I just picked up a dry-suit. I’m in New England but my intent is not for super cold weather, just extending the season a month or so on each end. (I’m skiing late Nov through mid April) For skiing I have every possible weight of base and mid layers you could imagine in synthetic and wool and all sorts of wool hiking socks. So I’m all set underneath.
I would assume I need some sort of boot to protect the dry-suit socks. Recommendations?
I would assume I should have a neoprene beanie in some mid-weight. Recommendations?
I have a pair of light-weight neoprene gloves. They’re actually for outdoor activities like hiking and skiing when it’s raining so hard that even the best goretex gloves are pointless so your hands might was well be in little wet suites. Not sure if I should get something better for paddling.
I wear Astral Brewess water shoes for warm and cold water paddling. Size 8 for warm water and size 10 for cold, to accommodate my drysuit booties and the Smartwool socks worn inside. Neoprene Glacier Gloves work reasonably well so long as I don’t get them wet. Hands are my weakest link .
For the booties, something like smartwool or polypro socks inside. Only thing with the outer boot/shoe is to make sure it , is not so tight it really crunches up the socks. I find half a size up from show, or a size, takes care of that.
They probably sent you some kind of zipper lube with the suit, almost anything will do.
Huge note - make sure you rinse the zippers well after each use in salt water. Salt water can freeze up zippers.
Subsequent update, I forgot about the newer zippers. That said, I will still walk into the shower in the dry suit in Maine to be sure.
What suit did you get. If it’s the newer nylon toothed zippers that lay flat they’re more tolerant of salt rime. I’ll second Rookie about the Astrals. Brewer or Rasslers. Gloves = Glacier Gloves. Neo cap = Kokatat Surfskin Strap Cap or Bill Cap.
Glacier gloves are great and I love the NRS storm hood w bill and cinch for any sort of rolling or extended immersion (but too hot for milder touring).
I see that many inexpensive water shoes in the $20-$25 range are available. Would they be suitable for protection assuming all insolution will be via socks?
In all likelihood, I’ll be using the suit when the air is reasonable but the water is too cold to go unprotect, like May and early June in MA.
Just a little tip: keep the inside of your shoes clean! Little stones and sand trapped in your shoe throughout the day can cause pinholes and excessive wear.
The good news is that this type of damage is easy to fix with AquaSeal or similar.
Deep See hard soled neoprene dive booties are usually pretty cheap ($25 to $40) and provide warmth and abrasion protection. I’ve had a pair of the 5 mm ones for 10 years and they’ve held up well. They also come in a warmer 6.5 mm. I do tend to prefer my knee high Kokatat Nomad hard-soled boots, though, since I rarely get water inside them when launching. But they are only 3mm and not quite as warm or easy to put on as the Deep Sees. And the short boots dry out faster.
Cheap shoes OK as long as they stay on and have a solid sole and sides. As Sparky mentioned, small stones and dirt can do a job on the booties if you have shoes that let that in.
Don’t the Astrals have laces? Aren’t those a no-no because of the snag factor? I wear neoprene boots, and if they have loops for pulling them on, I remove them. Don’t want to get stuck in the boat or on a tree branch.
@willowleaf said:
Deep See hard soled neoprene dive booties are usually pretty cheap ($25 to $40) and provide warmth and abrasion protection…
I would think with a sock inside the dry suit and then the dry suit sock, you need to go up in size a bit. Any advise on what is typical? I’m a perfect US 10.5 in a street shoe. Would I want an 11.5?
@willowleaf said:
Deep See hard soled neoprene dive booties are usually pretty cheap ($25 to $40) and provide warmth and abrasion protection…
I would think with a sock inside the dry suit and then the dry suit sock, you need to go up in size a bit. Any advise on what is typical? I’m a perfect US 10.5 in a street shoe. Would I want an 11.5?
As mentioned in my response, I went up two sizes. I like to have some wiggle room for my toes plus I wear a thin neo sock over the drysuit booties to protect them from the sand that inevitably gets into my shoes. Tried one size up but didn’t like the fit. YMMV.
I much prefer pogies to neoprene gloves to keep the hands warm. I only use my astrals in warm weather, in cold I prefer nrs neoprene booties to go on the outside the drysuit socks, wool socks on the inside. An old pair of ankle or knee high hose helps if you are trying to slip on neoprene booties. A rubber mat or old rug is helpful to stand on while changing. It keeps the drysuit feet out of the mud. Keep a small tube of zipper wax in the pocket of your pfd. ALWAYS have a partner assist you zipper pulling. They can pull from a better angle and cause less stress on the zipper. Air out drysuit indoors (turn inside out as needed) in a dark room after each use. Store loosely in dark chest of drawers after completely drying. Never hang outside, the uv rays kill the gaskets in no time. Resist the temptation to wash and never put the suit in a dryer. I use fleece pajamas for my under layers, a thin balaclava for my head.
Rosborn
I’ve heard of more cinch straps and sandal straps getting caught than shoelaces. Now, if you don’t tie your shoelaces that could be a different affair. Step-trip-splat
@Rookie said:
As mentioned in my response, I went up two sizes.
Sage advice. I stopped wearing my neoprene socks along with my boots because the combination made things too tight and my feet were actually colder than if I omitted the socks.
Depending on the conditions expected, neoprene socks can work on their own too. Though your foot pegs may dictate a hard soled shoe.
@Rookie said:
As mentioned in my response, I went up two sizes.
Depending on the conditions expected, neoprene socks can work on their own too. Though your foot pegs may dictate a hard soled shoe.
Installed minicell footbraces in my kayaks but still need a hard soled shoe. Maybe I’m a tenderfoot?
As to the laces, I guess if you tie your laces and leave big bow loops flopping about, they might snag on something be it in the cockpit or walking through the woods. But that’s easily remedied.
My Astral Nomads are an older model without the ankle laces I see on more recent versions. But, as mentioned, they should be removable anyway.
I love the danged Nomads. Even wear them in the summer (sockless) with knee pants and teeshirts. I know I probably look foolish wearing knee high boots with that kind of getup but high boots are great for launching without mud, slime, goose poop, sand and/or gravel in your shoes. And we have some nasty launch sites here in SW PA. I just push the upper shafts down to my ankles once I get settled in the boat if they feel too hot. And I can clamber out and walk the boat through the gravel shoals when stream levels are low without getting my feet wet.
Another nice drysuit accessory is a fleece one-piece bunny suit. I got one on line for under $50. Simplifies cold weather dressing as opposed to separate layers, though it does reduce some versatility.