Back in the early 1980's, when I was working on kayak safety and rescues, I bought a Mustang Float coat with the neoprene crotch strap, like on a wetsuit top, and tried it out. The crotch strap was valuable in that like a wetsuit it helped prevent the transfer of the water your body had warmed up with the ocean. It was bulky and stiff so definitely not good for paddling in. I used to use a full wetsuit paddling WW and in surf, but even there it would quickly exhaust one because paddling with it was like pushing rubber bands that were resisting your strokes. In WW and surfing you can stop and rest but for sea kayaking it would just be too much work. These days I use a farmer john and a paddle jacket. I have one Seda made I use if there is a good chance of being cold and wet. It has a neoprene body but coated fabric sleeves that don't interfere with paddling. I used to surf with a drysuit but never really liked it and usually put a farmer john inside in case it leaked. Even though it had a front zipper so I didn't have to get my head out of the gasket to take a leak it was such a pain to get on and off and I would feel strangled at first but then later the gasket would stretch out too much and deteriorate so it would get too loose. They were also hardly dry (pre Gore-tex anyhow as I'd get way too overheated in them and sweat so much inside I'd soak the insulation inside anyhow. Get good at rolling and practice self rescues until you are an expert at them to back up your roll is my advice. Wear some hypothermia reducing garment you can live and paddle well with without getting too overheated so you can reduce the incidence of cold shock when cold water hits your chest and so it can provide you more time in the water and preserve your strength longer for getting back in the kayak. I think most cases of cold shock activating an uncontrollable gasp reflex also involve alcohol. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Dec 21 2010 - 21:38:48 PST
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