at depth). What will be your primary activity underwater? If you’ll be moving around a lot, you’ll be warmer. If not, such as in macro-photography where you sit in one place for a long time, you will get colder, quicker.
And finally, what is the quality of the wetsuit you are currently using? Obviously an ill fitting or poorly configured suit will not work near as well as one that fits close to the body with an attached hood and double thermal protection in critical areas (torso).
With what you have described to me, it sounds as if you’ll be fine in the summer and fall in Southern California (64 to 70°F water) to about 70 feet.
A lined dive skin will help to a limited degree. A better idea might be a “Microprene” undersuit from Henderson. It is a very thin (1 mil) neoprene jumpsuit intended to fit under your existing wetsuit. An added feature is it an excellent tropical suit. Another idea if you have a bit of room under your existing suit is to get a more hefty hooded vest, say 5 mil, skin-in such as the Henderson Gold or Harvey’s Kobalt.
If you think you will be diving to 70 feet or more year round on a regular basis, don’t just consider a 7 mil custom wetsuit but perhaps a dry suit is your proper investment. It may look more expensive at first but you’ll get more dives per day, more time per dive, and much, much more comfort. And dry suits have a longer life span than wetsuits, if properly cared for.

Dale Sheckler
Editor

Comments on Abalone Article

Dale,

I enjoyed Bruce Watkins abalone story (April issue). However, I would like to make a few points. First of all for an unsafe diver, abalone diving is considered one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Every opening day, at least one person dies.

For the safe diver it’s a lot of fun.

I was a little confused by some of the advice: i.e., go down a piece of kelp or anchor line without being weighted (it better be secure) to 30 feet and stay there for a while???? In northern California, we usually wear 1/4"+ wet suits. That is a substantial amount of buoyancy. I would like to see the person who gave this advice “pull hand over hand on a piece of kelp” to 30 feet in a full wetsuit without weight—and stay there for “a while.”

It sure would be nice to find a place where nobody has been to find abalone; unfortunately, most of us will never find that place.

I still don’t understand the macho attitude over the biggest abalone. One of the largest abalone ever found (over 12") was found in 3 feet of water in Shelter Cove, CA. That doesn’t mean every one who reads this information will be able to find a 12+” abalone in Shelter Cove, in fact, you probably won’t find any abalone in Shelter Cove. One of the largest abalone I have found was in 3-4 feet of water at Fort Ross—I was on my way back to shore .

Finally, if you are a real good abalone diver, you don’t have to prove anything to anybody. You can go diving and just get two abalone. What the heck, you can always go next week and get two more. Abalone are much better fresh. If you are really good, you don’t need to give free abalone to everyone you know. Let’s do some of our own regulation and the state won’t have to regulate us as much.

Abalone divers as a group have to protect our sport. Watch out for poachers, find their vehicles, slice their tires and call Fish and Game.

Bill Mashek
Forestville, Sonoma County

Kudos on Harvest Refugia Editorial

Dale,

Kudos on your recent editorial concerning harvest refugia. Those of us up north who belong to the Sonoma County Abalone Network (SCAN) have been working on behalf of abalone and the nearshore marine environment for eight years now and have seen many conservation efforts come to grief over the kind of political infighting you describe. Marine Harvest Refugia, however, are an idea whose time has come because here (finally!) is a plan that has something for everybody—commercial, sport, and conservation interests. We should all jump on the bandwagon and pressure both the Department of Fish and Game and our legislators to implement refuges as soon as possible. Up here in Sonoma County we are particularly worried about the abalone and rockfish resources, which are going fast. Refuges seem to promise both conservation and use.

Keep up the good work,
Randy Floren, SCAN

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