Paddling Jackets: What Every Commercial Fisherman Learned Long Ago
I don't actually enjoy being cold, wet, and miserable. I'd just as soon be as comfy as possible, so I'm picky about my paddling jacket. You can stay alive with cold feet, but on a snowy day with breaking waves and a strong wind, you'd better keep your chest warm. Neoprene is great stuff, but it doesn't work well as for a jacket. It's heavy and restricts arm motion, and it is also beastly hot on a warm day.

There are two kinds of paddling jackets, those for river kayakers and those for sea kayakers. A river-kayaking dry top is the most waterproof garment available. The fabric is waterproof and the seams are backed by waterproof tape. Latex gaskets seal water out of the neck and wrists. Sealed into a cockpit with a tight sprayskirt, you can play in waves and roll in holes all day long without getting soaked. That said, I don't recommend a river kayaking dry top because it's not warm enough and at the same time it's too warm. If you're confused, hang on.

Every sea has its hot, mellow days and its snotty days, and the perfect sea kayak jacket should keep you comfortable under all conditions. On cold days, a river-kayaking dry top isn't warm enough because it doesn't have a hood. A hood is almost essential when a tail wind blows down from the North Pole and races across a thousand miles of fractured sea ice to caress the back of your neck. Even in the Gulf of Mexico, a hood is real nice on a cold rainy day in January-I wouldn't leave home without one.

On the other hand, on a warm day, you can't unzip a river kayaking dry top to let cool air breeze across your torso. Most sea-kayaking paddle jackets have a hood and a zipper down the front and no neck gasket. You can unzip and vent your core on a hot day. (For cold weather paddling, I prefer a short zippered anorak to a full zippered jacket.) Assuming that you're not going to roll or swamp frequently, you don't need a neck gasket so the zipper and hood system is definitely the way to go.

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