Could someone please explain to this newbie the purposes of a wet suit and dry suit and at what water temperature you would need one or the other vs regular paddling clothes (i.e. t-shirt or shirt and jacket and, of course, always a PFD). I'm guessing a dry suit keeps you dry (duh!) with insulating clothes underneath for warmth and that a wet suit would be used in coolish but not cold (temp?) water to keep your body dry but not warm???? Is that anywhere close to correct??? I live in North Carolina and plan to paddle (for now) in relatively warm spring, summer and fall weather but need to know the basics and cautions. Thanks. Susan McLaury Biddle McLaury_at_aol.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
MCLAURY_at_aol.com wrote: > > Could someone please explain to this newbie the purposes of a wet suit and > dry suit and at what water temperature you would need one or the other vs > regular paddling clothes (i.e. t-shirt or shirt and jacket and, of course, > always a PFD). > > I'm guessing a dry suit keeps you dry (duh!) with insulating clothes > underneath for warmth and that a wet suit would be used in coolish but not > cold (temp?) water to keep your body dry but not warm???? Is that anywhere > close to correct??? That should be: "a wet suit would be used in coolish but not cold (temp?) water to keep your body warm but not dry" The point at which you need wet or dry suits can elicit opinions almost as strong as those for rudders, feathering paddles and the like. Hard rules like "when the sum of the water and air temperature are below x" are nonsense. Being conservative and wanting to paddle for many more years, I wear a wet suit in all but the warmest of conditions. I'm the last to stop using a wet suit in summer. If the water is warm enough to swim in for hours, I'll go without. This fall, I first wore my dry suit a few weeks ago, when circumnavigating Beausoleil Island in Georgian Bay National Park. It was hot with the suit and cold (during lunch) without. I don't have a fixed rule for switching from wet to dry suits. I look at the air and water temperatures, weather prospects, exposure (island hopping or open water) etc and then error on the side of caution. I think it comes down to "how long do you want to live?" I once rescued a paddler in water filled with ice and he was wearing cotton sweats. I also know a Coast Guard member who dumped off Nova Scotia while canoeing with a buddy of his. His buddy died but he survived after spending an estimated 90 minutes in the water with a PFD and street clothes. He went about 70 minutes past the "theoretical" limit (unconsious most of the time). Pure luck. If you can swim for a long time with the protection you're wearing, you'll be ok. Otherwise, go up a notch in insulation technology. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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