Arctic Armor Question

[DON-E-ICE]

It seems like both suites fit a bit different, but both websites list the identical sizing chart??  It also seems that for the money they both should be tried on if at all possible.  Now I just have to make the 4 hour drive to Lake George, LOL.

[NYFishFinder]

I have the arctic armor red suit, and I love it. All I ever wear is a sweat shirt under neath it.

I hope you wear that suit from the minute you leave your house to the minute you get back to your house from fishing,  if all your wearing is a sweatshirt underneath...

[Muskydreamer]

I have the arctic armour plus suit with mixed feelings. The suit does keep you warm and dry. It is the quality that is the issue its just not top notch start with the outer material seems thin to me but so far somewhat durable,  the cut of the suit is kind of funky the arms seem short and a little snug, the pants ar nice and heavy due to the extra padding i guess its a trade off. No chest pockets on the bibs which kinda sucks. The biggest problem is the zippers they broke the first time out did not realize it until after my 10 day return policy was up. Now i am getting the run around from idi and fish307. I will probably have a seamstress replace them if nothing else. Bouyancy might be the trade off. You be the judge. My buddy has an ice armour x suit it seems to be better quality. It doesn't float.

Hope this helps you (this is a repost of mine from 11-26-08)

bought the red coat last year, I never got cold wearing it down to -15* with high winds. I did have a problem with the plastic zipper getting stuck in the material near the top by the the stormflap. It got so stuck in fact that I broke three teeth of of the zipper trying to pry it loose and wrecked the whole zipper dealybob to the point it would not zip anymore! The cheep undersized snaps also proved to be just as useless
 as the cheep plastic zipper.  Instead of calling IDI gear and complaining, I took matters into my own hands and found a tailor up in White bear Lake. And a zipper company in NYC NY http://www.zipperstop.com  And I had a YKK # 5 "2-Way" Brass zipper
installed and had them sew a heavy duty Velcro strip right over the snaps. I should have got the YKK # 10 "2-Way" Brass Separating zipper instead of the #5 because it would have been easier to zip up with gloves on (oh well) The heavy duty Velcro strip  works so good , that I hardly ever use the zipper anyway. I only wish IDI gear would have installed the full length Velcro strip in the first place, At least on the red and green coat I could see the need for the snaps on the camouflage to keep it more stealthy.

.

[db1561]

Hope this helps you (this is a repost of mine from 11-26-08)

bought the red coat last year, I never got cold wearing it down to -15* with high winds. I did have a problem with the plastic zipper getting stuck in the material near the top by the the stormflap. It got so stuck in fact that I broke three teeth of of the zipper trying to pry it loose and wrecked the whole zipper dealybob to the point it would not zip anymore! The cheep undersized snaps also proved to be just as useless
 as the cheep plastic zipper.  Instead of calling IDI gear and complaining, I took matters into my own hands and found a tailor up in White bear Lake. And a zipper company in NYC NY http://www.zipperstop.com  And I had a YKK # 5 "2-Way" Brass zipper
installed and had them sew a heavy duty Velcro strip right over the snaps. I should have got the YKK # 10 "2-Way" Brass Separating zipper instead of the #5 because it would have been easier to zip up with gloves on (oh well) The heavy duty Velcro strip  works so good , that I hardly ever use the zipper anyway. I only wish IDI gear would have installed the full length Velcro strip in the first place, At least on the red and green coat I could see the need for the snaps on the camouflage to keep it more stealthy.

.

What did all of this modifying set you back $$?  If you don't mind me asking....

[AirManCam]

Nah, All I rock is my underarmor, and then my jeans and sweat shirt..Its not like I'm walking to the lake to go fishing, vehicles do have heat :-p

[Muskydreamer]

What did all of this modifying set you back $$?  If you don't mind me asking....

 The zipper was under 10 bucks and the install of the zipper and Velcro  was an additional 35 bucks ( that included shipping on the zipper and cost of Velcro)

I also instructed the tailor NOT to Iron the project as to keep from melting the insulation air pocket property's  I had her sew the Velcro over the original snaps. I wish I would of had her remove the snaps. But the bottom snap is below the the start of the Velcro so it's kinda handy as it acts as a self aligning aid when I just Velcro close the coat instead of zipping.

Keep in mind I own a small piece of IDI Gear (share holder) But In my opinion the Clam X suit is WAY better workmanship than the Arctic Armor suit. The material is heaver and stitching is more durable and the inside pocket system is the best I have ever seen. But the coat that floats is the coat I wear on the Ice. I do own and wear the Clam black bib/pants instead of the IDI bibs.

If only Gents would have his Grey suit made out of the Insulex insulation!

[Big Josh]

My problem is with the vertical pocket zipper. Anyway fish307 is sending me a new jacket and a return shipping label Took a few days of emailing back and forth but the customer service at fish307 is awesome.

[db1561]

My problem is with the vertical pocket zipper. Anyway fish307 is sending me a new jacket and a return shipping label Took a few days of emailing back and forth but the customer service at fish307 is awesome.

Good to hear!  I haven't had any problems (so far) with mine! My only complaint would be It doesn't breath quite as well as I would like but I have never been cold because of it... Its a nice suit reasonably priced IMHO.

[Steve Kerns]

Got my Artic Armor Plus last weekend, don't know how I ever fished without it.

It was 6 deg when we went out and by the time we walked out and set up out tip ups I had to take off my hat because I was getting too hot!

Kept me warm all day!  Yea they are expensive but like everything in life you get what you pay for!

Steve