UV rays thru tinted windows

[jdiver]

Well, here is my next installent to my long line of ignorant questions:

Does a window's tint deflect UV rays, if so, is it a significant amount, enough to prevent deterioration of certain diving gear, such as drysuit seals, from occuring at a much faster pace?

I'm getting just a little tired of driving 10 miles ,out of the way, to get from work/college (same area) to my favorite diving sites, which are fairly close, but I keep my gear in a storage unit near my home, which is out of the way by 10 or so miles, as stated above.
I'm wondering if my gear will be OK in the bed of my truck, which has a cap with heavy tinting...

I guess I could always throw a blanket over all of it... The heat produced shouldn't matter, right?

Thanks y'all

[adam0321]

I'm getting just a little tired of driving 10 miles ,out of the way, to get from work/college (same area) to my favorite diving sites,

I'll bet 90% of the people on this forum would kill to have this problem...

[jdiver]

I'll bet 90% of the people on this forum would kill to have this problem...

I don't really consider it to be a problem, more of a situation that created a curios question, which was the reason behind this post, that can be easily changed. I guess I should have left that part out if I wanted any info about the tint though...

So, are you trying to say they have to drive further than that to dive sites because driving more than 10 miles wouldn't be anything bothersome for me, if I was going to cave dive. I'm referring to a little hole in the wall lake that i use just to get wet, since there isn't a cave, cavern, lake deeper than 30 ft or vis better than arms length within hours or more, from where I'm at. Comparing both our state's inland diving, is like comparing a huffy bicycle with a harley chopper.

I' d kill to have a single submerged cavern, let alone a sinkhole, around here... Yeck, I'd even build one, if I had the equipment, but no such luck. Its cool though because it is a motivator for me to one day live and dive in florida, daily.

Have you heard anyone gearing up to go in JB and said, "Man I wish I was in MI", although I can't say that for sure because the great lakes have awesome wreck diving, if you have a boat... For the most part, besides the great lakes, MI's inland is a bunch of 1/4 mile square 20-30 ft deep puddles, vis included in that desription, although the fish are probably tastier than your cave creatures. I mainly go because the low vis and objects on the shallow floor allow for me to practice some limited cave techniques such as reel usage (tie offs) and low vis diving.

Can't speak for everyone, but I'd rather drive 50+ miles daily to dive caves than 10 miles for a mucky puddle.
Now, with that said, I consider myself fortunate for the water bodies that are here, plus the dive gear and a truck to haul everything. I can't imagine living in afghanistan or in the Gobi where water is almost nonexistant on the surface ... That would suck and there probably are people that HAVE KILLED to get out of there and still never made it?

I guess I can understand why you replied with that though, since it does seem like a petty concern... It was more of a scientific observation question that would extend further than damaged dive gear, but I guess I chose the wrong forum for that...

Take it easy.....

[jkaterenchuk]

I am just finishing up a extended diving trip to Thailand. I do not know the scientific results but over here the Thai women hate to get dark skin from the sun. Every lotion of skin product here has some kind a marketing related to whitening (ala Micheal Jackson) on it or in it. You see many of them wearing long sleeve jackets (often backwards) while driving in the car even with windows which are tinted almost black. I thought that to be a bit odd so upon asking I was told it was because their arms get tanned thru the windows. Take it for what it is worth.

[jdiver]

That does help. Thanks.

I was also thinking that I do sometimes post on here with questions that may be related to diving but not directly to cave diving, so I guess I could post these kind of inane questions on scuba board? I just respect the answers on here more, most of the time...

Plus, even though we are all in America, there are probably a lot of differences in viewpoints among other things between the many miles between us, but these days it seems it is much closer than states away and more like counties or cities away to find differences in culture related ideologies?

All I know, is I usually get replies that are far from my topic when I start a post, but strangely enough not when I post to existing threads.... This is true for all net forums? Hhmmm, maybe I sound like an idiot on a computer monitor?

[adam0321]

Easy there buddy I did not mean anything by it. Just poking fun at you. I am actualy a diver who has geared up saying I wished I lived in Alaska or Washington. I can't stand the heat.

Now my two cents. I drive a. Sub with dark tint and my dry suit stays in there all the time with no problems.

[Wizard]

My sister in law has a real hard time with uv and the doctor told her to get the limo tint on her car.
In Alabama you need a prescription as dark tint on front windows is against the law. So I would guess it helps.
Or dark tint means you are a drug enforcement official. Makes em' real hard to spot. LOL

[Greenwood_60]

Harmful UV rays from the sun can cause skin cancer. Tinting your car can block 99% of these damaging rays. (http://www.tintcenter.com/articles/bt_benefits.html)

I'm sure not all tint is created equal, but generally it's pretty easy to kill UV rays. Plain glass will to some degree, that's why expensive UV sterilizers (for Marine Aquariums) will use a fused quartz glass specifically. If you don't know if your tint is specifically designed for it, it may be worth having it replaced with some that is. It's probably not a problem if you already have really dark tint, but re-tinting is a lot cheaper than a new drysuit.

Heat (and pressure) will weaken the latex over time. In Florida, I would be more worried about this than the sun light. You can powder your seals and toss your suit in a construction grade black garbage bag and keep the UV out, but you can't keep it away from the ambient temperature. Don't know your weather up there, so you will have to decide that for yourself.

[Rich]

I keep my drysuits in my van year round, it has a heavy tint (not limo) all around and I've never had any problems. Hope this helps.... '

Safe diving,

Rich

[ianr33]

UV will not pass through glass. (You don't get sunburnt with the window up)

Heat might be a problem,but not UV