How to Stay Warm This Winter

HOW TO STAY WARM THIS WINTER Matt Lind

Water absorbs heat 25 times faster than air. At no time is this physical fact more apparent than in Winter. There are just as many fish around but if only we could stay out long enough to get a few!

Here we will try and outline a few of the tips that you can use to maximize your time and enjoyment in cooler waters. We will presume that you are already wearing a correctly fitting Freediving style wetsuit with a hood – if you’re not, then this why you’re cold! To read about what a Freediving style suit is click here.

As soon as we jump into the ocean physics will try and equalize the temperature difference between your body and the surrounding water. Our goal is to slow down this equalizing process as much as possible.

1. Wear the right thickness wetsuit.
By placing a non-conductive barrier between our precious selves and the water we can slow down heat loss through conduction. Diving we use neoprene wetsuits as our insulator. It is not the neoprene itself but the gas (gasses are poor conductors) trapped in the little bubbles in the neoprene that provide the insulation. This is why open-cell Freediving suits are so much warmer than closed-cell scuba suits.
The thicker the insulator the warmer we’ll be. Buy a 7mm jacket to wear in the winter time. It will not cost you anymore in the long run as instead of buying a 5mm every three years you’ll be buying a 5mm and a 7mm every six and you will be amazed by the difference.

2. Start warm
If you get into the water cold the chances are you’ll stay that way. Keep yourself rugged up until the last minute and have a thermos full of hot water to lube your suit up with. Most of your body heat is lost through your head so wear a beanie before, after and between dives.

3. Stay out of the wind
Nothing will chill you faster than the wind. Not only do we lose heat through conduction but also convection. There are two ways we can prevent heat loss through wind chill (other than getting out of the wind) the first is buy using a smooth skin wetsuit. These suits shed wind and are much warmer out of the water than a regular nylon suit but can be expensive and very fragile. The second and better option is putting on a cheap, pvc raincoat, you know the yellow ones from the Warehouse. These shed wind like nothing else and because pvc is non-breathable you will not lose any heat through evaporation – think steam bath!

4. Eat breakfast
No matter how good your suit is your body is going to need to use some energy to keep you core temperature up. Energy used to keep warm is energy not being used to slay fish. Food is fuel so stoke up. Cheese and jam sammies are the best!

5. Keep your pinkies warm
Don’t forget about your hands and feet. Get some 3mm gloves and 5mm boots.

As we all know how long you can hold your breath is directly linked to your comfort in the water. If you’re cold you’re not comfortable and your spearfishing performance will suffer.