Top 10 Tips for Cold Water Winging and Prone Foiling

This video covers off what I think are the most important principles to enjoying your experience more on cold days. A lot is also applicable to kiting and windsurfing. Hope to start a discussion in the comments with other sharing little tricks and hacks to making the best out of the winter season.
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - Managing Hand Comfort is Key
1:10 - My Glove Progression and Fit Reccomendations
3:55 - Dem Thicc Booties
5:00 - Wear a Thicker Wetsuit to Overheat Your Core
5:55 - Protecting Your Ears
6:30 - Using Centrifugal Force to Heat Your Hands
7:02 - Wing Harness Lines
8:20 - Cheap and Easy Portable Hot Shower
9:30 - Foam Changing Mat
9:52 - Thoughts on Board Sizing
11:00 - Changing Ponchos?
11:15 - Any Fool Can Suffer

[toobmes]

Heheheheheh....4:38 "Because there's nothing worse that a loose . Greg, the look on your face is priceless!!!! Keep these great videos coming. I'm gonna buy an Omen board just because I love your videos so much!!!! Thank you!

[ShaunGCarpenter]

Thanks for the shower hack. I set myself up and got out for a great cold weather session at the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal last weekend !

[evaneastoutside]

I know a guy above mentioned bungee rope for harness line.

Ozone has a dedicated bungee harness that comes with a pigtail. Very minimal and out of the way when not in the harness but gives you ample distance once hooked in and stretched out! Very durable. No breaks between any of my friends and family over several years. Just have to get used to bringing in the wing a little, but not nearly as much as that new telescoping harness you mentioned.

Also, total coincidence, but I just got some new 5mm O’neill psycho tech booties and just happened to be sitting on my couch wearing them while watching your video 😂! Cheers from Texas!

[MACkiteboarding]

Yeh Greg, excellent tips! Don't forget some coldwater wax on your traction pad. ;)

[BernardHa]

Never have to deal w cold but good to know the options available if I do have to travel to cold places for watersports. As always, great tips! Cheers for sharing 🙌🙌🙌

[manfredzehetgruber]

Thanks for your tipps
My favorite harness is a 6mm bungee rope. You therefore have a much shorter harness / much less interfering during e.g. tacks. And surprisingly easy to hook in and out.

[scotttemplin]

Thanks Greg. The video made me want to move to the equator.

[kurtwaeschle]

Great video! I surf and wing in the same conditions you do, just across the straights of Juan de Fuca in WA! The best booties I have found that give that barefoot feel year-round are the 3M Solite. I recently got Solite's new pre-curved 3/2 gloves and rock those on the coldest days.

[johnfricker]

Thanks for sharing this tips, and I like your straight forward delivery style. Looking forward to trying the 1.5mm gloves. I have not found a good solution for cold hands other than slinging my arms around to pump blood into them, and that's hard to do while winging. My tip is wear a lightweight windbreaker or bicyclist's raincoat to keep the wind off your wetsuit.

[glimpseireland]

Good video, thanks. Had the 1.5mm Psycho Teck gloves, very good but can wear through quick enough. The Rooster sailing brand Hot Hands inner glove liners are great, used them today in 5 degree c air temp 30kmph winds. Also used one of the gel pack hand warmers on the back of my hand, helps a little. Bootees I've been using for a good while now are 5mm Sola zippered and they are great for cold water use, good feel on the board too. Been using the Vissla North Seas 5/4mm hooded suit for 2 cold seasons now and its excellent. I had to have elbow pads sewn inside the elbows though, as winging rips them out. Gap in the market for a Winging specific suit, I think one company makes one, maybe Prolimit?
Best cold weather gadget I have bought is the diesel heater fitted to my Campervan. Run it on the way to the sesh to warm the suit bootees and gloves, leave it ticking over on low during, and then pump it up once back in the van, toasty, toasty, toasty.
Totally agree with keeping the core warm, once the frostbite gets into those fingertips, you know the pain is coming.
As soon as you get on foil though, it's all worth it👌

[tjaziod]

About harness line. I also use ordinary rope tide to the handles and works great. In addition put a 50 cm plastic tube (pneumatic stuff, 7 mm outer diameter, neon blue color in EU) over rope. It helps keep the U shape, and add weight were it is necessary. It much easier to hook up and dehook. Nice T shirt.

[liamryan]

Great tips, especially for the hands. Will give the 1.5mm gloves a try. Only other thing i try is wrapping wetsuit, booties and gloves in a hot water bottle on the way for a session. And lastly, totally agree "no one likes a loose sloppy bootie" 😊

[OCEANBOUND]

I love Glacier Gloves but some seasons I can go through 3 pairs cause they wear out and get holes so quick. they used to be the cheapest option so x3 a season wasn't too bad but it's more $$ now. plus their grip can be almost too aggressive, they can stick in corners of wings with soft handles during jibes and tacks. I always try to use NP Neo seamless 1.5mm gloves until it starts getting in the 30's. nice vid bud, stay stoked!

[BryanWouzel]

The artness is actually pretty slick, hooking in isn't bad and it's nice that it's always out of the way. The negative is moving it from wing to wing requires a bit of setup time. The rigid windsurf line is what I use most days. I rotate it out of the way when pumping onto foil or doing more wing maneuvers and then rotate it back out when it's time to hook in and go upwind.

[martinomovies]

Hyperflex mittens are very warm and no arm pump. I notice that if I let my hands get really cold and then warm them up again, they will stay warm. I think the capillaries expand. The Dryrobe is expensive and heavy and warm.

[tjaziod]

And about wet suit. In cold, I always put the under cloth, pants and long sleeve shirt. The best is very thin, sintetik material, used for running, similar to Lycra. Cheap stuf. It prevents the cold water direct skin contact, if it comes in. In addition, the dressing and specially undressing is much easier.

[youdigsurf]

the gong poncho is not bad but you cannot change tho, you can drive with it and still get warm even with half wetsuit

[tmbower]

Thanks. Be toasty warm before you get into your wetsuit (dry preferable).

[awareness]

I put my wetsuit on at home and take it off in the shower after. Much warmer that way and rinses the wetsuit in the process.

[DanEveritt]

I stand in a big garden bucket and take off the wetsuit, search dryrobe awesome coat poncho