[Paddlewise] What To Wear With a Farmer John?

In a message dated 3/13/03 4:44:38 AM Pacific Standard Time, KiAyker_at_aol.com 
writes:

> Once again, the original question asked by Ron was not about dry suits. He 
> simply asked what's the best way to wear a Farmer John wetsuit for kayaking 
> - 
> with insulation over or under the suit? 

Ron, I am also trying to figure out what is best to wear with a Farmer John 
wetsuit while paddling in the winter. I paddle in Southern California, and 
the ocean temp in the winter is generally between 53 F and 57 F. I bought a 
closed deck boat a little over a year ago, and so I have been spending most 
of my limited paddling opportunities practicing self-rescue and rolling, and 
therefore I spend a lot of time in the water. When I specifically go out to 
practice rescue and rolling, I wear a capilene t-shirt under my Farmer J, 
along with a waterproof paddling jacket over the FJ that has velcro fastening 
gaskets at the neck and wrists. I also wear rubber paddling shoes, neoprene 
gloves, and a neoprene dive hood. This combination of apparel keeps me quite 
comfortable during rescue sessions that last well over an hour, with much of 
that time splashing around in the water. I have practiced without the 
capilene shirt under the FJ, and I think I am warmer with it than without, 
but that may be my imagination. 

My dilemma is what to wear when I want to paddle for some distance? I get 
very hot while exercising and I can't stand wearing the paddling jacket (or 
the hood of course) when I am paddling for a couple hours. So, I have only 
been wearing the capilene t-shirt under the FJ, which leaves my arms exposed 
in the event of a capsize. I think this is probably fine as long as I can get 
back into the boat within 20 or 30 minutes, but I doubt this will keep me 
warm for very long in the event I need to stay in the water for a couple 
hours. In order to provide more protection while trying to prevent 
overheating, I just purchased a hydro-skin, long sleeve shirt from NRS, which 
I plan to wear under my FJ. This garment is .5 mm neoprene (1/2 of 1 mm), but 
I have not yet used it on a paddle so I can't tell you if it works for me. 
I'll let you know the results after my next paddle. Mike         



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