Looking at the thermal conductivity of air verses water it is not at all surprising: Air = 0.000057 (cal/sec)/(cm^2 C/cm) Water = 0.0014 (cal/sec)/(cm^2 C/cm) http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tables/thrcn.html That is a factor of 24x Clearly you are much better off with air as an insulator than water if cold is the only factor. No surprise as well that everyone I know claims to be much warmer in a dry top than even a full wet suit. We often use our wet suits when rock gardening anyway because of protection they offer from jagged (and very hard) rocks compared to a dry top. One sharp rock can turn a wonderful dry top into a very lousy "wetsuit". Steve Brown ....Given that there are many variables here, I was impressed by the difference provided by the drysuit based on the computer model. It was actually much larger than what I would have expected. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Mar 12 2003 - 21:47:08 PST
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