Sorry I didn't get back to this sooner, theanimal.theanimal wrote: ↑Sat Nov 12, 2022 10:51 pmIn AK we are almost always beneath that 120 mark. I had a dry suit for a while but didn't feel i used it enough to justify the expense and sold it. If you have enough exposure in a drysuit you will still get cold. The lower level workaround is to wear whatever insulating layers underneath a rain jacket and rain pants with neoprene socks. That should keep you plenty warm, especially if you are just on lakes. If you want to get a little more fancy you could get a paddling jacket with wrist gaskets.
Early in the summer and again very late, and even sprinkled throughout there were instances where I was out in the yak when the conditions didn't meet the 120 rule. Except for the last week when I already pulled the yak out of the water, so to speak, the water temp ~6" below the surface ranged from 60F-73F, and many-a-morning I ventured out when the air temp was in the 45-55 degree range. I learned about the 120 criteria from the local kayak shop, and their rule is they won't take clients on the water at all unless the condition is met. I don't know what medical implications are associated with that threshold.
What I customarily do is more/less what you describe. I have decent rain gear that I'll layer up under if I might get caught in the rain on a chilly day. And for the most part it works okay. But I'm getting older and less tolerant of crap weather. Plus the last two state record walleyes in Illinois came out of a local river ~10 miles away, one caught in January, one in February. So I have a hankering at times to get out on the local rivers in the Nov-Mar window. Even in a hydrodynamic tug like my kayak, despite it's stability, there's always the possibility of winding up in a "sweeper" (getting pinned by the current against a downed tree or other obstruction) which greatly increases the likelihood of going overboard (inadvertantly or purposefully) and that was the situation that would drive a dry suit more than what I might hit up on the lake. Once acquired though, I would likely adopt it on the lake whenever there was a possibility of gnarly chilly conditions. One can never be too comfortable versus the elements when in a small plastic boat miles away from shelter and heat.
That said, for now I've decided not to venture out locally this late fall/winter/early spring and maybe look for some warm wading bibs for the worst of it next summer. That's what the neighbors I fish with up there wear in their boats (and I tag along frequently). I'd also expect that a dry suit isn't perfect for long frigid exposure, I just look at it as a way to buy some time before hypothermia paralyzes me.
The suit I was looking at is designed for anglers rather than adventure kayakers, and it's actually classified as a "semi-dry suit". The sleeve gaskets are neoprene, but the neck gasket is some sort of high tech fabric that's highly water resistant but not water proof. After several hours of immersion you'd start taking on water. I'm religious about wearing a life vest which might keep my neck mostly out of the water in some circumstances, but still not perfect.