RFI: Strategies for staying cool in a drysuit

This is my first year using a drysuit. I am headed out on the ocean tomorrow and I expect it to be a scorcher. I've noticed I get hot very quickly in my drysuit. I was wondering what kind of layer and strategies you guys use to stay cool in drysuits?

Take a little swim to cool off. Putting your hands in the water and splashing water on your head helps as well. In the summer I wear the thinnest polypro available, a long swim does get a little chilly without much insulation but its better than sweating bullets above water with thick fleece IMO. Have fun out there

I have this very same issue even here in Alaska!  I will say though that you should have at least some thermal protection from immersion. I'm constantly amazed how quickly I cool off when I jump out of the kayak or sit in the water by the beach.   I've dumped bottles of cold seawater on to me.  I can't even imagine what it must be like in a drysuit when temps reach over 65 deg....I don't think I have ever experienced that. 

I like to hang my feet over the side and vent the neck. My suit has an adjustable neck but I know other guys run a neck ring to allow some air flow.

I like to hang my feet over the side and vent the neck. My suit has an adjustable neck but I know other guys run a neck ring to allow some air flow.

I'm a neck ring user!

-Allen

When you're wearing a drysuit, changing headgear is an easy way to deal with changes in temperature.  If it's cold in the morning but I expect it to warm up somewhat during the day, I may start by wearing an insulated hat with a balaclava under it in the morning, and peel down to a baseball hat when it warms up.  Wearing clothing on top of your drysuit is another way to deal with changes in temperature.  If it's cold in the morning, but I think it may get hot during the day, I may wear a pile sweater or other insulation over my drysuit in the morning, and take it off and stuff it inside my kayak when the weather heats up.  If peel off all the clothing I'm wearing over my drysuit but still get hot during the day, I splash water onto my drysuit or jump in the water for a minute. 

Where can one pick up said neck ring?

Start early and limit before it gets hot 

Having a cup handy to splash cold water on your suit goes a long way. Lightweight poly generally breathes pretty well too. That being said the number of times I remember over heating off the coast are pretty limited. I'd generally rather be a little hot than end up in 40ish degree water without the proper layers.

Never worn a drysuit in a kayak is the summer, but wore one a lot for work (Diver) once upon a time.

get ALL the air of the suit and jump in the water.  Air is a huge part of your insulation.

you can put on a white, cotton shirt.  Will help reflect the suns rays, and soaking it will be like having a big, wet, heatsink around your chest.  works great if there is any wind.

get ALL the air of the suit and jump in the water.  Air is a huge part of your insulation.

You can burp a lot of air out of your dry suit by squatting down and squeezing your arms against your chest while pulling your neck gasket away from your neck with your finger.  To burp as much air as possible out of your dry suit, get in the water, submerge yourself up to your shoulders, and pull your neck gasket away from your neck with your finger for a moment.  The water pressure will squeeze the air out of the dry suit.  I have to do this before I start snorkeling and speargunning for pike, so I don't float so high in the water that my swim fins splash on the surface.  The down side of burping air out of your dry suit by the immersion method is that the dry suit will continue to squeeze your body after you get out of the water.  If you don't like that "vacuum package" effect, stick your finger under your neck gasket and let a little air back into your dry suit.

Where can one pick up said neck ring?

I made my neck ring out of the clear, flexible tubing you can find at any of the hardware stores.  I put a smaller diameter inside a larger tube to provide some tension and rigidity, but not too much.  The larger tube is probably 3/8 o.s. diam.  1/2 inch would work too.  I carved a wooden insert to join the two ends together.  I'll post a picture later.

I like to hang my feet over the side and vent the neck. My suit has an adjustable neck but I know other guys run a neck ring to allow some air flow.

I'm a neck ring user!

The risk of wearing a neck ring under the neck gasket of your dry suit is that if you unexpectedly end up in the water, you could get a lot of water inside your dry suit before you can jerk out the neck ring.

I like to hang my feet over the side and vent the neck. My suit has an adjustable neck but I know other guys run a neck ring to allow some air flow.

I'm a neck ring user!

The risk of wearing a neck ring under the neck gasket of your dry suit is that if you unexpectedly end up in the water, you could get a lot of water inside your dry suit before you can jerk out the neck ring.

IMO, I doubt that. 

If you are using a kayak style PFD, you will have a hard time staying under long enough to get much water past the neck.
Yes, you will get water but not enough to be too concerned with. 

If you get dumped out of a sit-on-top kayak, your exit will probably be neither graceful nor controlled.  If you get tipped over in a sit-inside kayak, it'll take you a couple of seconds to either roll up or bail out.  In either case, if your neck gasket is being held open with a neck ring, I suspect that you'll get quite a bit of water inside your formerly dry suit, particularly if you get dumped out or over in surf or big waves.  To me, wearing a neck ring under your neck gasket sounds more like a strategy for getting cold and wet than like a strategy for staying cool.  But does anybody have any stories to tell about times that they or somebody they know took a swim while their neck gasket was being held open with a neck ring?

A couple  of times I have waded out into the water to burp air out of my dry suit, and discovered that I had forgotten to zip closed either the main zipper or the pee zipper on my dry suit.  It kind of put a damper on things.  So to speak.

Neck rings are a personal choice.  I would suggest that if you choose to use a neck ring that you practice dumping with it engaged to see what the effect will be and if you are prepared for the effect.   The type of neck ring you choose to employ will produce a particular type of effect when submerged.  I made mine so that it easily pops away from the neck gasket.  If you stretch the neck gasket too tightly it won't pop easily and disengage.  I tested mine out in the water, not in the pool, and found it disengaged as I impacted the water on my side as the compressing air in my drysuit bulged up against the neck.

It should be noted that neck rings need to be used with discretion.  If conditions are rough and your personal risk threshold has been exceeded, disengage the neck ring.  If you are participating in an activity that increases the odds of dumping, disengage the neck ring. 

There are of course unexpected dumps for a variety of reasons, but a properly designed neck ring can be an effective tool for minimizing overheating even if a dump comes as a surprise.