I am looking into buying my first wetsuit. I will be winter paddling in South Texas and summer paddling on the Great Lakes. I would expect to use the suit in 55 to 70 degree water. There are so many styles and thickness options that I am just lost. I would certainly appreciate any suggestions and comments. I would especially be interested in the basis for your suggestion (ie, is your suggestion adequate protection if I reenter the boat within a few minutes, would I have time to swim myself and the boat for 30min to an hour to shore, or would I have time to lay on top of the boat and wait several hours for rescue,etc.). I try to stay on the "cautious" side of most options and do not mind being on the warm side while I am paddling. Your help in getting me in the right ballpark for my selection would be greatly appreciated. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I don't think there is much you can do which will allow you to swim "an hour to shore" in 55 degree water, without significant risk of hypothermia. It does depend somewhat on your percentage of body fat, and on your age and physical condition - but I don't think many of us could swim that far in water that cold, even with good protection. Water here never gets much above 65-68 degrees, even in summer - though at the shoreline it can occasionally get up to 78 degrees or so. I haven't been wearing neoprene at temps above 65 degrees - just polys and a paddle jacket tailored to the air temp and the wind. For 55-60 degree water, my own preference is for a full-length 3mm neoprene wetsuit, often with a longsleeve poly top underneath it. Below 55 degrees water temp I always wear full-length 3mm neoprene, or a Goretex drysuit - most often the drysuit, though many people will do well in a full-length 3mm suit. Northwest River Supplies has good quality wetsuits at a reasonable price. No affiliation. Bill Hansen *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:05 PDT