I have many pairs of drysuit mitts. I thought about using them, but decided against it because they are too thick. I just kept refilling my 3mm gloves with warm water out of a cooler we had on the ice- this works out great for defogging your mask before you go in too.
My feet never got cold. I wore a pair of 5.5mm Esclapez open cell booties and filled them with water. After a morning of diving I went into the changing house and took a hot shower, changed and ate a big lunch. When I went back in for the afternoon I put my suit on in the shower and pre-warmed it. Nothing ever got cold besides my finger tips.
I did notice that my breathhold times seemed to drop quite a bit after the big lunch that I had. Next time I might go a little bit eaiser on the food. It was tough to do because my mother-in-law made three different types of cookies and my wife's grandmother showed up with fresh rolls that were still WARM from her oven. Another friend of mine was in charge of the fish boil, so I ate.
This is about the 20th year in a row that we have run this dive. We have an argon line tied into our safety rope so that the divers on the end have an unlimited supply for their drysuits. We keep the bottle on the surface in a heated tent- nothing like warm argon to keep you in the hole all day with a bunch of students.
This was the first year in almost two decades that I didn't have to teach. I just freedove and shot pictures. Now, I am hooked. I can't imagine using a tank again. At the end of the day my gear clean up took so much less time than everyone elses.
In the past I have always gotten my best pictures close to the hole. I also ended up holding my breath most of the time so that my bubbles wouldn't get in the hole and spoil my photos- breath holding is not the best thing to do on scuba. With freediving I could move around so much easier and not worry about the bubbles spoiling my shots.
Thanks again for all of the tips. I think what I need is just a nice pair of 5mm open cell freediving gloves.
Jon
