How To Warm Up After A Cold Surf (Without Shaking Your Keys Into A Drain)

The surf is the easy part. You're moving, the adrenaline's going, and the wetsuit is doing its job. Then you walk up the beach, the wind finds the wet neoprene, and the next fifteen minutes decide whether you enjoy the drive home or spend it with the heater on full and your hands not quite working.

Most people lose most of their heat after the session, not during it. So it's worth having a plan for that bit, the same way you'd have a plan for the paddle out.

Before you go in

Warming up afterwards starts in the car park before you've even got changed.

• Lay it out in order. Towel or changing mat on top, then base layer, then hoodie, then beanie. You won't want to rummage with numb fingers.
• Fill the flask. Something hot and sweet. Tea, hot chocolate, soup. Not coffee you're relying on to do the job of a coat.
• Keys somewhere you can reach. A key safe, a zipped pocket, a mate. Not a place that needs fine motor control.
• Eat something. Your body burns a lot to stay warm in cold water. Going in hungry means coming out colder.

Get out before you have to

The best way to warm up quickly is to not get properly cold in the first place. If your hands have stopped working on the paddle, or you're shivering hard between sets, that's the session telling you it's done. The "one more wave" after that point is the one that costs you an hour of shaking in the car.

The first five minutes

This is where it's won or lost.

1. Get out of the wind. Behind the car, the van door, a wall. Wind on wet skin pulls heat out faster than anything else in the car park.
2. Head first. A huge amount of how cold you feel comes from a wet head and neck. Towel your hair, beanie or hood on, before you've even started on the wetsuit.
3. Top half next. Peel the suit to the waist, dry off, and get a warm layer on straight away. Then deal with the legs.
4. Feet off the ground. Tarmac in December is cold enough to undo everything else. Stand on a mat, a towel, the boot lip, anything.

Our longer guide to changing in a car park covers the logistics. The short version: have a system and do it the same way every time.

What to put on

Layers, not one big thing. A thin base layer traps warmth next to your skin, and something thick over the top keeps it there. A heavy hoodie and sweatpants is our answer, which is why we made ours stupidly heavy. Thick socks. Then a coat over the lot if it's properly grim.

Cotton next to the skin is fine once you're dry. The problem is cotton that's still wet, so make sure you've actually towelled off before it goes on.

Then move

Once you're dressed, don't just sit in the driver's seat waiting for the engine to warm up. Walk up and down the car park, carry the board, put the kit away. Gentle movement makes heat. Sitting still in damp hair doesn't.

Sip the hot drink. It won't fix you on its own, but it helps, and it gives your hands something warm to hold.

Things that feel like they help but don't

• A hip flask. Alcohol makes you feel warmer by sending blood to your skin, which is exactly where you lose heat. Save it for the pub.
• Blasting the heater and driving straight off. You're getting warm, but you're also still cold underneath and a bit slow. Give yourself ten minutes before you drive.
• Going straight into a scalding shower. Warm is good. Very hot water on very cold skin is uncomfortable and can leave you light-headed. Build up to it.

The after-shiver

Lots of surfers notice they feel colder ten or twenty minutes after getting out than they did on the beach. This is often called afterdrop: cold blood from your arms and legs starts circulating back to your core as you warm up. It's another reason to keep layers on, keep moving, and not drive off the moment you're dressed.

Normal post-surf shivering is your body doing its job. If someone is confused, slurring their words, very drowsy, or they've gone from shivering hard to not shivering at all while still cold, that isn't normal. Get them somewhere warm and call 999. The RNLI and NHS both have good guidance on cold water and hypothermia that's worth a read before winter.

The short version

• Get out before you're wrecked.
• Out of the wind, head covered first.
• Dry, then layer, top half before bottom.
• Feet off the tarmac.
• Hot drink, move around, wait before you drive.

How cold you'll get depends a lot on the month. Our UK sea temperatures by month guide has the numbers and what to wear in the water. This is the guide for the bit after.

And because the car park is the coldest part of most winter sessions, we're building something for exactly that.

Kit built for exactly these conditions, not the brochure version. svrf.uk