Vexilar Cold Snap Suit – Warmth vs Striker Ice or Ice Armor Extreme or Strikemas

Looks like these are down to $200 for the whole suit, but its hard for me to gauge the insulation level. 50g Thermadex vs 100g Fleece etc across these suits is just hard to know.

Anyone have one? I have the older Striker Ice (now probably a hardwater) and its crazy warm. I have been at tournaments in -35 wind chill and never been cold

i can only comment on the striker suit cause thats what i own, but i have the climate suit which is the one with the removable liners, the liner for the jacket is another jacket you can wear and the bibs is a quilted liner, they are very warm only need the liners for the very cold days but only if im not going to be in a house at all otherwise i never have the liners in during the winter, pretty much the only time i use them is in the early spring and late fall sturgeon fishing from the boat.

like muskie I can only comment on what I currently own and thats the Striker Hardwater suit. The suit is insanely warm, in fact almost two warm in a lot of cases, most of the time I have to leave my coat off when I walk anywhere or I will sweat like a pig, but when its time to start hole hoping I can throw the coat on and I never even think about getting cold and I have hole hoped in negative temps.

Thanks guys – I love my striker but I’d like to get my brother in law something warm and less spendy – I checked out the Striker Ice Lite at 100g vs my 150g Hardwater and seems solid

I know this wasn’t on your list but have you considered The arctic armor suit from I.D.I. Gear? I currently own one and would highly recommend it. Just like the striker suits the arctic armor will float not only you but also 2 other people if you fall through. They currently have the suit on sale if you order black and gold color for only 249.99 shipped … Just a thought. I also typically only wear my bibs because this suit is so warm. Also it’s the lightest suit I’ve found.

I “own” a Striker Climate AND the original red/black Arctic Armor … I “wear” the Striker

desperado wrote:

I “own” a Striker Climate AND the original red/black Arctic Armor … I “wear” the Striker

Is there something you dislike about the arctic armor? or what makes the striker better or more dependable? I couldn’t justify the money when I bought the arctic armor to go with the striker. That is why I ask.

Striker Climate here as well, warm, adaptive and it will float my wide fat arse!

I have the cold snap. Only thing I can afford. It’s good for the $$$$$.

I’m wearing a racey little number with hearts and lips printed all over it and cut down to there…wait a minute…sorry, wrong chat site all together.

I wear the Striker Hardwater and have owned the camo Artic Armor and the green Artic Armor. The Artic Armor always gave me the feeling like I was in a plastic bag and once I sweat in it was very hard to get dry. The Striker is very comfortable however if you run and gun like I do you will notice the zippers let air in if it’s windy. One of the Artic Armor suits may have saved my life as I fell into a river I was able to roll right out. I will always wear a floating suit!

The Vexilar Cold Snap 2 suit is built extremely well, very warm and an excellent value for the money.

Kevin LeSage wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>desperado wrote:</div>
I “own” a Striker Climate AND the original red/black Arctic Armor … I “wear” the Striker

Is there something you dislike about the arctic armor? or what makes the striker better or more dependable? I couldn’t justify the money when I bought the arctic armor to go with the striker. That is why I ask.

I have both suits too.
Have only worn my AA maybe 3x and it’s now two years old.

What makes the climate better than AA:
Full leg zippers
Removable insulation
Longer and bigger

I like the pockets better

AA suit, the butt ripped out after one of those three uses.
It’s now only a backup suit or for buddies who don’t have adequate gear

My buddy has the vexilar suit, I always give him grief because it comes with a rape whistle.
I like the coat though, it looks super long and has a real talk neck… But my buddy is a short asain.. So it might be deceiving lol

Honestly, probably well worth the price.

Kevin
I often felt “clammy” in the AA, never have in the Striker
If I sweat at all in the AA, couldn’t get back to comfortable without removing it (remove jacket, no prob; remove bibs, P.I.T.A.)
If I sweat in the Striker, the zipper vents and the three way zippers up the leg take care of it in short order
I tend to sit leaned forward at the waist to look down the hole, my back often gets cold right across the kidney area (with lots of jackets, not just AA), Striker tends to keep me covered in that area (so does my duck hunting coat)

JD – Ill try that look at the next tournament, might buy me some space?

