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Best safety ice fishing bibs/parka


Cooter

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Lady at work absolutely  hates this first ice time of year with her husband out.  I mentioned floating bibs and parkas and her eyes lit up!  So looking for recommendations with safety as the top priority, and also if you could only have a set of bibs or parka which would you take?  Maybe a better way to put it would be is there a flotation advantage to one over the other?  My guess would be the parka but for best use i would rather have the bibs for kneeling, punching holes, etc.  Also, i have the feeling she might get him both for peace of mind so might not be as important!  Thanks!

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I get being concerned about the ones you love, that's aways a good practice, but it seems like no matter how well I try to educate my wife on ice safety and my precautions regarding it, she still thinks I'm going to die.  If they have $400+ to burn, so be it, but I've compromised by saying I'll wear a life jacket out the first time or two.  Seems like a more economical solution to me. 

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I get that, not the point, or i wouldnt have posted in the first place.:crazy:

How about he is stubborn and wont wear a life jacket and instead of freezing in his old deer hunting garb a pair of new outerwear designed for ice fishing would be great and as a bonus add safety?

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I like the Striker suits is all I can say.  I've only owned Artic Armor and Striker and the first generation of each but still have both.  Massive improvements have happened since but I'm still doing fine in my Striker.  The only time the AA gets worn is if my wife decides to go out.

 

If only one item?  The coat might be safer - if worn.  The bibs are usually all I need in warmer weather which is usually our bad ice times.  I'm guaranteed to have the bibs on 100% of the time.  So by default, I'll say bibs first, coat second.

Edited by Wanderer
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My FXR sled jacket and bibs have the F.A.S.T Flotation Assistance system Technology in them so I get dlb duty out of the suit sledding and Ice fishing. Right now Cab's up in Rogers has the FXR outdoor suits but they aren't cheap. Love mine.

 

 

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I use Clam's Lift Suit for my all-weather ice fishing outfit.  Warm and roomy and the buoyancy properties are appreciated by my wife, who feels better now that I have it when I go out by myself.  It'll keep me floating if I were to ever fall in.  I believe Frabill and Striker both have buoyancy suits now, but my money goes to Clam.  Comes down personal preference more than anything else now or a good sale price.

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Striker Ice +++

Bought it before the 15/16 season.  

Was a bit skeptical about it actually floating so in the fall I put on all my ice gear I would normally wear and jumped into the swimming pool.

Kept me afloat, no problem.  Kicked off my heavy boots while in the pool and got a touch more lift.

Not only do they float, but I have never been so warm (HOT) when ice fishing.

The bibs are awesome.  The jacket has a zip out liner that I use most the time.....usually don't need the outer shell because its so warm.

I've owned suits from Clam and others before.  Good suits.....but this one is my all time favorite now.

Would recommend it to anyone. Love it.

Buying one for my 13 year old.....as soon as I know he wont grow out if it.

Well worth the $$.

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2 hours ago, Moon Lake Refuge said:

which models of striker bibs/ coat?

They make a variety of suits to suit your fishing style really. If you are a run and gun style fisherman, or if you're a guy that sits in the fish house all day they, and most brands nowadays have one that will suit your needs. I'm more hot blooded so when they first came out I ordered the Lite suit, a little less insulation but just as durable. It has been discontinued but it I think it was replaced with the Predator suit. 

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Anyone fall thru the ice with a floating jacket or bibs? Any take on it? How about going thru WITHOUT floating jacket and pants? Any take on it?

What if you fall in?

What should you do if you fall through the ice? First, try not to panic. This may be easier said than done, unless you have worked out a survival plan in advance. Read through these steps so that you can be prepared.

Don't remove your winter clothing. Heavy clothes won't drag you down, but instead can trap air to provide warmth and flotation. This is especially true with a snowmobile suit.

Turn toward the direction you came. That’s probably the strongest ice.

Place your hands and arms on the unbroken surface. This is where a pair of nails, sharpened screwdrivers or ice picks come in handy in
providing the extra traction you need to pull yourself up onto the ice.

Kick your feet and dig in your ice picks to work your way back onto the solid ice. If your clothes have trapped a lot of water, you may have to lift yourself partially out of the water on your elbows to let the water drain before starting forward.

Lie flat on the ice once you are out and roll away from the hole to keep your weight spread out. This may help prevent you from breaking through again.

