Cold weather / frostbiting sailing gear - great article

Good article .... I'm a wet suit kinda guy.

Progressively as it gets colder, thin wet suit shorts (1 mm), shorty wet suit, farmer john 3 mm, add a wet suit top, spray top, wet suit boots.

NRS has a great line of limestone based wet suit products made for kayaking that are moderately priced and very durable.
 
Having finally gotten around to trying a drysuit for the first time, I'm not inclined to go back to a wetsuit when the temperature falls below 45-50F and the water temperature drops into the low 40's. I mean, you can do it, but it makes for a long day on the water if you do capsize at all. Before switching to the Gul drysuit, I was wearing a 3/2 full wet suit for the chilly weather, mostly in SF Bay and Santa Cruz, where the water never really warms up that much during the year. While the drysuit isn't as flexible as the wetsuit, I find that my overall comfort level is much higher, being dry everywhere except my hands and face.
 
Gill drysuit. It's awesome. I was out today, just my sweat suit underneath, no worries at all. Granted, it was 50*/50* air/water, but still. I like it because if I break something and go in the water, I can wait a long time for rescue in a drysuit. In my wetsuit I'm afraid I'd get too cold after 30 minutes or so to be able to fix the boat or save myself or whatever.
 

Back
Top