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Has anyone got just the jacket or do most have the hole suit

I'd like to know this as well... If I only wore the flotation jacket with regular snow pants will it still work to keep me up in the case I fall through ice?

Sticker Ice bibs and jacket.

I think you need both to float, any other pants might add too much weight after absorbing the water.

Of all the money spent on ice fishing gear, don't skimp on the one thing that might keep you alive.

I have the Arctic Armor bib and jacket that I bought used from this site and I really like it. Light and flexible and quite warm. Money well spent for sure. They say this suit will float me and 3 buddies (over 700 lb) but I hope I never have to find out. For sure you need both for proper floatation to keep all of your body riding high in the water. I'm sure most have seen the videos. Pretty amazing stuff this Insultex.

A float suit is not the time to be chincy IMO. Not when it comes to safety. Last year, Jim Hudson died going through the ice on his sled and for some strange occurrence of events he didn't put his floater suit on for a quick buzz across the channel. This guy was a pro guide and super safety conscious and he still made one mistake. For anyone interested here's a link to the sad story. http://www.superiortelegram.com/event/a ... her_ID/36/

So I say yes absolutely, buy and wear the whole suit if there is any question about ice safety. Personally, I prefer the versatility of a two piece suit over a coverall style, but I guess a one piece would have much less chance for water ingress and you might keep warmer for a while longer if you did go through. And they are certainly not only for ice fishing but on the water late or early season as well. I'm sure most of the boats on BoQ now are filled with floater suits. No fish is worth dying for, or even coming close.

Cheers

Some of you may know me.... I'm a big guy so I can only get a few makes and they are not cheap so I'm looking at about 450-500 plus shopping. So I was wondering if the jacket was good enough and maybe pants next year

Chris anything is better than nothing for sure, but to me the bottom line is, if ice is a potential safety concern and you are not 100% confident in your half suit, just go fish somewhere else and don't even take the chance. Too bad the water is too cold now to test it off the dock hehe. Then you would have a much better idea of what it would really be like under actual conditions.

As an alternative, you could also buy the bib first, and wear a comfy pfd vest somehow to feel more secure if the need arose. Just a thought.

Cheers

I have 2 float coats (1 camo ) and an Atlantic Class Mustang one piece suit from what I can see there is insulation but no flotation in the legs. Looking in the LeBaron catalogue it looks like the bibs with the exception of the new Catalyst bibs do not contain flotation. All are CCG approved . Unless it is extremely cold I wear a float coat. If the water temperatures are freezing if you don't get out within a couple of minutes you won't be able to get yourself out. But your family will have a body to bury.

If safety is your main concern then go with a floater suit or float jacket. The Striker and some of the other outwear coat and bib combos look sharp, are very functional and have floatation assist added but they are not Transp Can approved because they dont have the required 15.5 lbs floatation. I think Striker comes in at btween 7-12lbs floatation. The trade off is the floater suits and coats are more bulky so its up to you. And this is by no means an attempt to bash the combo suits that have floatation assist, striker, clam lift etc, I currently have a floater suit but once it gets worn out I will probably go with a Striker.

I've had both over the years. I like the suit the best for fishing. It's warm and fairly water tight. I've actually gone swimming in a suit. They have great flotation and float you horizontal. I think it would be easier getting back on the ice if you went through. If you end up in the water, the suit will keep you warmer because you can sinch down the openings to keep the water from circulating. In the fall when it's cold I tie a line from the boat to the belt on the suit. If I go in and can pull myself back to the boat. It is hard to get back in a boat with a suit. I tried it and the only way I could get back in the boat was to use the motors cavitation plate as a step. One problem I have is I wear glasses and if I'm in a shack, the heat coming from the suit quickly fogs up my glasses when I'm looking down trying to tie a lure. The fogging's not a problem outside. The disadvantage is fishing in an heated ice shack. With a jacket and bibs you can take the jacket off which is great.

Hope this helps.

I think a coat would be fine as long as you get one that can float your weight. Think about it like a life jacket in the summer...do u need floating pants, nope just need to be sure it can float your weight. Remember some suits have float assist of boyuant but aren't approved by the Coast Guard some are so that's your decision to make. I switched this yr from a 1pc Float suit to the new Clam IA Lift suit & am sure the float is only in the coat...Clam does sell an ice fishing life jacket.

