So it’s been a very long time since I did an update. This always happens: I go thinking “I’ll totally write a blog/get a gym membership/walk the pet iguana more and IT WILL BE AWESOME” and then the iguana gets walked like, twice, and then it dies from neglect*. Don’t tell the RSPCA please.
Clockwise from the top-left we have: Lake Effect Superior gloves, cool Striker Ice t-shirts, a wide range of H2S balaclavas (the 3-peat, the Dickie Plus chest warmer, the fantastically-named Inferno Proclava, and the Longneck balaclava), Striker Ice HardWater jackets, Striker Ice HardWater bibs, thermal socks (to go under our fleece socks if it gets a bit nippy), glove liners (silver impregnated to keep them clean) and … a mysterious black square thing at the bottom-left. Hmm. Let’s assume it’s not important.
I’d like to write some more about the Striker Ice HardWater jackets/bibs, mostly because Google couldn’t find a whole lot of detail on them when we were looking to purchase a pair. I should probably preface this review with the fact that a) I hate fishing and b) I live in Perth, Western Australia, which is not known for snow or ice, and so the sports of ice fishing and snowmobiling are sadly underdeveloped. I can however report that my brother tried the suit on in 30 degree (celsius) heat and was extremely warm.
Note we have received sponsorship from Striker Ice as noted above (though we purchased the suits). I don’t believe this has affected my review below – (spoiler alert) I’ve got no complaints because I haven’t tried it yet in cold weather. It’s very nicely made gear, but we’ll post some more comments after we’ve given them a try in Siberia.
Two drawstrings on the jacket (at the very bottom and about 20cm up) to keep the wind out. Velcro tabs on the ends of the sleeves let you close them tight around your wrists.
The pants have a built in drink holder. I do not tell a lie. I actually didn’t realise this until I was looking at the list of features just now, so of course in the interests of Science and to make sure as readers you are fully informed I had to go and find a suitable drink to see if it worked. It was warm work wearing the suit, so it turned into a two-beer effort. Selfless, I know; I can report the Asahi was cold and tasty.
The built-in drink holder is shown here in the N+1 redundant configuration: in the event your beer unexpectedly runs out, another one is immediately to hand.
This is genuinely very nicely-made gear. Seams are well stitched, sealed, major zippers have flaps (button-down on the jacket, magnetic close on the pants). It is extremely warm: wearing the pants for 15 minutes as shown above in ~20 degree indoor-temperature, my jeans were saturated with sweat. Lots and lots of pockets. Drink holder (!) That said, as noted above we’ve yet to wear this in anything even approaching cold weather, and we’ll write some more notes with our thoughts when we do.
I hope the above helps you, future Ice-Run people. We’ll also be posting a full gear list in a future post, assuming I get off my slack arse and write it.
*This may or may not be a lie. My vegetarian friends may now stop writing angry comments, you know who you are. Are you even supposed to exercise your pet iguana? Sheesh.
I’m calling the RSPCA on you for iguana neglect!