When you get into the sport of kayaking you will have many fun filled adventures. While the sport can tend to be a costly one, there is nothing quite like the feelings you get when paddling down a white river or even if you are paddling into the open ocean.

Knowing what to wear when kayaking is essential to ensure that you get the most out of this action packed sport. Here are the things you will need to wear when you go kayaking:

•    Dry suit or wetsuit: A dry suit or wetsuit is an essential piece of clothing to have on when you go kayaking especially when the water is frigid. Wearing a wetsuit or dry suit means that you will not only stay dry, but your body temperature will be trapped inside the suit and this will help to keep you nice and warm.
•    Personal Flotation Device: Also known as a PFD, these are not only mandatory by law but absolutely necessary to ensure a safe time. Most PFDs are a bright color and they are good piece of mind to have on as you never can tell what might happen when you are kayaking.
•    Booties: These are worn on your feet and are essential to help keep your feet dry. These should feel comfortable on your feet and should also fit easily into your kayak. If you opt to go without the booties your waterlogged and soggy feet will certainly remind you that you did.
•    Gloves: Gloves will help to keep your hands warm and dry in the cooler water and also prevent other things from happening to them. A good pair of gloves can greatly diminish your chances of getting blisters, scrapes, and cuts on your hands due to a rough day of kayaking.
•    Helmet: Again, this isn’t required by law but anyone that doesn’t want to have one on should have their head examined. In the sport of Kayaking you are constantly being churned about in the rough waters and you will certainly hit your head a time or two. What do you think is going to protect your head when you do hit it?
•    Non-essentials: Other non-essentials that you may want to consider before you go kayaking are items such as a spray skirt which will help keep water out of your kayak, a rope bag that can be tossed to someone should trouble arise, a dry bag which is perfect for keeping gear dry, float bags which keep the kayak from sinking should you get separated from it, and a trusty knife just in case you need to cut yourself free from any debris.

While some of these items are essential and some are non-essential, in order to fully enjoy kayaking you should strongly consider all of the above. If you are going to skimp on some items be sure that you don’t skimp on the safety gear. Remember that you can always replace physical objects but you can never replace a human life.