Recent converts who hope to keep swimming year-round and ask, "How do I stay warm"?
I usually give a couple of answers; get a good wetsuit that fits tight to the body - Liz and I think the BlueSeventy Thermal Reaction is the warmest we've worn.
Get a good cap too, and again BlueSeventy makes a thermal cap which fits tight to the head.
When it gets particularly chilly - under 10C - I'll add a swimming balaclava.
However, the BlueSeventy thermal socks and gloves are not warm enough for Scottish winter conditions. The CEO knows - I told him.
We use the Lomo Tri-X gloves and now their new socks. The only problem with Lomo kit is that it's not always in stock. Mark and Bruce will bring a container load to Scotland and when they're gone, they're gone. Until the next container arrives
When it gets particularly chilly - under 10C - I'll add a swimming balaclava.
However, the BlueSeventy thermal socks and gloves are not warm enough for Scottish winter conditions. The CEO knows - I told him.
We use the Lomo Tri-X gloves and now their new socks. The only problem with Lomo kit is that it's not always in stock. Mark and Bruce will bring a container load to Scotland and when they're gone, they're gone. Until the next container arrives
When Lomo get our sizes of gloves in stock, we buy two pairs each and save them for the next couple of winters - one pair lasts a year. They're out of our Medium size now and goodness knows when we'll see them again.
So here's a heads up - Lomo has started selling swim socks of equal quality, so again we've ordered two pairs each. We should be sorted until the summer of 2021!
I tried a sample version of the socks and wrote about them way back in May 2018. I'm told there were a few manufacturing problems and it has taken until now to get the production models in stock. I used one of these new pairs of socks recently and they're even better than the samples.
However, when the temperature does drop below 10C (actually before then - now at 12C) I like to swim with two pairs of socks. I put a pair of the Lomo wetsuit socks under their swim socks, and this is a combination that works well for me.
I don't use this blog to promote manufacturers for the sake of it, but I do aim to share my experiences - indeed, that's the whole point of writing! So if you hope to swim through the winter of 2019-20 then I highly recommend getting these gloves and socks while they're in stock.
Oh, and tuck the cuffs under your wetsuit. Wetsuit goes on top of the ankle and wrist seals!