surfed in -10C saturday over the past wknd.

my o'neill pyrotech 5.5/4 (now the psychotech) was perfect.

my feet were a touch cold, but fine, in oneill 'riginals 5mm goo-boots

i wear these on my hands and love them--at 3.5mm they are warm, the grip is soso (but could be improved with wax if one cared more than i do), but the curve is superior---no fighting the glove to grip the paddle, and when it's big and cold, hate to lose grip on paddle after a ride over the falls!
www.nrs.com/product/2441/nrs-natural-gloves-closeout :

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PROBLEM: at -10C, my hands got cold. After 30 mins, i thought i might need to go in lest i be frostbitten--frustrated, i fell in a few times, gloves got some water in them and my hands warmed up. I had always thought that dry would be warmer in a glove. but this is the second time my hands got cold early in a session, where my hands warmed up after a half hour or so, when they got wet. Could be my hands just warmed up as i paddled, as happens with cross country skiing?? Could be i am a moron and just need to put water in gloves as soon as i enter water??--got teawater to pour in for a sunday session, but waves were crap when i got to the break so didnt go in. Tea water in gloves right before paddle out may well be the solution.

In case not, i would appreciate any suggestions for, and descriptions of experiences with 5-7mm mitts, gloves, lobsters, etc---I am concerned that i not exhaust my hands fighting the gloves or mitts, and stay plenty warm, wet or not. not sure re the lobster---if anything i spread my finger 3 on the shaft, the pinky dangling, not the opposite, as with the lobsters. I also figure that, since gloves are made for paddling prone with hands, not for gripping sup paddle shaft, i should size up to avoid resistance from the glove/mitt.

and, btw, the gloves i show above have been great under all but the coldest conditions--i rec them much--even bought a second pair at "closeout" price, for fear they are phasing them out of the nrs product line.

No actual SUP experience (only SUPed by -4C, but water was at 13C), but I was windsurfing on lakes in paris during my college days, and had some sessions at ~ -10 with 4C water. I had at the time special windsurfing open-palmed gloves, and they worked very well:

The outside was a regular neoprene glove, and the inside was just a loose mesh, like a fishing net with ~3mm holes.

It seemed to me that the trick was to get your hand wet and cold, but protected from the wind. Pain (in French we call it the "nail pain" - onglée) seems to come if your fingers are either exposed to the wind or not cold enough.

It was... 35 years ago, and I never find similar ones since.

Basically the opposite of:


So maybe the open-palmed kayak ones may work?
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Ha ha.... Oz is like "what?.. it's summer"

Eastie... how's your core?
I find that, if my core is warm, the blood zips out the arm and back, keeping my fingers warm.... but once I lose my core, the extremities get cold fast.

I manage all winter with 3.5 mil / 5 finger gloves... and they are not tight.
My experience SUP surfing in extreme cold is: thicker gloves don't keep me any warmer.... maybe they restrict circulation. And claws suck for paddle handling.

Flat-water paddling below -9 c (15 F) ... no wetsuit gloves work... then I use ski gloves with wetsuit gloves, on deck, for back-up.

-6 c for sunrise paddle today - beautiful way to start the day!


Why standard wetsuit boots don't work.
Your feet are stationary and ice piles up on them... so I use oversized, tall (dry launch) wetsuit boots with 2 layers of THICK wool socks






-10 c for surf yesterday... I looked for an hour and said screw it.... no decent waves.

FARK me gentlemen you must have balls of iron.

The water in Noosa never gets below 20 and us locals consider that a bit chilly.

Dedication to your craft to get out in those conditions. I thought Tasmania was cold when I visited there.

Nice photos STC.

ET.

I wonder how cold it has to be before your board is frozen and brittle and shatters as you take a big drop.

I shouldn't tell you this but its so hot here in Queensland that I slept with the air con on all night and the ocean is like bathwater.

making me feel cold just looking at those photos.