Dressing for cold

weather. I am on a tighht budget until sometime into next year. I have some old insultated wadersw with only the boot insulated. I am thinking about wearing those with a warm synthetic top. I just bought some insulated underwear. It is the kind that is supposed to work on all conditions of body temp. I got it from Walmart. I will wear something over all that that will repell water. I will be fishing in eastern NC coastal waters. I’ve used tot waders on one occasion the last time I went fishing, but the weather temp was just cool a bit. When my financial situation gets better, I am thinking about getting a wet suit, or maybe buy a dry suit top, and wear that over my waders. I may even replace my old waders with some stocking foot waders. Give me some thoughts and advice on all this please.

You are on the right track.
Boot foot waders are a bit clunky in a kayak, but at least yours is a sit on top. My winter weather is a bit warmer, it seldom gets below 50 degrees. Mostly, I wear neoprene reef boots, wool socks, nylon waterproof pants, fleece pants, a synthetic shirt, and layer with a merino wool sweater, nylon golfing shirt, and my nylon rain jacket.



If I’m going to be very far away from shore or civilization, I go to stocking foot neoprene waders. The wool sweater and nylon golf pull over were found at a resale shop. Those are great places for finding decent winter fishing clothes made of wool and nylon. Look for merino or lambs wool, garments made from those type are usually light for the warmth povided and not as itchy. Think I paid $3 for the wool sweater, 2 for the golf pull over. The latter is an ugly plaid, but it blocks the wind and is light. I’m considering getting some wool dress slacks…maybe suit pants. I’ve used them before and they help.



I’m also switching to my Old Town Loon rather than my solo canoe. The latter can be a bit tippy, the Loon is very stable. Hate giving up the light weight of the canoe.

Used
At this time of year a lot of the outfitters and shops are selling off their rental gear. When I first started I picked up a farmer john wetsuit and booties for $30. I still have it over 20 years later but the booties are gone. If you use the waders, make sure you have a chest belt on. You will have a tough time getting back in the kayak with waders full of water. Fleece is fairly cheap and works well for layers. Hit the thrift shops, garage sales and swap meets. A dive suit will probably be too heavy but a water ski or surf suit would work well. Make sure you can move your arms freely.

cool weather clothing
Yak.canfish, i found an old synthetic shirt to wear over my new insulated underwear. The underwear is the wicking type too. I had my boot waders on, and that shirt and I was very comfortable yesterday. I also had another synthetic pullover on, but had to take that off because I got hot putting my yak in. It wasn’t that cold yestewrday, but the wind was about 25 mph. Even at that, I was ok because of all the paddling.

Souds like you are set. I’d assume
that coastal NC weather is much like here, mostly mild winter days. Though, I guess you get more down in the 40’s. Fished yesterday, it was 83 degrees. All this week, it’ll be in the upper 70’s.

used
Ksfrmn, thanks for the advice. I live in a sparsely populated area, and I don’t know of any thrift shops near by. I will be checking on the net.

Thrift shops
I was at one of the local thrift shops the other day and there was a decent farmer john for $10. Dont know what the size was and we did not need it. If there is a sizable town with a thrift store anywhere near you find an excuse to check it out. I live near a heavily used lake so we get all kinds of used water gear in our thrift shops. There were 8 or 10 various wet suits in stock. All were cheap and all needed a good cleaning. I bought a near new golf cart for $7 a while back. I wanted the wheels for a tail dragger on my fishing kayak. Not all wetsuits are sized the same so try it on if you can.

Nice tip
Thanks for the tip. I may think of someone who lives near the Raleigh area who would check on this for me. There should be other places near water around here that could have a thrift store also.

Farmer John
kfsrmn, could you tell me if a farmer john would keep me warm if it isn’t kept wet. I would only wear it in the cold months as a precaution for hypothermia under my other clothes.

wool
yak.canfish, I’ve always had a problem wearing wool. Don’t know if it is just me, or if I have a slight problem with an allergy to it. It shouldn’t bother me if I wear it over my other clothes. I know it will retain its insulating value even when wet.