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Gloves/Mittens/Wetsuits/Drysuits for winter sailing
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whitevan01



Joined: 29 Jun 2007
Posts: 607

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Iain,
Your suit looks very interesting. It's nice to see someone come up with a new idea.

I do have a question, though. You describe this suit as being a winter steamer type wetsuit, and yet it has a dry zip and on your site you state that one can wear extra insulation beneath it for really cold weather.

So, isn't it a drysuit? I wouldn't wear insulating layers underneath a wetsuit.

thanks for clearing this up.
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whitevan01



Joined: 29 Jun 2007
Posts: 607

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rigitrite wrote:
Sealskinz; they work and they don't make your arms tired. You gotta figure out a way to minimize water getting into the cuff, so I tuck em inside my wetsuit sleve cuff and that seems to work pretty well.

http://www.sealskinz.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=61


rigit,
Where do you buy these gloves?

thanks.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dennis0778 wrote:
I wouldn't wear insulating layers underneath a wetsuit.

I often use an extra layer under or over a wetsuit to extend its range, and find it very effective. Even a fleece vest helps, but of course neoprene works better. A variety including 1mm vest, 1mm tee shirt, and 1mm shorty work great beneath a wetsuit if I expect to need it all day (once my suit goes on, it stays on until the wind or daylight quit). If the extra vest is to take the chill out of an early morning session, it goes on top and gets discarded when no longer needed. I HATE getting overheated, and don't want to wear out expensive dry suits before they're needed. Layers help avoid that, and help keep the hands and feet warmer.
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whitevan01



Joined: 29 Jun 2007
Posts: 607

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 11:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
Dennis0778 wrote:
I wouldn't wear insulating layers underneath a wetsuit.

I often use an extra layer under or over a wetsuit to extend its range, and find it very effective. Even a fleece vest helps, but of course neoprene works better. A variety including 1mm vest, 1mm tee shirt, and 1mm shorty work great beneath a wetsuit if I expect to need it all day (once my suit goes on, it stays on until the wind or daylight quit). If the extra vest is to take the chill out of an early morning session, it goes on top and gets discarded when no longer needed. I HATE getting overheated, and don't want to wear out expensive dry suits before they're needed. Layers help avoid that, and help keep the hands and feet warmer.


let me define what I mean by insulating layers: fleece or similar. I am not talking about neoprene underlayers. also, I was addressing this question/comment to Iain. thanks.
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ISmith



Joined: 02 Dec 2012
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 3:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dennis0778 wrote:
Iain,
Your suit looks very interesting. It's nice to see someone come up with a new idea.

I do have a question, though. You describe this suit as being a winter steamer type wetsuit, and yet it has a dry zip and on your site you state that one can wear extra insulation beneath it for really cold weather.

So, isn't it a drysuit? I wouldn't wear insulating layers underneath a wetsuit.

thanks for clearing this up.


Hi Dennis
Thank you for your question.
The suit is a dry build as far as the zip and seams go. However the seals around the neck wrist and ankles are not the full dry suit spec, they are slightly looser and therefore much much more comfortable.
When you fall in, most of the time you will not feel any water enter the suit, but if a wave crashes over your head say. you may experience a trickle of water down the neck. Also if you end up doing a lot of swimming, when you take the suit off you will notice that the nylon lining from the seals up to the knees and elbows is wet although you would not have been aware of that water seeping into the suit at the time.

It is a balance where by you can make the suit much more comfortable to wear than a dry suit but that does cause the odd trickle down the neck in certain situations.

If you do find issues with this you can go for an under layer that is neoprene although most sailors are happy just using rash vests and thermal vests with this "steamer" design. As the suit is a flush fit below the chest and made of 5/4mm neoprene any trickles down the neck get warmed up in the conventional wetsuit way where as water getting inside a dry suit is a disaster that you do not recover from.

As this is a need to try it to understand it case, the suits are sold with a 6 week trial period and full refund for any reason offer.

Thank you for your interest
Iain
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Ugly_Bird



Joined: 04 Nov 2008
Posts: 335

PostPosted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 9:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Gloves/ mittens for winter sailing Reply with quote

slinky wrote:
Wondering what people are using to keep their hands warm in cold weather. I have tried gloves by O'Neil and glacier gloves, but my forearms fatigue quickly. There are a few companies that make mittens, Dakine, and Mystic makes an open palm mitten but wonder how well they work. The colder it gets around here the better the wind is, or so it seem. Please let me know what works for you.

Thanks! Paul


Paul,

I went through a few types each time blaming on gloves for forearms go quickly. It turned out that the problem is not them. The trick is not to squeeze too much on the boom when wearing the gloves. We do not do this when do not wear them, don't we? So, one important thing is - control. As it was mentioned in other related threads, one should sort of train her-/himself for the glove season before the temperatures drop and wearing them is unavoidable. Training is really not in the forearm strength but control. First couple sessions in gloves are somewhat harder but after not much difference as without them.
As of the particular model, I like these
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043GZNY0/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00
Very comfortable (precurved), good grip and insulation.
Though, they do not seem very robust. One pair didn’t last long and was replaced during warranty period. Thumbs up to O'Neil, they were very good and quick on that. The replacement pair is still holding up OK.

Good luck,

Andrei.
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ISmith



Joined: 02 Dec 2012
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The forearm cramps when using gloves is certainly down to pulling on the boom instead of letting the harness do all the work.
Although we do not realize it we need feed back from the sail and if you have a layer of glove between your hand and the boom you have to start pulling on the boom to pick up that feed back.
Palm-less mittens cut back further towards the finger tips is the essential solution, how long that lasts depends on the conditions. Take pit stops or treat your self to the Ianovated wetsuit.
Iain
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wynsurfer



Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 940

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks Iain and Andrei, I'll try relaxing my grip a bit and try to optimize harness lines, and boom height maybe raising the booms slightly. I have a pair of the O'Neil 3m. gloves and they are quite warm, perhaps something thinner would help like 1.5m. I have not seen them in any of the local shops here in New England.

Iain, I already have a good Drysuit, do you sell just the mouthpiece and tubing?

Thanks, Paul
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ISmith



Joined: 02 Dec 2012
Posts: 15

PostPosted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Paul

As explained the system only works by running the tubes along the inside of the wetsuit and for that reason the wet suit has been designed around the hand heating system - a dry zip and seams facilitating a very baggy fit across the shoulders and down the arms to house the tubes and keep them warm.

As a test of the concept you could copy my early prototype which was-
3Meters of 11mm external diameter plastic tube, circling round my neck, both ends then going down the neck seal of my wetsuit, crossing over inside the suit and running down each arm to come out the wrist seals. For a mouth piece I simply half cut away the tube to create a hole to to blow down that was on the inside of the tube loop facing my mouth.

Although you will enjoy the hand heating system, your wetsuits will be very uncomfortable to wear and very wet when you fall in.

Could I suggest that you run your current dry suit into the ground on the days when the air is a hand neutral 10°c plus but treat yourself to an Ianovated suit so that you actually start enjoy the below 10°c days now.

Iain
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windswell



Joined: 20 May 2010
Posts: 211

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2012 4:00 pm    Post subject: Just ordered a new suit from Iain Reply with quote

Just ordered a new suit from Iain. I'll report back here on how it works for me, fit, etc.
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