outer wear

I know this Topic has probably been beat to death, but here it goes again.
What is the best outer wear for ice fishing?
1) Money doesn’t matter.
2) It doesn’t need to keep me a-float.
3) Has to be DURABLE!
4) I’d don’t want to be the Michelin tire man.

I’d say sno suit but I believe they are now discontinued. I have 2 pairs of bibs and love them.

Layering is what works best for me.
I wear a long sleeve wool shirt from Ibex as my first layer.
Over that I wear a cotton t-shirt, then a hooded sweat shirt. I bought the IDO hoody last year and it is amazingly warm and comfy.
I wear long pants, usual Carharts without long undies, but if it’s really cold I will add those. Then it’s my bibs. I bought a Frabill uninsulated snow suit last year and they work great. The Strikemaster bibs look really nice too, but they were too expensive for me and not easy to find in a store either.
The Frabill jacket is my outer layer. It could have some nicer pockets but overall I like it.
The nice thing about layering is that you can take layers off when you are hot and add them when you are cold. The problem with the Michelin Man type suits is they are really warm but too bulky, and when you are too warm you can’t really take them off without getting cold. They are nice for super frigid temps, however.
For me it took some experimentation before I got it right. I would advise the same for others since we all run a little different for what’s considered warm enough.
Good luck!

Striker Hardwater suit is one of the warmest and most durable suits out there. If you want versatility look at their Climate series.

Ice fishing clothing can be contrdictive sometimes. If its cold enough out to require extra heavy clothing then its usually so cold its nearly impossible for your gear so you use a shelter where you don’t need extra heavy clothing.

Frabil bought out the snosuit company and now makes the fxe snosuit! There is nothing on the ice that compares! I don’t even own one to hot for me! If I lived in Canada I would get one! Striker, clam, etc, nothing close!

X2 on the Striker Ice suits

I have the Striker Ice Climate suit and love it. I have had it for 3 years and ice fish on average 4-5 days a week and has held up really well still like new except for fish slime. Not only is it very warm but in the case you would go through the ice you will float. I have had other name brand suits and IMO nothing compares to it. I like it so well I am going to by the new Predator suit it has 100 grams insulation in coat and bibs.I do use the climate suit spring walleye fishing also since you can zip out the insulation liner in the bibs.If you are looking for ice fishing suit only I would recommend either Predator or the Hardwater suit. I mainly 95% of the time fish the Mississippi backwaters so I am hole hoping and moving alot that’s why I am considering buying the Predator suit. I don’t really care for the liner coat with the climate suit. The one thing that is nice about the striker ice suits is that you can buy the bibs and coat separate. The main reason I like Striker Ice suits is the flotation safety feature. Definitely worth taking a look at.

Was hoping to look at striker suite at Gander Mt today but did not carry it. How is the floatation installed in the suite? I have seen jackets that have stiff life jacket floatation in them, not comfortable. Watched the YouTube add and it looks like a good sage product.

Go with Striker, just bought bibs last week and they are sweet, probably gonna get a coat sometime, just don’t know if I’d wear it enough

I ended up with the Ice Armor Lift. I think it will be the best fit for me. I can layer up if needed, I can still be agile, I like the padding in the knees and buttocks, and the blue looks awesome.
I’ll be breaking it in on LOW this Thursday. Can hardly wait!

I can’t say much for other suits, as I just upgraded from my old Carharts to the Ice Force bibs. I almost wore them to bed that first night, they’re extremely comfortable, more than warm enough for me, I had to down layer in fact! I seldom use a shelter and I’ve put it to some -15 temps already and the only things that got cold were my nose, toes, and hands. I’ve probably knocked off 10lbs of clothing weight in the switch and that helps. Knee/seat padding is good, you don’t feel the little ice bumps when kneeling or sitting next to the hole, and my inner layers haven’t gotten wet yet so water isn’t seeping through anywhere. There are waterproof soft pockets and spacious cargo pockets that hold all the million nick-nacks that I like to bring out on the ice. I’ve heard great things about snosuits and striker suits too, but I’m happy with what I got.

Not stiff at all very comfortable.

The new ice force ice suit is incredibly warm,comfortable,and light weight which has many water proof pockets easy access to pockets underneath and padded knees for kneeling down on the ice with comfort. Hope this helps you a bit. Good luck Fishing.