Selecting
Insulation / Temperature Guide for Drysuit Diving
As the Pirate King said in Pirates of the Caribbean, “The pirate
code isn’t really a code, it’s more like guidelines.”
The same goes for temperature ratings. They are only guidelines. These
ranges are based on average divers doing average dives. However, not
all divers are average. Some people feel the cold sooner while some
are more tolerant.
Other issues that can affect the temperature range in addition to the
water temperature are:
| Activity
level: |
What
are you doing underwater? Hunters who swim a lot generate substantially
more heat and need less insulation than a photographer who is sitting
still trying to get a Morey Eel to smile! |
| Body
size: |
Smaller divers
(which includes most women) typically get colder faster because
they have a greater percentage of body surface exposed to the cold.
Smaller divers usually feel the cold sooner than larger divers. |
| Metabolic
rate: |
Are you the
type of person who wears a sweater while everyone else is in short
sleeves? Or are you wearing short sleeves when everyone else is
wearing a sweater? How your own body works makes a big difference
in how much insulation you need. |
|