Riverdog it doesn't make sense to me that they would make a "suit" with buoyancy only in the jacket so I checked out the clam site and it certainly seems to me that the lift is in the whole suit. This from the site-

"Icearmor™ lift technology adds buoyancy"

"THE ICEARMOR LIFT™ Cold weather suit is more than just a cold weather suit. Yes, it certainly will protect you from the cold, wind and ice. Yes, it is 100% waterproof and windproof. But More than this, the Icearmor lift suit includes an internal “lift” lining that provides added buoyancy versus our edge suit, giving the angler an extra “lift” when it’s needed. Yielding cutting edge design, look and function, the bibs and parka have the same great features as the original Icearmor blue/black edge™ suit. Everything you’ve come to expect from Icearmor —from strategically placed pockets to ballistic nylon-covered padded knees—this suit will surely fit the outerwear expectations of today’s ice angler."

Notice that they say the "suit" includes an internal lift lining and not just the jacket. I know that the lining in the Arctic Armor is so thin that you wouldn't think that it could float much but it does very well. Just look at the videos and you see the guys legs floating high in the water.

So with all due respect I think you are mistaken about the bibs not having floatation.

Cheers

the bib and jacket combo suits were never intended to be coast guard approved due to the high cost of testing and approval process. They were made for ice fishing and have floatation to keep up top in the event of falling through, and allow you a chance at getting out alive, not to keep you floating for X number of hours.

I did forgot to mention that with a jacket, if the belt isn't super tight or have crotch straps the jacket can float up and cover your face, which isn't good. A suit won't

smitty55 wrote:Riverdog it doesn't make sense to me that they would make a "suit" with buoyancy only in the jacket so I checked out the clam site and it certainly seems to me that the lift is in the whole suit. This from the site-

"Icearmor™ lift technology adds buoyancy"

"THE ICEARMOR LIFT™ Cold weather suit is more than just a cold weather suit. Yes, it certainly will protect you from the cold, wind and ice. Yes, it is 100% waterproof and windproof. But More than this, the Icearmor lift suit includes an internal “lift” lining that provides added buoyancy versus our edge suit, giving the angler an extra “lift” when it’s needed. Yielding cutting edge design, look and function, the bibs and parka have the same great features as the original Icearmor blue/black edge™ suit. Everything you’ve come to expect from Icearmor —from strategically placed pockets to ballistic nylon-covered padded knees—this suit will surely fit the outerwear expectations of today’s ice angler."

Notice that they say the "suit" includes an internal lift lining and not just the jacket. I know that the lining in the Arctic Armor is so thin that you wouldn't think that it could float much but it does very well. Just look at the videos and you see the guys legs floating high in the water.

So with all due respect I think you are mistaken about the bibs not having floatation.

Cheers

Hey Smitty I have the suit here and can tell you there isn't much to the bibs except in the knees & butt which to me seems just like padding. The coat feels like it has extra buoyancy material in it which you don't feel in the bibs anywhere. I read all the stuff that you referenced in your post & assumed the same. I have emailed Clam to ask for clarification. I'll be honest I have concerns about this suit in the real cold weather. The back of my legs were cold in -1 weather this Sunday when I wore it to go sledding with the kids as the back part of the suit feels more like rain pants. I will share Clams response when it comes in.
Riverdog

Riverdog that doesn't sound good at all if the bib is that frail and you were already cold at those temps. My bibs are nowhere like that with extra padding/insulation/floatation on the knees with a real solid fabric sewn over it. To me the durability of the bottom half of a winter suit is more important than the top half as it takes the most abuse.One thing that also impresses me with the AA is that it also doesn't get stiff in real cold temps and it's not overly heavy at all.

You may want to reconsider your purchase regardless of what they say. If I recall you didn't buy it locally so that might be a bit of a pain, but it doesn't sound like you got what you thought you were going to get. Like me, it seems like you were looking for a good snowsuit first, that can be used for anything, with the added feature of being a floater for those times where you might need it.
Cheers