Makes me look fat! Actually I’m 6’ 185. Wear over PFD.
@Rookie, size of cag.
It is on the quite floppy side on me, frankly to work at its best it has to be. It is designed to be something you can pull out and quickly put over whatever layers you are wearing without having to squeeze around PFD etc, as well as be a long top that you can pull out at a lunch break to put over your other layers if things are getting chilly. It is long enough that I can kind of sit down within it. Personally I would never have a cag for this kind of purpose that actually fits me like a paddling jacket. The tighter sizing would get in the way of what it had to do. And render it useless if you had to share it with the average guy you might be paddling with who took an unexpected swim.
My Tropos jacket that I got before this to pull out in case I needed extra warmth was an XL, at the advise of Tom Bergh. I had it maybe a year before a training group I was in needed to get a jacket onto a guy who swam and found he was chilled when he got back into the boat. It was rather a surprise to the coach at the time, but my big old XL was the first and the best jacket that came out of a hatch for the guy.
For a jacket with this purpose in mind, big is good. And the Kokatat PakLight ones have an advantage that the original silcloth ones made by someone in the UK did not. Those early ones were wonderful garments in many ways, but I never knew anyone who could stand wearing them for more than about 15 minutes paddling because they did not breath. Until you are talking some pretty dicey temperatures, these pakLight ones are much easier to just slap on if you have chilled out over a break and keep on for a while into the paddle without overheating.
Thanks, Celia, for the details. Uncertain if I need one for paddling, but it sure would be perfect over my down parka while blowing out the driveway. Lake effect snow has been light powder which is easy to move but sneaks under my collar and gloves.
Loose over the PFD would give better insulation.
@Rookie I would not advise this top for things like over the parka for shoveling. It is loose enough that stuff can sneak in around it if you are standing in blowing snow with it. It’d work better, and be a ton cheaper, to get a long enough scarf to wrap thru your collar and up to your lower face and a pair of really good outdoor gloves with a long wrist. The Tropos version is cheaper but still comes in at $219., Paklight was over $300 last I looked. My extremely fancy Goretex gloves with a long wrist and super insulation and bungies to tighten things up were I think about $85. The fleece scarfs I keep around to go thru as needed are 5 to 10 bucks each, I pick a couple new ones up as needed in sales.
If the blowing snow gets really annoying I also like a true bomber gear hat, ear flaps and brim etc. It is also very hot though, I find a well wrapped scarf to be more flexible to change as you go.
The purpose for these cags is totally paddling. It is not something that people necessarily start out deciding they need. It usually becomes a constant companion once you have gotten one. Mine comes out of the hatch a lot at breaks, it just makes the rest of the temperature adjustment for a lunch break less fussy.
Well said Celia, I keep mine in the day hatch and can easily remove and put on when I need it. I said before, it’s one of my favorite pieces of gear, because of the ease of use and how well it works.
@Rookie said:
Thanks, Celia, for the details. Uncertain if I need one for paddling, but it sure would be perfect over my down parka while blowing out the driveway. Lake effect snow has been light powder which is easy to move but sneaks under my collar and gloves.
Its long but shorter in the back than up front. Blowing snow up the back side?!? I’d rather have it come in the neck hole in my parka. A scarf , buff, or balaclava can take care of that.
Though they seem laughably low-tech, the cheap thin knit liner gloves and socks with reflective aluminum strands in the fabric work surprisingly well for adding warmth. I worked in outdoor construction during several very cold winters and found both invaluable.
One advantage, besides a surprising amount of heat retention, is that the slightly rough surface of the gloves (slightly sand-paper like, though not enough to irritate the skin) gives you better dexterity than most liners. You can operate a camera, fiddle with a zipper pull or hatch lid, or use most hand tools while wearing them – don’t have to expose your skin to wind. I used to wear out a pair of the gloves per week when I was an electrician, handling metal conduit and wire, but would buy them in bulk for about $3 a pair. I’ve long used the socks as liners under wool socks inside my hiking boots in winter – now use them in my paddling boots as well and have worn the gloves inside pogies – they are good at moisture transport too.
https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Socks-Gloves-Metallic-Silver/dp/B01M8QLPIY
I’m also a big fan of polar fleece Buffs (or the similar versions made by Turtle Fur). I find just adding that extra layer around my neck that is available to pull up over ears and lower face makes a real difference in cold weather comfort. I wear them indoors around the house in weather like we are having now and use them in addition to a regular wrap scarf when outside. If the back of my neck is warm, the rest of my body seems better able to adapt. And if my hands get numb with chill, I take off my gloves and reach back to slip my fingers between the Buff and the back of my neck for the quickest warm-up.
