This ain’t a product review. No one pays me to write about their fishing products (nor do they pay me to take the photos for Maximum Exposure). So if you see me grace a product with the “Awesomeness Award”, you can best believe it’s because I think the product is awesome, and not because I think the company is awesome for having paid me $$$ to write a favorable review.
Here at BassFishin.Com, we get packages every day of various products from all kinds of fishing companies for Maximum Exposure. Obviously, some are good, and some aren’t so good. We are in the unique position, because of Maximum Exposure, to have in our inventory A LOT of the newest, most innovative fishing products on the market, and not have an obligation to the companies to promote their products or brand.
While many products that come our way are products we’ve owned or used in the past, many are products we had no experience with and we’ve been putting them all to the test so as to provide unbiased opinion to our visitors.
So the very first product I thought deserved “Kevin’s Awesomeness Award”, was Cabela’s Guidewear Parka and Bibs.
I should start out by saying that we are based in the state of Maryland, where freezing temps are the norm during the winter months. We fish year round in sub-freezing temps, thanks to the many swift-moving rivers that prevent icing over.
In the past, I’ve always been a 4-5 layers kinda guy. I’d wear a regular coat, a thick fleece jacket, a flannel-like collared shirt, long-sleeve t-shirt and an under layer of long johns. Didn’t really keep me warm, wasn’t waterproof, and definitely wasn’t windproof… which is a killer on a bass boat. I just shiver and stick it out all day on the water like all the other fools.
I had heard many good things about Cabela’s Guidwear Rainsuits, so I had a good feeling that their insulated Parka and Bibs would be a solid combo for winter fishing.
The Initial Experiment
We had just finished our photo shoot for Cabela’s Guidewear and we decided, since I had the suit on, to go stand outside for 10 or so minutes. Lucky for us, it was about 28 degrees outside with 10-15 mph winds. I was anxious to just get an idea how Guidewear insulated.
The very instant I stepped outside, I knew something was special with Guidewear. Though my bald head was fully exposed to the cold air, the rest of my body felt no change in temperature. As far as my body was concerned, I had never walked outside.
I get cold pretty quickly wearing my everyday leather jacket, just walking to and from my truck. I wasn’t cold in Guidewear.
I simply stood outside, walked around a little and let the wind hit me for 15 minutes. It honestly was a strange feeling to know I was in freezing temperatures, but not feeling it. In the 15 minutes I was outside, my body did not know it was in the cold.
I had no reason to believe I would ever get cold standing out their with the Guidewear Parka and Bibs on, so I went in. I should note, that when I stepped back inside, my body didn’t feel a difference. It never knew I went outside in the first place.
The Real Test: On the Bass Boat All Day
I launched the bass boat on the Potomac River. Air temp was about 29, and the high for that day was going to be 35… a good day to compare the luxury of Guidewear with my previous ensemble of layers. I should mention that when wearing Guidewear, I only wear a long-sleeve t-shirt and a super-thin Under Armour Cold Gear Pullover.
In my initial run upriver, which was about 8 miles @ 50+ mph, I was astonished. The wind was not piercing me like it had always done in the past. I could have run all day in that suit.
I fished all day, making quick runs in the boat from spot to spot. Every cold weather outing I’ve ever done before, I would purposely stay on unproductive water longer than I knew I should because I simply didn’t want to make another ice cold run in the bass boat to another spot. But with Guidewear, I felt like that ball and chain had been cut free and discomfort wasn’t a factor with boating. A very good feeling indeed.
You Don’t Feel Like The Michelin Man:
Guidewear obviously was created with anglers in mind. It’s very pliable and not stiff. You can move and cast and reel with ease. You won’t feel like the Michelin Man, nor will you look like George Costanza wearing that Gore-Tex coat. Actually, Guidewear does have Gore-Tex and Thinsulate, making it waterproof, windproof, etc. Great stuff. I won’t go into what Thinsulate is, what Gore-Tex is, the construction of the materials in Guidewear, and so on.
Cabela’s Guidewear in Maximum Exposure:
As I mentioned above, you can view Cabela’s Guidewear Parka and Bibs (me wearing the very suit I’m talking about here) in Maximum Exposure. You can really get a good sense as to the quality of the design and materials.
What This Means:
It means that if you fish in cold weather, or want to fish in cold weather, this is the product to have. I’ll never wear layers again. Never in a million years. I simply had no idea how effective something like this was. You’ll see me wearing this suit in upcoming videos where we’re on the water. It’s an odd feeling when freezing temps aren’t a factor when deciding whether to go fishing or not.
