I have a habit of scrolling used gear sites and something that has been popping up are what’s labeled as waterproof kayaking pants. At I first I thought “those are nice” but the more I thought about how and where I paddle they started to seem useless for me.
I don’t usually paddle water that’s excessively cold so I have not invested in a dry suit. I do wear a dry top and use a neo sprayskirt, as well as wearing neo shorts.
It seems like the skirt does the job of keeping me dry while paddling and if I have to wet exit the pants wouldn’t really help, in fact they might hinder me in the water.
Have I got this right and these are more for open boats? It doesn’t seem like they would keep water out if I was swimming.
I’m guessing that water proof kayaking pants are plastic or rubber coated, like splash pants. A friend bought some and stepped in knee deep water. They had cuffs but that just held a lot of water.
There are waterproof, breathable paddling pants with built in socks. I have a pair from Level 6. They allow me to wade into the water and get in my boat that is floating which prevents unnecessary scratches to the hull. The pants also keep my legs dry when I choose to paddle without a skirt on.
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Just as an example one of the ones that seemed they would be quality were a pair from Kokatat that were listed as “100% nylon”. They had an extra reenforced panel on the knees and seat. No feet/socks. That’s kind of why they seemed like they would be a problem if I was swimming and anything I wore under them would end up wet.
Kokatat made regular raingear for a number of years that was plastic coated nylon, no breathable, before they began being more of a specialized higher end drysuit and breathable wet wear company. There are still a lot of the tops and bottoms like that which turn up on salvage sites and used. I got a waterproof Kokatat anorak for my ex beau at a sporting goods and hunting store in the rural town he lives in from old stock they had on clearance for $5! (You can often see these turn up on Ebay veryt cheap. They may look like GoreTex at a glance with the nylon colors and Kokatat logo but they are just regular rain wear, like the yellow rubber raincoats we wore and sweated in as kids and when I was an electrical apprentice.) Nicely made but completely unbreathable so he only wore it for short nasty jobs in heavy rain conditions around his small country property. Caused a lot of sweating in warmer weather but served the purpose . Not a fabric I would choose for hours of paddling. And it would just fill with water if immersed.
You need latex ankle gaskets or built in “socks” to actually keep your lower half dry in paddling pants. I have NRS breathable paddling pants which only have neoprene flaps at the ankles and waistline so I wear knee high Kokatat boots with them. But if I end up in water over the boot tops they fill up and it migrates up into the pants leg, and the waist will leak even if I have a dry top cinched over it in full immersion. Only latex is tight enough to block water from seeking its level dircetly on your bod surface once dunked.
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Pants? You guys wear pants when kayaking? Why?
They don’t like wearing skirts.
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My traditional kilt is wonderful; of course I live in Florida, so I don’t often need much more.
BAck in the '90s I paddled whitewater on occasion with some Russians. I remember Alex and his hand sewn flotation pants.