NRS HydroSkin Warmth?

short answer to your question:
nope, not safe as most respondents have said. you’ll need something over the farmer john like a dry or simi-dry top (i’d use an ir shorty under those circumstances, ditching the hydroskin top and just using a rash guard shirt) and paddling pants–i’d probably use fuzzy rubber. even more necessary if wind is blowing.

What about the NRS Rio
Splash top with the hydoskin?

Usually should
I was thinking less of the landing in case of an emergency and more of the part about leaving boats tied up while you would walk down the road to pick up a car, then return to haul them across someone’s yard, the kinda ultimate solution that I had mentioned.



But heck you are only there for a week. Hopefully you get a week of mostly clear weather and no one ends up in the water anyway.



We just had a canoe capsize on a paddle tonight, all the other boats in that group were kayaks. Great example of how well rescues can work out if people have practiced. I was a bit ahead and couldn’t even get near the boat until after one paddler in the group had dumped out the boat and another had held the boat for the husband to get back in - the swimmers were swarmed by paddlers who were closer to them coming in to help. I finally got a hand on it while the wife climbed back in (husband was still sorting himself out). Once they were back in the canoe they were offered four cags, two hats/hoods and I think a pair of gloves from just the nearest three kayaks.



It is quite possible that there will be a difficult discussion about how that capsize happened at home tonight, but the preparedness of the paddlers in the group made the capsize itself pretty much a non-event even with the water being barely 50.

Go with a little more protection
I have a powerhouse jacket that I use with my wetsuit in the winter for “cold” water in southern california. Or look at their semi dry tops.

Celia
Was that you I saw out on Round Lake last night? I was there for a while picking up some trash about 6 pm and saw a group of about 20 paddlers. Just before I left I couldn’t see any boats, did you all go down the outlet? How did the canoe flip? Were they dressed for immersion or have extra clothes with them? Glad everything turn out O.K.




That was us
The canoeists were OK - they weren’t dressed great but they had made some effort, and most importantly they had a wind blocking layer that they were successfully encouraged to put on. Not that they needed their own - in just the nearest three kayaks we had three cags, two hats and a pair of gloves out of our hatches within a minute of getting them back into the boat. And they were swarmed by kayakers for the rescue - I couldn’t get near the boat at first because there were three other kayakers closer dumping it out and getting it set up for them to get back in.



They apparently had a failure to communicate about how to avoid a tree stump or log coming out of the Anthony Kill. It was only about 3 feet of water where it happened. They also had the canoe loaded less than ideally - the taller heavier person was up front and really perched up there on the seat. It would have handled difficulties a little better if he’d been closer of midway and kneeling - that’s apparently a very very stable canoe.



We are paddling from Klamsteam Tavern next Wednesday - come on down!

store Mystery wear correctly!!!
if you store wet NRS Mystery gear with the shiny sides touching you have to be very careful when straightening it out. I have seen quite a few mystery tops where the shiny side has stuck together and then torn off when owners tried to unfold it.



If you want an thermal layer and wind barrier type top I would recommend Kokatat SurfSkin. The draw back is that Surfskin has limited conditions and temps where it is useful.


Anthony Kill
How far down the oulet did you get, far enough to see the Herion nests? Are you guys a formal group or just a bunch of friends? I’ve been wanting to get on the Mohawk river for a while now, so maybe I’ll drop bye. What time do you usually put in?

ADK Paddling Group
Albany chapter. The Tuesday and Wednesday night ones are paddles with a couple or so leaders and a broad array of boats and skills, and there are ADK kayak/canoe trips up in the Adirondacks on the weekends that tend to be a bit more rigorous in terms of distance, camping or portages. No need to be a member to go - Rich frequently has people out in rentals on these trips. The link to see the scheduled paddles, launch times and directions is under the link (on the left) for “Activities/Outings” at http://www.adk-albany.org/.



There are groups that paddle together other times within this larger group, but it tends to break out into narrower interests like drifting on local ponds, WW or traveling to something dimentional for long boats.

ADK site

– Last Updated: May-02-07 7:36 PM EST –

Nice looking web site. Thanks for the info, if nothing going on ,I will probably see you there. It will be great to accually meet two of the people [You and Jim]who told me "good job" this past winter on P-net.

lol
testing

Stay for dinner
We’ll be eating at the Klamsteam Tavern after (it’s how we get to use their site for launch). Figure on staying around if you can.

It’s the water temp you dress for …
… A splash jacket keeps you dry when you’re paddling … and gives you some wind protection. In other words, above the water. It won’t do anything for you if you end up in the water … whatever you have on under is what will keep you warm.



So adding a splash jacket doesn’t address the original question: how many minutes will hydoskins alone keep you functional in mid-50’s water?



I think what most folks are suggesting is that in mid 50’s water temps you need to think drysuit with fleece or wetsuit. For a wetsuit, either a full suit, or a farmer john with a neo jacket or drytop.



For air temps in the 70’s, a full wetsuit or farmer john with neo top is going to be hot. A farmer john with a dry top gives you the option of using the drytop as a paddling jacket with hydoskins or calpalene as water temps heat up.



Tried out a new drysuit today … 100 weight fleece under, water temp in the mid 50’s, air temp mid 70’s. Floated around for about 10 minutes. I would not want to have been in that water with hydro skins for any amount of time.

HydroSkin-Very Limited Protection

– Last Updated: May-05-07 6:20 AM EST –

only used this stuff in the July/August for white water (inland, warmer water). In the northeast ocean, I don't use the stuff until August/September when the temps have actually reached 60-65 degrees. Most times I am still in 3/2 full wetsuit.

I really, really hate it when they tout hydroskin as being the equivilent of 2mm neo. Total BS, especially when they are charging as much or more for hydroskin FJ as for a 2 mm full suit.

sing

Hydroskin is very
comfortable but has minimal protection from the water. Because of the comfort it has a tendency to let water flush under it which isn’t good. I love wearing my hydroskin when conditions allow. Try taking a swim with the hydroskin in these conditions and see how it works. The conditions and your skills will play a big part in what you can wear.

HydroSkin
is only good for Florida winters and/or norther state summers, under a dry-suit, or for racing purposes. However, Its protection is minimal.