floating jacket.. comfortable,, is it bulky?likes, dislikes...

[chukkrok]

seriously considering buying a floating jacket. (after 2 locals,,, who I know,,, went in at a nearby lake on friday..)anyone have one??? and how do you like it..?? is it bulky.... can you tell your wearing something that is a pfd.. any input would be appreciated..as I don't think any stores  locally will have anything like this.. 

[snowman3406]

I bought the striker light ice suit, and it is very nice.  It is not bulky at all and you will not know that you are wearing a pfd.  Very lightweight and flexible suit with lots of pockets like most of the ice suits have.  For about the same $$ as the other suits, its nice to have a lil extra safety to make it easier to get out if you do take a dunk.  I went with the light suit over the regular because I don't think it gets cold enough around here to need the suit rated to -25 degrees, but thats a personal pref.  They fit very true to normal sizing as well.

[chukkrok]

Hey, thanks, thats just the info I needed... probably gonna go with that , just started lookin in to them,, but the striker lite is leadin at this point... rarely the frigid temps, that other areas get routinely...thinkin the lite is the way to go..for here in pa.

[3beagles]

I have Artic Armor and have had it for at least 4 years now.  I love it!  And, I can tell you......they do work!  Certainly worth any money you spend on one, no matter the brand.
Mike

[WalleyeTom]

I have the Striker Ice Hardwater coat and bibs for winter fishing.  I have a Mustang floater coat for spring and fall fishing from my boat.

[tinyfisher]

I have researched these a little as well, and my next purchase will probably be a parka with added floatation.  Just to be clear, though, these are not PFD devices!  In other words, they are not USCG approved (although I believe the mustang is).

[ship of fools]

Outside of flotation do these suits have any type of insulation that works when they are wet??   Or to rephrase it will they keep you warm once you are out of the water and on the ice??

I left my scooper by my far tipup yesterday and was scooping minnows out of my bait bucket by hand.

The thought that my whole body could be as cold as my hand if i fell through kept running through my head .......  that would be plain old uncomfortable 

[WalleyeTom]

My Mustang coat is approved in Canada.   Striker is not but I already knew that.  I try to avoid walking on water although others seem to keep trying.

Ship of Fools:  I would read up on "hypothermia"   There are many articles on the net.  Here is one of many:

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/education_safety/safety/ice/hypothermia.pdf

[snowman3406]

Outside of flotation do these suits have any type of insulation that works when they are wet??   Or to rephrase it will they keep you warm once you are out of the water and on the ice??

I left my scooper by my far tipup yesterday and was scooping minnows out of my bait bucket by hand.

The thought that my whole body could be as cold as my hand if i fell through kept running through my head .......  that would be plain old uncomfortable 

There is insulation in the striker suit, I don't know how it works when wet.  I'm glad to not have had to test that feature out yet.  However when wet, the first thing you want to do regardless is get dry,(strip of wet clothes) and warm.  Space blankets can be had for next to nothing and would be a good place to start.  Just remember water sucks out body heat 10x faster than air does so getting out of the wet stuff asap is key.

[chukkrok]

just got my striker lite jacket.. like it alot.. hope I never test it..........

[highvoltagejigger]

I have had the Artic Armor suit for 4 seasons.  As you know we have to kneel down alot while fishing. I fished this past Saturday with 1/2 in of water on top of the ice and my long jons never got wet.  Dont wear much under the suit or you will sweat.  I fished Champlain in -30 deg. with just a sweatshirt on underneath.  Very warm suit. Get one and you wont be sorry.

[Champlain Islander]

I too fish Champlain and have the Arctic Armor suit. I bought it 3 years ago and as luck would have on my second trip with the suit a friend fell through on early ice. 2 of us with the AA suits belly crawled out to rescue him on 1" of ice and if we didn't have the suits I doubt that we would have been able to get to him. The confidence that we would float allowed us to save him. the suit has plenty of pockets, is reletively water proof, wind proof and IMO warm. I do layer under it but am just as warm as I used to be with a full Cabelas down coat and pants. late season when it gets warm you wouldn't want much under it because it can get warm.

[LAKEBOUND]

When I was shopping to replace my Mustang one peice suit, my guy at the tackle shop told me I was nuts! He said, buy the Ice Armour two peice and a mustang inflatable life vest, the one that goes around your neck with the pull cord to inflate. I find that the float suits make me sweat, and if you sweat, your cold- bottom line! I don't sweat in my Ice Armour suit and found it to be way warmer than my mustang full suit. Most of the time I just fish with the bib pants on and the jacket sits on the ATV. The life vest around the neck is just there for any issues! So far, it has not been in-flated! Yay thick ice!
Tom