Cold Toes...

[mb]

I'm an open boater. Even in summer, when I'm warm, my toes are cold.

My Sealskinz do alright in moderate temperatures, but in winter, my toes freeze. If I swim (when) then the toes really freeze.

Please, suggestions!!! Thanks.

[okieboater]

General comment.

For winter boating, I have a pair of neoprene booties that are a size larger than the ones I wear in summer.

This gives me room for a larger pair of neoprene sox and a pair of capilene liner socks if I am not wearing my dry suit.

I think one major cause of cold feet is stuffing in extra insulation which ends up cutting off blood circulation resulting in even colder feet.

If it is really cold, my dry suit now has the gore tex footies attached. This means for the first time boating in weather that requires a dry suit I have warm feet. The larger neoprene winter booties allow me to put a pair of very thick "Duck Hunters Special" wool sox plus liner on my feet and still have some wiggle room. Really nice.

I also have a larger helmet that allows me to wear one of the thick neoprene skin divers helmet - that makes a big difference in warming up everything.

[Eric Esche]

In addition to the oversized wet suit booties (I got mine 2.5 sizes larger, but they have a cinch strap), I added pile lined polypropylene socks and a polypropylene liner sock. My feet stayed reasonably warm if wet while the rest of me was in a dry suit with ankle gaskets. Going to play around with oversized gore-tex socks and polyester fleece socks this winter to see if latex ankle seals will still keep me dry, but hope to send dry suit off next summer to have gore-tex socks attached. I really like the hard soles for my canoe, but I can only wear the NRS ATB's in my canoe or sea kayak, as they will not fit in my creek boat.

Another note: Buy the polypropylene pile lined socks oversized as well. They are usually undersized and will shrink 1-3 sizes if ever dried in a dryer. No good if they fit like a compression fit. Always try to air dry any polyester, polypropylene, nylon, or spandex apparel as it will last longer that way.

On the other hand, in past when I could not afford "expedition" weight synthetic long underwear, I used to order the mid weight layers 3 sizes too big and then dry in dryer after washing. It would bulk up to expedition weight when it shrank to my size. Today I just order fleece layers one size larger and always air dry it.

[Clif]

Could this be a circulation problem? Guessing your knees are bent and feet behind you. A tiny bit higher on the seat can make a big difference. Open your knees a bit. If you think so, try to duplicate your position at home and see if they get cold.

[Max Carruth]

Sealskinzs are cold. I have the gloves. Use them for wet hiking days. Most of the people I paddle with have converted to smartwool socks. You can choose how thick you want them for warmth and they are not at all tight so you can move your toes which improves circulation. If you get them soaked just take them off ring em out and put them back on. Their expensive socks but cheaper than a drysuit with Gtex booties. One more thing, This could be a circulation thing from a medical point of view. So try the seat adjustment, get out of your boat more to stretch your legs, and stretch before you go boating. It could be just down right cold water!

Max

[Fish]

Ultimate solution: paddle a kayak (circulation) and get a gore-tex drysuit with integrated booties. Turns out you can throw money at this problem and make it mostly go away. :-)

Even better but less practical solution: move to Ecuador.

- Fish

[okieboater]

Hey fish,

I know there are some properties for sale fronting the river just up from Larry Vermereen's Small World Adventures Casa!

With the way things are going here in the US of A, moving to EC looks pretty good, only problem is their currency is the US dollar.

[Fish]

Forget leaving the country - dollar is so weak you'd be living in a box! Why do that when you can get a perfectly good box right here at home and hit the housing crisis exit ramp like these folks did:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflif ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Fish

[okieboater]

Fish, agreed.

Living in the ultimate white water country IE Tena Ecuador, warm weather year around, fruit growing outside your window - but you are correct with the US dollar losing value every day, probably not worth the relocation cost.

[mb]

Thanks. My toes are always colder than the rest of my body (without discomfort, but noticable) regardless of position; except when walking. I suppose I've inherited it from my mother. I work outdoors year round, so I'm rather used to extremes in weather. Once my toes get wet, then they are really cold---and I notice!

[Cowper]

If you already own a drysuit, send it in to the company that made if for a gasket replacement - and ask them to "upgrade" to gore-tex booties instead of re-installing ankle gaskets. After using a suit with ankle gaskets for many years, I finally got around to upgrading to a newer suit with booties, and on the issue of foot comfort, it was one of those "night and day" type differences.