Dressing for Winter Paddling

By Nick Pritchard

Many folks do not often even consider winter paddling, but if done properly there can be a lot of advantages to winter paddling. Some reasons to go winter paddling include the peacefulness during the winter, the beautiful scenery, and often the crystal clear water. The scenery during the winter gives the photographer a fantastic opportunity to take one of a kind pictures.

Obviously the biggest winter paddling is the constant heat loss. You're body is fighting heat loss from five different areas; the wind (convection), contact with the water/paddle/boat (conduction), your breathing (respiration), your sweat (evaporation), and your bodies normal heat output (radiation). With the proper equipment and preparation you can lessen your heat loss so that you can enjoy all that winter paddling has to offer.

To slow heat loss through convection you should have on a windproof layer that will protect you from the wind and also enough insulation to keep you comfortably warm. If you have too many insulating layers on you will begin to sweat which will cool you down very rapidly once you take a break. So it is important to have on enough insulation to keep you warm but not too many. This is often difficult to judge especially if you are just getting into the sport so going on a few shorter trips will help you gauge what you need. Remember to take extra layers with you in case you needed to take a wet layer off or in case of emergency. Also, it is essential to have a stocking cap with you because of the significant heat loss through you're head.

To slow heat loss through conduction you should have on a full drysuit (this also acts as your windproof layer from above). Water is 25x more effective at absorbing heat when compared with air (which is why sweating during winter months is so dangerous).  A full drysuit will help protect you from the water in case of capsize. These suits are made out of a waterproof breathable fabric and should have latex wrist and neck gaskets and they often have latex socks. A drysuit is preferable to a thick wetsuit because to get the type of thermal protection you would need from a wetsuit it would be immobilizing. A drysuit offers you the ability to layer underneath the suit while still maintaining good range of motion. In addition to a drysuit you should have neoprene or waterproof paddling gloves, a neoprene hood, thick booties to keep your feet warm, and obviously you're personal flotation device (PFD). Cold is also conducted through the boat from the water so you may consider adding a piece of closed cell foam (ensolite sleeping pad) under your seat and your feet.

One of the best ways to reduce your heat/water loss from respiration is to breath through your nose. This can take a little training because most of us do not do this naturally but it can significantly reduce the amount of heat/water you lose from breathing through your mouth.

To combat heat loss through evaporation, as discussed above, you should have enough layers on to keep you warm but not too many so that you start to sweat. If you have been sweating it will start to freeze, particularly when you take a break. This further increases your heat loss, creating a bad situation. Another thing that will help you reduce the amount of sweat build up that occurs is having a drysuit that is breathable. Some suits are more breathable than others so make sure to take breathability into account when looking for a drysuit. The two most common waterproof/breathable fabrics are Gore-Tex and eVent.

By taking the above steps you will also slow heat loss from radiation. The most important consideration for heat loss from radiation is heat loss through your head. If the rest of your body is covered (drysuit, gloves, booties) and your head is left exposed you will lose a significant amount of heat through your head. If your head is not protected from the cold and you capsize you are likely to become disoriented as soon as your head is submerged.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!