@Willowleaf - thanks for the reminder.
Yeah, these. We had such a warm winter last year I forgot about them. Have two in the bottom of my scarf/hat/warms stuff bag for winter, will probably be pulling them out tomorrow morning.
https://www.turtlefur.com/products/the-turtles-neck-warmer-fleece?variant=16894884293&utm_source=googlepla&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_7u16ZC_2AIVmbXACh2f4AWhEAQYASABEgL0fvD_BwE
I may have to order a couple.
Dug out my bacalava last night and used that under my hooded down parka. That issue solved. I have three very good pairs of ski gloves but as my fingers get cold, I’ll come inside and switch to a warm pair not covered with snow. Maybe those liner gloves Willowleaf suggests might help; will order a pair to check them out. Happy dance if they work clearing snow and even happier if they work under my Glacier gloves.
As to the cag, I can recall only a couple of instances last summer when I was wet and chilled, but I was paddling into strong headwinds and conditions were too lively to take my hands off my paddle for any reason.
I did try slipping my Kokatat Otter Tropos jacket over my PFD tonight. It’s a men’s large and wasn’t difficult to get on over my PFD although I’m sure the cag is easier. But it’s an easily packable option that I already own.
@Rookie The Otter Jacket is the first one I got to use for this kind of purpose. Only diff is mine is an XL, so it is a slightly longer tent at lunch that the L. I and Jim personally did not see the increased utility of the cag that goes around the cockpit until a few of our paddling companions got them. The hesitation was the heating up factor, because those early ones were silcloth. When Kokatat came out with the same in Goretex we both got them.
My hands have always gotten cold more easily than most. So multiple gloves always around. What works really nicely is mittens that have fleece lined glove inside. I picked up a pair of them last year, and they last longer in messy stuff than anything else as far as comfort. I did pull my good gaiters from skiing out to use for shoveling anything over 6 inches, makes a big diff for my feet.
@Celia
Well, I’m sure following great footsteps. I just hesitate spending $200-$300 for gear I’m not convinced I need, although if this spring and summer are anything like the winter so far, I may wind up ordering one after my first outing.
This morning’s trip into town.
@Rookie We are still just above zero here but that is going to go down. Not as cold as you but I am going to turn the temp up a bit before I go out today on the hot water heater and the floor over the basement. Leave something running when I go out for longer tomorrow. By Sunday midday we are out of the woods.
We have gotten back to back days of 20 plus below here, not common but it has happened here and there. And stuff can happen even when people are very diligent. One rental I had years ago actually had its worst freeze risk in a Ujoint to the bathtub, 7 or so feet in from the outside wall. I had buttoned up the old windows and draft dodger at the door, so from what I could tell our worst draft issues were covered. But apparently there was a hidden draft thru a weak spots in the old outer wall to that joint. It started closing up the first winter I was there, and I realized the problem before it burst anything. I stuffed the area around the joint - luckily there was an access panel - with pink insulation and never had a problem again.
I certainly understand why most of the people here are from somewhere up there.
Actually, I find cold and snow a lot more predictable hence easy to prep for than sudden huge storms like hurricanes. You have a better battery in your car and drive it every day, wrap up drafts in the house and make sure your furnace and water lines are protected. Then just turn things on or up when it gets really cold.
Near shore is a known risk. Much as I would love to go to sleep every night to the sound of waves, I would never own a primary residence where a storm surge is that close. Or below a reasonable flood level for a river. (which levels are getting higher) Snow can slow you down but it can’t flood in your windows and destroy your utilities. Unless you have structural issues in the roof, which are also usually preventable.
Then buy a really decent down coat for yourself.
@Celia said:
Actually, I find cold and snow a lot more predictable hence easy to prep for than sudden huge storms like hurricanes.
Celia, we know when the hurricanes are coming. Aug Sept and October are the baddest months. And most of them are forecasted a week out. Don’t let them kid you we know when and where winds, surge, and flooding will occur given the right circumstances. There is always somebody unprepared, or unwisely made choices and those are the ones in the news. but that’s OK. If everyone lived in Florida, where’d we get tourist and snowbirds from?
@Overstreet said:
Rookie that’s impressive. But what if you saw this on your misery meter in Florida?
Is that Celsius or Fahrenheit? Has to be C as the coldest recorded temp in Florida was -2F on Feb. 13, 1899, in Tallahassee.
Whatever, I’d just put on a couple more layers under my drysuit and go paddle since the water there is liquid. 
And you can nab a few iguanas. Taste like chicken.