Cooties? Funny childhood memories.
"When children reach the age where they notice the sexes are different the children claim a member of the opposite opposite sex will give you “cooties” if they touch you.
“Its a way of little girls telling other little girls not to play with boys and vice versa.”
[Urban Dictionary]
I remember the shrieks and warnings of “catching cooties” from boys if they came near our dolls and dollhouses. “Girl cooties” never seemed to bother the little boys - probably because they were little boys.
Pikabike’s helpful and I always enjoy reading what she has to say.
You have to measure, not “feel” …
… this stuff. The fact that a thin layer of water feels warm to you, is only in comparison to a thicker layer of water that is constantly exchanged with your surroundings, as well as the absence of that initial chill that you feel when the water first enters. What you can’t feel is the fact that you lost energy warming up that thin layer of water (that’s energy that you don’t get back).
I just read some articles about this. When submerged in your wetsuit you are losing heat to your surroundings at a faster rate than you would if the suit were kept completely dry inside, but since the average person can’t make the proper comparison to detect this (the average person doesn’t have a neoprene suit that stays dry inside), your perception is that you are warmer because of the layer of warm water, rather than in spite of it.
Your body can only detect relative differences in heat loss between situations you know (you know what it is like with and without the suit), but not compared to situations you don’t know (you don’t know how much warmer you’d be if the suit were totally sealed). Your body cannot measure quantities of heat, so relative comparisons are all you have to work with, and that’s where the misconceptions come about.
Change Physicians
It’s quite possible the doctor is wrong.
you are a brave man, hiker
(that thought occurred to me also)
Exact opposite gender attitudes
…where I was a kid. It was the boys who chanted about watch out for catching cooties from girls!
We used the term as a substitute for “germs”, not visible bugs.
Try demoing a different kayak
I have two different model sit on tops, a 13’ and a 14’ (ocean and eddyline) and if I take moderate care, I can stay dry in the seat area if I want to on most flatwater and gentle river conditions.
Clean water, hot day, feels good to get splashed. Really hot day, 100ºF+, it’s nearly obligatory to get wet here Not so clean water, cold day, cold nasty smelling water (thinking about a trip to the Bay area, paddling in a tidal slough that I took last fall here in CA with our ongoing drought) feels good to expose as little skin as possible to the water. That water didn’t feel right, either, it felt sticky. I took off my paddling shoes in the kayak because I didn’t want ‘that’ resting on my skin the whole time. I couldn’t wait to get a shower afterwards and I used disinfectant soap on my legs/feet. Yuck.
Some models of kayak have a higher seat/center of gravity/weight bearing capacity than others. Advantages: drier. Disadvantages: can be slower in a brisk head wind. Advantages: wind at your back on return loop, much easier…
As for what you are wearing, if you switch to synthetic quick drying underwear and shorts/bottoms that don’t hold moisture, that will help. There are plenty of stretch exercise capris, shorts, yoga pant type things at places like Target or Big 5 Sporting goods (even Walmart, Kmart has some of this) that are not expensive and will breathe better than regular summer clothes.
As for what is causing other discomfort, a short term exposure to moisture is not the cause - the pathogens have to have “fuel” to grow, besides moisture and temperature. How are your blood sugar levels? For some people, that means cutting down on the amount of sweets and the amount of dairy or the types of dairy they are consuming. Or at least not feasting up extra on it on weekends… Whoever said eating yogurt helps with this… there is a real variation between people’s metabolisms in how they handle certain foods. There is a tendency to eat a lot of yummy snack “energy” bar type things on weekends while being outdoors, and that combined with yogurt (oh, it’s a frozen yogurt, it has to be “good” right? - wrong, loaded with sugar) can be a train wreck for some skin conditions. If yogurt actually fixed this no one in America would have any sort of skin problems.
seat pad
– Last Updated: Aug-16-15 6:54 PM EST –
I like the idea of a mesh seat pad. All my scuppers drain quite well and I use a 1" thick seat pad that I bought in the camping aisle at walmart. It has a strap and buckle that will attach to my back rest. I do stay dry. However, when I'm running a river, I usually get out and take a dip in the water at some point, if it's nice and clear. I would love to try a mesh pad and see if it works. At any rate, I stay dry with the seat pad that I have. Even with drip rings, my thighs get wet from the paddle drips. EDIT: When I paddle a lake, I don't do any swimming, so I do stay dry with my 1" camping seat pad.
Wrong again
Do some research
Right on the money
As for the thin layer of water, that’s not even a given. My diving wetsuit only allows a small amount of water in at the wrists, neck and ankles; most of my body stays dry. Again, the less water intrusion into a wetsuit, the warmer you will be. People can argue all they want, but that’s a fact.
Water does NOT provide insulation
What it does is conduct heat AWAY from your body to the neoprene. That heat is eventually conducted (hopefully slowly) through the neoprene to whatever external medium you’re in, whether that’s air or water.
Read it yourself!
Nowhere does it state that water add any insulation. It actually reinforces what I said that the suit keeps you warm despite water intrusion.
Yanoer is right in that an SOT,
no matter what, is a wet ride. Scupper plugs do help, but the length, paddle angle used, and entry/exit of it, plus your seats depth or angle of said seat, all can have an effect on how wet our rides will be. We have various models of SOT’s and each models seat will have slight differences, which is one reason I primarily paddle a sit inside. Plus the ‘sit ins’, for me, glide through the water at a smoother pace. I do like my OK Prowler, but if I’m going to be on the water for 3-6 hours, it’ll be in a sit inside.
*Welcome to the world of paddling, whether kayak or canoe. You’ll meet a lot of awesome folks and BTW, thanks for your questions because if you knew the answer, you wouldn’t have asked.
Have a great day. Shirlann
how so?
– Last Updated: Aug-19-15 9:18 AM EST –
If a wetsuit didn't permit that film of water, would it be less insulative? Or more insulative?
Does neoprene pipe insulation depend on that film of water?
Not all SOTs,
my Hurricane Skimmer 128 stays dry without scupper plugs in.
Only time the seat is wet is if it rains on the way to the launch.
So, how does that crow taste?
Apparently, you hate it when I’m right.
I don’t think so
– Last Updated: Aug-20-15 8:11 AM EST –
If anything, it's sweat. Unless your wetsuit is loose. Because most people don't completely immerse themselves before getting into their boat.
Bwilley5, did you ever find a solution? I ran across this post while looking for some type of bottom that does not allow liquid in.
Who’da thought a post about wet shorts would get this many replies? Not to be left out, I always wear a pair of jean shorts under my wet suit that I wear in the winter time. My aim is to stay as dry as possible, but most of the time I don’t even wear a spray skirt. I can’t remember a time when my shorts have been wet when I remove the wet suit. Who ever it was that said wet suits are made to absorb water must have found one different than the ones I have. They are as good as any rain coat I’ve ever used and they certainly do keep me warm. I also wear a long sleeved
polyester undershirt under the wet suit. With that and my PFD, I never have to wear anything else to stay warm–and dry.
I wonder if they make antiseptic Depends.
I paddle a SOT and typically stay fairly dry. It is a WS Tarpon which has a high seat pan, a quick drying seat, and scuppers under the seat so you never sit in a puddle.
I also have a Necky that guarantees I will stay wet.
https://kokatat.com/product/tropos-deluxe-boater-pant-ptwtbd not short but you will be dry. Not happening with neo even though it is closed cell.