[Paddlewise] Drysuit socks/booties

Hello fellow paddlers, 

I'm posting this to two lists to maximize the response so my apologies 
up front to those who get this twice. 

I am now in the process of shopping for drysuits for my wife and myself 
and I'd like to invite input regarding options.  My intent is to go for 
Gore-Tex, front closure units with relief zippers, most probably from 
either Kokotat or Stohlquist in high visibility colors. 

Right now I am unsure of the best (for me) choice regarding sewn on 
socks or booties  I know I pretty much want to stay away from just 
having the latex gasket at the ankles and, so, I believe that gives me 
three choices of sock/bootie material: 
A. Latex 
B. Neoprene 
C. Gore-tex  
Please correct me if I'm wrong. 

Before I go shopping, I'd like to get a little more information about 
these choices, so I'm asking folks to let me know what they use and the 
pros and cons they have found with their set-up. I also have questions 
regarding the material itself, for example: 

1. I understand latex socks since I believe them to be just sock shaped 
devices made of the same material as the conventional wrist and ankle 
gaskets.  I would expect that using these socks would involve getting 
them oversized and wearing polypro and wool or pile socks underneath and
a conventional (perhaps oversized) kayaking bootie over.  Is this  
right? 

2. What are neoprene socks (booties?) like.  When I think of neoprene I 
think of what I call conventional kayaking shoes (either high or low) 
made of rather thick neoprene and generally with a rigid sole.  Are the 
drysuit neoprene socks like this?  Would you just wear insulation under 
them and not need to wear anything over them to protect them (like a 
bootie) or are they more like a sock? 

3. I have a pair of SealSkinz socks which I think are probably similar 
to Gore-Tex.  Is this true?  If so, I would expect to use the Gore-Tex 
socks in the same way as the latex.  True? 

So folks, as you can see, I don't know much about dry suit socks. Please
fill in the blanks so I can be a better informed shopper. 

Thanks, 

Bill Leonhardt
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