Hello Kim,
You will want a full suit for protection, not warmth. Some times you will be swimming, but a lot of the time will be spent crawling. As I mentioned earlier, I do not use gloves in the river. My hands get scraped up and banged up a bit, and the nails get chipped and split. I am a guy. I dont care too much about my hands getting scraped up. Most people do use gloves, but I disagree that it is a situation of gloves getting ripped up in five minutes. That said, i do recommend them, as there is a lot of broken bottles down there, and you can hit the glass and potentially cut yourself. You will also be moving a water soaked hand along the bottom, picking up rocks, bone, teeth, abrasive and sharp things. Also, you will probably be a bit more concerned with the condition of your hands than I am. The same thought process applies to wearing a full suit. Without one, the knees will be all cut up. Although I am fine without gloves, I will not dive the river without a full wet suit on, and I am one that is prone to over heating easily. Even in the middle of summer, I use an old worn 3 mil suit. Ed
I'm a little afraid of overheating on these dives. I'm assuming due to the nature of them I need a full wetsuit but you know me I hate those things. Do you think I could get away with surf swim tights, or a 1mm? I really dread trying to deal with a 3mm for 4 dives a day. Any chance I could get away with a shortie on some of them? After hearing the story about your gloves ripping in 5 minutes I'm thinking this is like wreck diving... The more protection the better. Any suggestions ...anyone?? I'm really just worried about overheating in the hot southern summer between dives. I'm a Yankee from Chicago.