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Sean Asked-
When diving in extreme cold water conditions such as Antarctica or Far
Northern Canada, air containing helmets such as the DSI Superlites offer
obvious warmth advantages over FFM or bandmask configurations.  My question is
this:  Are the breathing characteristics of a full air containing helmet (ie.
consumption rate), prohibitive when considering their use with SCUBA (either
open or closed circuit)?
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It has been our experience in the US Antarctic Program that there is a big
leap in comfort when going from scuba to bandmasks.  The step from bandmasks
to helmets is noticeable but not nearly as dramatic.  Unfortunately there is a
real increase in gas consumption using bandmasks/helmets when compared to open
circuit scuba.  This is one reason we rarely use them on scuba, even in open
water.  In an earlier thread there was a discussion about the safety of using
FFM/bandmasks/helmets while diving scuba under a ceiling (ie: under ice) in
freezing conditions.  If you are interested Sean, I'd be happy to write you
directly so as not to bore the list with a rehash of this topic.
Cheers-  Rob Robbins

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