Get to a warm, dry, sheltered area and re-warm yourself immediately. In moderate to severe cases of cold water hypothermia, you must seek medical attention. Cold blood trapped in your extremities can come rushing back to your heart after you begin to re-warm. The shock of the
chilled blood may cause ventricular fibrillation leading to a heart attack and death! 

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striker for me...I have had the suit for 3 years now and absolutely love it.  I wear the inner jacket everyday and when I go ice fishing I never worry about being cold as the suit is as warm as can be and I know that if I were to have an unfortunate incident and fell in I will be floating on top! 

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I have had Red AA for many years, about the year they came out. I like it, and just had some rips and burns fixed at SewWhat instead of getting new suit. I use it for ice fishing, spring and fall boat fishing (my rain suit), snowmobiling. It is light and thin but still warm and completely windproof. I thought it felt cheap and thin when I first got it, but found it works well.  I do layer since I like to fish with my jacket off a lot, one quarter zip warm UA type stuff, a sweatshirt or wool shirt, and then the jacket, good down to -26 (with slightly warmer hoodie style flanel jackshirt instead of sweatshirt) so far.

 

I have jumped into the lake and it floats just fine. Doesn't' pop you up right away like a gumby suit does, but floats you flat perfect. Would make crawling out of ice hole much easier than not having it on.

 

One thing that is not as good as (I assume) others might be is that it doesn't breathe well, no matter what they say. I take it off to drill holes or other physical activity and then put it back on as I cool down. I just use wader pants (duck hunting style, or just longies, 0r even just fleece PJs) under the bibs and it works great regardless of physical activity, feels like PJs to be honest, since the bibs are so light weight.

 

In my next suit I would make sure to get jacket that has zippers/vents under the arms and maybe on the back or even slight chest vents to help get moisture out or adjust temps easier. Drake waterfowl gear has this, and I assume some good sledding apparel does. Maybe Striker does and if so that would be my next jacket and bibs, or maybe just keep using the AA bibs and get stryker jacket. Gotta say my bibs work awesome, just wish the jacket breathed more. All in all, good money spent, I use it a TON every spring, some summer, fall and 4 days a week in winter.

 

(PS once your stuff loses its waterproof, a $15 bottle of that spray on stuff will do two suits and it works great. Smells strong like fabreeze but that wears off and the stuff is waterproof again. So far for one year, will have to see how long it lasts. My brother has used the Nicwax waterproofing detergent and it has worked wonders on even sweatshirts and old Gortex/similar fabrics.)

Edited by BoxMN
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I have the "Climate" series of Striker Ice.  Bibs, Shell, removable Jacket.

Has zip vents on the jacket for breathing.

Comparing the Climate against all other series they offer it was rated a 10/10 on warmth.  Although with they way these are built I am pretty sure you will be warm in all of them.  As mentioned in my previous post....this suit is very warm...almost too warm most of the time.  Even though there are vents, I usually end up taking the shell off and just wearing the bibs and liner jacket.

Best set I have ever purchased.

***NOTE - I do live in Utah and rarely see a temp in the negatives.  It may be minus when I start the day but typically I am in 10-30 degree temps and rarely do I ever use my portable hut.

Edited by RobG
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On 12/6/2016 at 3:54 PM, Scott O. said:

I use Clam's Lift Suit for my all-weather ice fishing outfit.  Warm and roomy and the buoyancy properties are appreciated by my wife, who feels better now that I have it when I go out by myself.  It'll keep me floating if I were to ever fall in.  I believe Frabill and Striker both have buoyancy suits now, but my money goes to Clam.  Comes down personal preference more than anything else now or a good sale price.

 

Striker and AA had floating suits well before Clam even thought of it.  

 

+1 for Striker Ice, their quality and customer service is top notch as well.  I still have the gen 1 suit and like the above poster mentioned, the coat only goes on if it's really cold.

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Not sure if I missed it, but I'm surprised I didn't see anyone mention Frabill's new I-Float system.  Serious amount of coin, but looks like it's the first setup to be approved as a personal flotation device by the Coast Guard.

 

http://www.frabill.com/apparel/ice-fishing-apparel/i-float-jacket.html

 

That said, I just bought some striker bibs this year.  :)  Super excited to not have wet knees anymore like I did in my Dickies.

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