What is your disrobing protocol after the dive?

[Dannyk]

What is your disrobing protocol after the dive?

I am usually driving an hour or so to a small lake in central Wisconsin and I am wondering how you guys deal with the open cell suits and all the lube etc.?

I take off my suit by my mini van and finish getting dried off and dressed in the van. I then don my hat and I am ready to enter the public arena for coffee and a bit to eat for the trip home.

I am looking at getting a warmer wet suit for the new spearfishing season and this is another one of the hassles of the open cell suits I am wondering about. I know most of you guys have them, so you must have some tricks of the trade to share.

Jon, I really wonder how you do it after diving in the middle of the winter? You even mentioned skiing to open water. Getting there I can see, it is the getting back to the car part I wonder about?

Dan

 

[Jon]

I've got a couple of different methods that I use depending upon just how cold it is.

If it's above 0F I'll flush My wetsuit with hot water when I get back to my car. Then I peel my jacket off, dry off with a towel and put on a fleece and a down coat with a hat on right away.

Next, I flush my pants out, again, with hot water to warm things up and flush out any residual pee. I take off my socks and stand on my changing mat or my crocks- it's much easier to balance on the mat.

Then, I peel my pants off so they come off inside out and wrap a towel around my waist. Off comes the suit and then on go the pants under the towel. With a large enough towel you can do this, keep warm, and not get arrested. rofl I used to use a changing robe, but it was more hassle than it was worth- the towel works better. I can then put on my socks and boots and go head out for lunch and coffee- or beer. :friday

If the temps are below 0F I just throw a couple of towels down on my car seat and drive home in my wetsuit. I pull off the hood and mitts, but leave everything else on. when I get home I take off my suit inside my shower with the hot water running full blast.

Hope that helps,

Jon

 

[Dannyk]

Interesting Jon,

You flush your suit in your car? How much water? Is it just draining on a towel? I am trying to imagine (without too much detail) how this is accomplished.

Is the lube on your skin a problem for being seen, or smelled, in public?

Dan

 

[fjohnson]

Interesting Jon,

Is the lube on your skin a problem for being seen, or smelled, in public?

Dan

Hey Dan, go for the coconut scented creme rinse.. I really like that stuff. Some creme rinses irritate the skin but I think all the creme rinses are much less of an irritant than a shampoo or soap. I don't worry so much about a rinse or rinsing myself or the wetsuit after the dive. 'course, I pee on the shore'. As far as protocol.. it's the lakes man, get naked. I think my lube mix is about 1 part rinse to maybe ~ 8 - 10 parts water.. that seems to be a good mix for me.

When it's cold, the bad thing isn't so much about getting out of the suit but there is just no way to keep it warm the whole time trying to get it on when it's freezing (freezing in north dakota is actually 32 degrees below freezing.. 0F., because when it's actually freezing..32f, we tend to think it's warm). I hate the cold...

A thermos of hot water does wonders during the disrobe.. but not coffee hot, then you'll have other trouble. It's been a long time since I did an ice dive... but not long enough.

Jon.. .. you've got like 10 million posts. .and I have what?? ... a couple hundred. Hope things are good for you and the family.

Fred

 

[Jon]

When I flush my suit with warm water I do it standing in the road next to my car- not in it. The lube helps to cover up the pee smell when I go out to eat afterwards.

Fred, the family is doing great- my daughter turns 7 today!

Jon

 

[reason]

get a kilt.

 

[Old Man Dave]

Where I live is not as cold as where some of you guys is at. However, for me it's, in summer I change alongside my van but in winter I always drive home sitting on a bit of plastic as a seat cover and then strip off in the shower.

I do have an outside spa (hot) tub by my back door and I do occasionaly use it to jump into and strip off my suit after driving home. However, I got concerned that salt would wreck the pump etc and also running from the spa into the house, even a few yards, on a cold night, was not too pleasant.

I played around with an independant heater in the back of my van or even just running the engine and using the heater full blast then changing in the back, but driving home won out in the end.

Depends how far you drive I suppose. 25 minutes is my max drive time. If it was longer maybe I'd experiment with the in-van independant heater.

Dave.

 

[azapa]

I walk up to the house, remove suit outside (leave bottoms on if we have guests and a nice warms shower. Very few things in life feel better!

When I go somewhere else to dive I hate it: sand in my undies, filthy sand covered suit stinking of pee, all that crap. I don't dive elsewhere often...

 

[Whopperhead]

Dan- I wear, what is called "JAMMERS". they are like shorts made of Speedo/Spandex material. It dries fast, so I take my suit off (in public, cause they are shorts) and dry off my Jammers with a towel and then get dressed. I get in my suit the same way- without offending too many people. (I'm sure some don't want to see me half naked )

 

[azapa]

Scott, would that layer not keep the open cell off your skin making the suit colder in use?

 

[Whopperhead]

yes and no- it still seals up your legs and around your waist. I've not had water come in my suit- up until this last year- but that's cause I lost 40 lbs. I need a new suit.

 

[unirdna]

I use a Jedi changing robe. The ladies love it!

...and by "ladies", I mean Jon and Fred (and Scott on Weekends).

 

[fcallagy]

Transit van. High roof.

 

[Whopperhead]

I use a Jedi changing robe. The ladies love it!

and so do Jawa's..............:friday

 

[Dannyk]

So it sound by absence, that the lube is not really an issue. Do you lube the hood too.

Scott and Jon do you use a lighter wetsuit later in the summer when things warm up some?

Dan

 

[Whopperhead]

I think you could get by with a 5mil if money is a little tight- if you get warm- just flush it with water- that will cool you down. Otherwise- YES we use a 3mil when the water gets above 70 - usually. also, allows you to use less weight. I lube everything......hood included.