what do you wear under a dry suit during winter time?

[ScottS]

lol! It is a process, isn't it? Probably could be a whole other thread.

When I bought my dry suit it was such a struggle for me to get my second arm into the suit. I asked the company rep (this was a direct purchase from Ocean Rodeo) and he said, "I find it helpful to hop up and down on one leg while swearing loudly." And sure enough, that did the trick. I've gotten much more flexible since those early days: now, I can now swear silently as I hop up and down on one leg and still get my second arm into the suit. Eventually.

Yeah, about 1 more inch of zipper would be nice. I guess they're not used to old beefcake guys like us.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

The original one-piece dry suits had the entry zipper across the back. To close the zipper, you either had to have someone do it for you or have an extremely long, strong and flexible arm.

My first and last of three dry suits were both two-piece that rolled together with skirts at the waist. It wasn't too hard to get the top off to cool down from a sweaty inside. The bottoms alone were useful as waders or waterproof paddling pants for flat water.

My primary undergarments for New England whitewater were two poly-pile union suits, one to wear and one to dry out on alternate days. In those days, Blue Puma was the company making a lot of the "pile" paddling sweaters, pants and union suits. Then Patagonia entered. Blue Puma later changed its company name to Kokatat.

 

[ppine]

Same for neoprene winter chest waders. I used to fish in winter a lot. Pyramid Lake, Nevada has been a little known hot spot for huge Lahontan cutthroat trout. The lake record is 43 pounds.