Winter Hiking in Wetsuit

[7BDiver]

Has anyone done significant hiking in their open-cell wetsuit in frozen locations? Looking at hiking from 4000 ft elevation to a 5000 ft elevation lake in snow and freezing conditions. A large pack with 7 mil suit, belt and such is a lot to pack, wondering what the pros and cons might be of wearing most of the gear. Significant wear to suit, problems associated with significant exertion is a suit that does not breath... I see a lot of videos of people hiking into frozen lakes but not with their wetsuits already on, perhaps just covered by pants and coat.

 

[Brochman]

If you were to hike in a open cell wetsuit in cold temperatures you would build up too much heat so sweat lots which will make you cold, dehydrate you and then possibly hypothermia. In any cold environment sweating leads to getting cold if you get cold because of sweat you need to take off the wet clothing and replace it with dry clothing to prevent hypothermia. So getting a Open Cell wetsuit off when you have already got cold because of too much sweat and after overheating, dehydrated you might find difficult to do. Personally I would not recommend it.

 

[7BDiver]

Thanks for the feedback. it is hard for me to estimate if I would get warm enough to induce significant sweating considering I start to cool off before getting in the water with below freezing air temperature. I could definitely see the wetsuit becoming very difficult to remove if all the lubricant and water is lost after two hikes and a dive. Takes aggressive finning to warm up in the water.

 

[musubi]

Has anyone done significant hiking in their open-cell wetsuit in frozen locations? Looking at hiking from 4000 ft elevation to a 5000 ft elevation lake in snow and freezing conditions. A large pack with 7 mil suit, belt and such is a lot to pack, wondering what the pros and cons might be of wearing most of the gear. Significant wear to suit, problems associated with significant exertion is a suit that does not breath... I see a lot of videos of people hiking into frozen lakes but not with their wetsuits already on, perhaps just covered by pants and coat.

Is the outside of the wetsuit smooth skin or nylon? Do you have an idea of how long it would take you to hike that route?
I'm in an opposite climate type, but I feel like I'd get hot climbing that elevation. My skin doesn't like prolonged heat with no breathing and gets itchy.
If you think your body temp can stay comfortable during the hike, then I don't really see an issue.

Are you trying to avoid slipping into the westuit at the lake in freezing temps? What I've done during cold mornings is mix my suit lube with hot or warm water. Really helps me out not feeling the cold shock. I carry the warm water in a thermos.

 

[7BDiver]

Both with dive buddy, one line and one smoothskin. Primary reason is to reduce pack size/load, time changing gear on the mountain and it is not particularly enjoyable getting into a suit when things are freezing. Hike would take at least an hour.

 

[Sorcerer]

I was wondering same thing for long time why nobody uses it but I guess its due to sweating. At hot day walking in 5mm and it gets 40*C you sweat like crazy. Though if someone figure a way to collect the sweat so it does not precipate down to boots it might be legit for shorter hikes in cold weather.

 

[Mr. X]

I would advise against hiking to altitude wearing a 7mm opencell wetsuit.

I have felt overhot from a short walkin in 5mm wetsuit in Dorset, England. So perhaps more aware of this than some.

Also, as preparation for a mountain trip, I decided to spend a night in my sleeping bag, in an emergency polybag/tube. ( Even though I already owned a gortex bivi-bag). Compared to my climbing partner, who was testing his new Gortex bivi-bag, I was soaking and my clothes saturated . Fortunately we had a relatively easy day to recover from that! Gortex works well and offers real benefit.

I would expect the wetsuit would be more like the polybag, much worse actually because of the inherent insulation.

 

[marychap]

While it'll keep you warm, consider the breathability during exertion. Moisture management might be a challenge.

 

[marychap]

It sounds like an adventure! While it'll keep you warm, consider the breathability during exertion. Moisture management might be a challenge. Carrying the gear is heavy, but wearing it has its own set of considerations. Maybe try hiking outfits there? I hope that helps!