On Sunday I and 9 other members of ISK took a daytrip on the Mississippi. The air temperature was around 32 F. We paddled for about an hour and a half, stopped for lunch and paddled for an hour or so after lunch. I wore a polypro tshirt, stretch polypro and activist fleece on my upper body for insulation. On my lower body I basically the same insulation layers. My outer layer was a Gortex Drysuit. My feet were in wicking socks, insulated gortex socks and Chota Brookies with neoprene boots to protect the Brookies. I used Sealskin gloves in the morning and neoprene gloves in the afternoon. At lunch I was cold until I opened my drysuit and put on an additional dry layer of insulation. I left the extra insulation on for the afternoon paddle. I was warmer in the afternoon. At the take out I found that all of my insulation layers were soaked with perspiration. If I had stopped paddling and was not prepared to change into dry clothing I think I would have been very cold for the remainder of the day. My question is have others who paddle in cold had similar experiences with insulation dampness? If so, have you found a solution to the dampness? Dana *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
From: "Dickson, Dana A." <dana.dickson_at_unisys.com> > My question is have others who paddle in cold had similar experiences with > insulation dampness? If so, have you found a solution to the dampness? > I wear a one-piece, 100-weight Polartec drysuit liner and, if it's really cold, a Polartec top and heavy (cycling) polypro tights as well. I find that the persperation tends to flow to the outside of the fleece layers. That's partly wicking and partly condensation on the outer layers. Since Goretex only lets out the insensible persperation (ie. water vapour), and since I generate lots of sweat when paddling, I expect to get wet. When I stop, the persperation continues to wick and I feel drier relatively quickly. If I stop long enough, there's a noticible drying. Usually the drysuit is comfortable after about five minutes of standing around. In the worst case, I find that I'm no worse than paddling in warm weather. I guess I just accept damp as part of paddling. I don't find that I feel that cool. In fact, I sometimes open up the drysuit to cool off. Ralph has commented in the past about his concerns that Goretex suits leave the wearer prone to evaporative cooling problems, but that's not been my experience. Mike (first post in a month due to computer problems) *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 27-Nov-2000 Dickson, Dana A. wrote: > > At the take out I found that all of my insulation layers were soaked with > perspiration. If I had stopped paddling and was not prepared to change > into dry clothing I think I would have been very cold for the remainder of > the day. > > My question is have others who paddle in cold had similar experiences with > insulation dampness? If so, have you found a solution to the dampness? > Dana, Goretex does not breathe fast enough to expel moisture fast enough to prevent the buildup of perspiration if you exert yourself significantly or wear too much insulation. However, after you stop paddling, you can just leave your drysuit zipped while it continues to breathe. Before long, everything inside will be dry and you'll still be toasty. If it is cold outside, your polypro will actually dry out faster inside the suit than if it is left to dry in the cold air. One other thing I noticed is that given equal amounts of insulation and exertion, coated nylon suits are slightly warmer than goretex. This is because when vapor escapes from a goretex suit, it takes with a small but significant amount of heat. But goretex suits are so comfortable in such a wide range of conditions that this is not an issue for me. After my weekend of stormy winter paddling on the Washington Olympic coast, I've decided that my favorite piece of gear is my Kokatat Meridian goretex suit with the reflective tape and Mr. Happy zipper. I even discovered a great new use of the suit, which is digging up razor clams in the dark and rain. We sure stayed warm while getting drenched! Cheers, kevin ---------------------------------- Kevin Whilden Your Planet Earth http://www.yourplanetearth.org E-Mail: kevin_at_yourplanetearth.org ph: (206) 788-0281 fax:(206) 788-0284 ---------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I usually wear a full-body 200-weight fleece garment (from Lochsa) that has a zipper down its front. Depending on temperatures, I will also wear additional layers of capilene under the fleece body suit. I find that I can adjust the insulation level of this arrangement by opening the zipper partially, or even all the way to my waist, as conditions warrant. I also carry an extra 300-weight fleece jacket as a general rule, I in cold weather I have used this during lunch. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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