Cold Weather Diving Tips
Michael Poggione Dec 08, 2020
Cold weather diving tips by Mike Poggione
- Prep gear beforehand.
Assemble your regulator and BC the night before inside. Warm fingers, no wind and no time crunch make it a cinch. Turn the system on and make sure the tank is full but then close the valve and purge the system. You can even get your weight loaded. Your assembled kit should easily pack/fit into your car.
- Wear your drysuit undergarments to the dive site but still bring an extra set of clothes.
Dry suit under garments are super cozy; so wearing them in the morning for the drive to the dive site is no big deal. If your layers are pretty thin or you're just going wear a base than maybe you need to wear something over but that still makes it easier to change.
- Suit up in car.
This is what works for me: I push and lean my front passenger seat as far forward as it can go and then I sit in the backseat behind it to suit up. I keep the car running so I have heat. I also purchased one of those car plug electric heated blankets. I set it on the backseat that I use and plug it in whenever I am changing in or out of my drysuit and undergarments. At the end of my dive I do take my dry suit off before I climb into the backseat, but I plug in the blanket and even start the car first in so it's nice and warm first.
- Use a small cooler (or lunchbox) to bring hot water.
Having a smaller cooler of hot water can really be a game changer for hoods and gloves. To keep the hot water from sloshing all around during transport - you put a small plastic bag in th cooler first and then fill it about 3/4 full and then tie off the bag.
- Snacks.
Diving in cold water saps your energy. Don't get hangry.
- Crates not bags
No one wants to dig around in a bag for mask and other necessities. Make your prep easy when you're diving from a car/truck and get a crate to store your smaller pieces of gear and equipment (mask, defog, good, gloves, lights etc). Don't get a giant solid unit designed for long-term storage. There is a reason Motor City Scuba has a ton of black milk crates for sale (well they're not really for milk and they are longer than the traditional milk crate).
