dry suit or wet suit?

I am not sure if waders is a good idea - if you drop yourself in waders to water you will sink fast almost without chances to survive, imho.

I am not sure if waders is a good idea - if you drop yourself in waders to water you will sink fast almost without chances to survive, imho.

I have a pair of neoprene hodgman chest waders not only are they snug enough to keep a lot of water out but they themselves are extremely buoyant.

I picked up a mythic drysuit for 350 bucks.Best insurance for my budget and so far so good.If you have more money to spend buy a bettr one.I would also see what the Coast Guard has to say on the matter.

+1

I have a mythic also and for the money they cant be beat.

I haven't used a Mythic drysuit, so I don't know anything about their quality, but the price is outstandingly low.  However, don't be tempted to save $70 by buying a drysuit without a relief zipper.  If you do, you'll be sorry, sorry, sorry.

Mistah Yates  Lets hear a review on your Mythic drysuit. Give it a few months wear and review it. Been on their website. Bear bone suit but good price point. As far as wetsuits. I feel it the manufacture, what mil. they are and quality of rubber. I had an Axxe wetsuit about $900. Surfed it at Indian when it was 25 out and east wind. Was warm. Sometimes I'd get into the water to warm up. When water temp. is higher the air temp. Just my view.

It is probably worth the time to go back and re-read http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=3276.0.

Wetsuit only if you absolutely ran out of money and no way to get a dry suit. Wetsuit you have to put on nude body and you should get your body wet before putting it on or it will not work. Also wetsuit became hell uncomfortable after couple hours of paddling. If you will wear it regularly for a long trips like 5-6 hrs a day you can get your skin very sick. I have both wet and dry - it is difference like between hell and paradise. IMHO!

No! You don't need to get wet to put on a wetsuit.

For kayaking, wetsuits are uncomfortable and not nearly as effective as a dry suit at keeping you warm.  When you need to pee, in most wet suits you'll have to pee in the wet suit.  If you spend money on a wet suit, you'll regret it, and wish you had spent the money on a dry suit.

For safety and comfort when kayaking in cold water and cold weather, a good dry suit is one of the best investments you can make.  Get a dry suit with a diagonal front zipper, attached dry socks, a relief zipper, and breathable fabric.  Get it big enough so you can layer up a lot of insulating layers under it in cold weather.  It'll keep you dry and comfortable in a wide range of weather conditions.

Wetsuits are more safe than dry suits because dry suits can leak, and leaks are irrelevant with a wetsuit.

I am not sure if waders is a good idea - if you drop yourself in waders to water you will sink fast almost without chances to survive, imho.

No, you won't sink, especially with a PFD on. You may get wet however, but not as much as you think.

No! You don't need to get wet to put on a wetsuit.

I guess it depends on type of wetsuit. I have 5 mm wetsuit for scuba diving - if you wear correct size - there is should be no air between neoprene and your skin then no way to put it on dry skin.

I used a FJ wetsuit with dry top for my first 5 years of ocean kayak fishing and it worked OK. Then there was a Gimmie Shelter tournament where it rained all day. I was close to hypothermia after 3 hours. After that tournament, a lot of guys bought dry or semi dry paddle suits and never looked back. Dry suits are safer and more comfortable than wet suits in most situations. They are now the standard for hard core ocean kayak anglers in NCAL. There are 3 things worth spending money on, paddle, seat and dry suit IMO.

I used a FJ wetsuit with dry top for my first 5 years of ocean kayak fishing and it worked OK. Then there was a Gimmie Shelter tournament where it rained all day. I was close to hypothermia after 3 hours. After that tournament, a lot of guys bought dry or semi dry paddle suits and never looked back. Dry suits are safer and more comfortable than wet suits in most situations. They are now the standard for hard core ocean kayak anglers in NCAL. There are 3 things worth spending money on, paddle, seat and dry suit IMO.

Shark Shield too now!

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=68397.0

There are 3 things worth spending money on, paddle, seat and dry suit IMO.

I completely agree that a dry suit is an essential piece of equipment for cold water and/or cold weather kayak angling.  But I would say "pedal kayak" rather than "paddle."  And I would say "a good fish finder with GPS" rather than "seat," because I can live with the stock seats in my kayaks, but I'd be lost without my fish finder.

I used a FJ wetsuit with dry top for my first 5 years of ocean kayak fishing and it worked OK. Then there was a Gimmie Shelter tournament where it rained all day. I was close to hypothermia after 3 hours. After that tournament, a lot of guys bought dry or semi dry paddle suits and never looked back. Dry suits are safer and more comfortable than wet suits in most situations. They are now the standard for hard core ocean kayak anglers in NCAL. There are 3 things worth spending money on, paddle, seat and dry suit IMO.

Shark Shield too now!

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=68397.0

Yeah Mel, don't miss the white sharks for sure. I do miss pounding mutant trout with you at the cliffs. I gave my shark shield to Piscean when I moved north. Not too many white sharks on the Columbia except for maybe the buoy 10 area. So far it has worked for him.

There are 3 things worth spending money on, paddle, seat and dry suit IMO.

I completely agree that a dry suit is an essential piece of equipment for cold water and/or cold weather kayak angling.  But I would say "pedal kayak" rather than "paddle."  And I would say "a good fish finder with GPS" rather than "seat," because I can live with the stock seats in my kayaks, but I'd be lost without my fish finder.

thank you