I pulled the trigger on a Striker Ice Lite Floating jacket for $79, they claim 100 grams of Thermadex vs 150 grams on my older Hardwater equivalent. I’ll hunt for some bibs now – I’d prefer to float if needed.

Actually, I should clarify I’d rather NOT ever have the need to float, but better to “have it and not need it than to need it and not have it”

Hi all:

After reading all the comments i believe im going with the striker hardwater. i was also wondering if it the set is water proof enough that if your getting splashed a lot and will stay stay dry. We go Tuna fishing and some years its cold / windy. we really dont get wet much but do get splashed a bit during a 24 hour fishing trip. does the water eventually soak in or stay dry the entire time?

for what you are looking for I would recommend the sportsmansguide ice parka and bibs. right now you can get them for $80 a piece. I have had them for 5 years now. Ive kneeled down in standing water and never been wet. ive hole hopped in -30+ weather without a problem. have also used it as rain gear on LOTW in 5 ft roller waves and stayed dry. stitching has held up too. best deal out there for an inexpensive suit IMO.

Crappie.

Thanks for the information. Would you be able to send me a link to them so I can check them out. When I typed that in online it didn’t come up with anything but the stricter guardian.
Thanks again.

louis dicostanzo wrote:

Crappie.

Thanks for the information. Would you be able to send me a link to them so I can check them out. When I typed that in online it didn’t come up with anything but the stricter guardian.
Thanks again.

You can see the suit in my avatar picture. That’s me on LOTW wearing it. It was red when I bought it years ago. Looks like its grey now. Below are the links

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/guide-gear-mens-waterproof-ice-parka?a=750470

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/guide-gear-mens-cold-weather-insulated-waterproof-bibs?a=1615947

crappie55369 wrote:

for what you are looking for I would recommend the sportsmansguide ice parka and bibs. right now you can get them for $80 a piece. I have had them for 5 years now. Ive kneeled down in standing water and never been wet. ive hole hopped in -30+ weather without a problem. have also used it as rain gear on LOTW in 5 ft roller waves and stayed dry. stitching has held up too. best deal out there for an inexpensive suit IMO.

Is the belt on the bibs sewn in or is it easy to remove? Not a fan of the belts they put on some of the ice bibs.

23″ 2-way leg zippers with storm flaps
^^^ That would be a deal breaker for me!The zipper needs to come up towards my hip higher to easily slide into the bibs with my boots on (And to get out of). The reviews seem decent though.

I gotta weigh in on the Arctic Armour suit. I bought it when it was the rage years back. i am Very disappointed and only use it for early season ice fishing or late season. Basically when it is not cold there is nothing Arctic bout the suit. Does not breathe and has poor stitching. I have also read that some have had issues with poor customer service. You dont hear about them anymore I thought
they were out of business.

I would also like to use for ice fishing and winter use. Do you think these you posted are good for that also?

Louis

After many review i thinking of either the Ice Armor or the Striker. It seems the Striker is the best setup, Heard the Ice Armor was like wearing a garbage bag. I went to gander today and tried on the Striker. I put the large one on and seemed tight around the nutz (lol, only way to describe it). They only had the predictor or i would have bought it. I’m thinking the hardwater for me.

fish-them-all wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>crappie55369 wrote:</div>
for what you are looking for I would recommend the sportsmansguide ice parka and bibs. right now you can get them for $80 a piece. I have had them for 5 years now. Ive kneeled down in standing water and never been wet. ive hole hopped in -30+ weather without a problem. have also used it as rain gear on LOTW in 5 ft roller waves and stayed dry. stitching has held up too. best deal out there for an inexpensive suit IMO.

Is the belt on the bibs sewn in or is it easy to remove? Not a fan of the belts they put on some of the ice bibs.

Belt is removable and adjustable.

Great, thank you Crappie55369.

thought I would update the info on the guide gear suit. The price has dropped further on it. Now can get the jacket and bibs for a total of $135. that’s a very good price for the quality of suit you get.