RE: [Paddlewise] 2dead4missingNJ

Chuck Sutherland wrote:

So here is a question. What is the best wetsuit of any material that
might be worn routinely by working personnel on boats at sea or by
racers that are training hard, that would at least give them some edge
against the shock of sudden immersion in cold water. Such an outfit
would ideally give them enough time to do effective things to lengthen
survival times and get emergency messages out.
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My understanding is that commercial deck crew routinely wear some sort
of "anti-exposure suit" -- the kind that Mustang and others make -- when
on deck at sea in winter, Chuck.  It's a one-piece, insulated,
waterproof jumpsuit designed to keep the wearer less cold and less wet
than he/she would otherwise be while working on deck, and it usually
incorporates "float coat" type flotation in the insulation should the
wearer go overboard: water intrusion is inevitable and quick, but
somewhat controlled to give a partial "wetsuit" effect.  In an emergency
situation where abandoning the vessel or having it sink from under the
crew is likely, they'd switch over to -- or probably add -- an
"immersion suit" -- typically a heavy, usually cumbersome five mil
neoprene suit with integral booties and sometimes mits, a waterproof
zipper and neoprene gaskets wherever openings remained -- neck and maybe
wrists.  These aren't advertised as dry suits, but would provide some
significant measure of protection and insulation, depending on a lot of
things including air and water temperatures.  In all likelihood, an
emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) of some type would be
activated by the crew -- or automatically -- if the ship sank, so the
idea of some poor bugger called "Sparks" sitting in a radio room
somewhere tapping out a morse code distress signal as the ship slips
beneath the waves is older than either of us, Chuck; the COSPAS-SARSAT
system for identifying and localizing distress signals is a pretty
efficient and well-developed system.  (Although that might be belied by
the length of time it took to lauch SAR in the case of your NJ fishing
boat.)

A lot of years ago, when I was flying CSAR for the Navy, we had a green
flying drysuit with a heavy, one-piece insulated liner: the suit had a
latex neck seal and wrist seals, and there was a snap-in, watertight
(says here in the fine print) air valve that could feed warmed air
through the suit and into the lining, which had a network of ventilation
channels built into it.  When it worked, it was great.  When it didn't,
yuck.  Especially if we were flying with them over cold water with warm
air temps.  We called them "poopy suits"; they were replaced by neoprene
wetsuits incorporated into flight suits, having a thermal layer inside
the neoprene to provide some comfort while in flight or on deck.  

But a small shard of twisted metal can turn any drysuit into a wetsuit
very quickly -- but a floppy and not a very effective wetsuit, at that.
So it looks like survival experts are now trying for a max-min solution,
assuming that suit seals will be compromised, trying to exclude water
but adding as much flotation and insulation as possible.  I've swum
basic "anti-exposure" suits, and found them pretty effective in moderate
water; the gouge is that they're capable of providing "survival" -- do
not read comfort or body integrity at the extremities into that word --
for three hours in 40 degree weather.  (My test was a lot more benign.)

There are a lot of ancient Navy studies analyzing wetsuits and drysuits
and their relative benefits, but, practically speaking, it looks like
heavy, water-resistant, insulated, floatable immersion suits are the
benchmark these days for a cold-water survival application.  Better to
assume any suit will leak and build it accordingly than hope that latex
seals and dry insulation will work "in extremis".

Jack "Joq" Martin
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