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Hey Guys...
All right, I was just wondering if anyone else had this problem. LOL. Often times after a good day of tubing, there's a good deal of chafing from all the paddling behind my knees (the knee pit!). Anywho, this gets really annoying, and I just put some neosporine on it when I get home, but it gets like totally rubbed raw! [mad] It's not a very pleasant feeling. LoL. I figured at first that it might be because I usually wear a pair of jeans underneath my waders, so I figured it was the rough denim doing it, but I've tried wearing sweat pants and even pajama pants underneath the waders and it still happens! Does anyone else have this problem and know what I'm talking about? Or am I alone? ha. I'm sure someone has figured out a way to prevent it...
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[cool]Sounds like a problem. I have never experienced that much of a problem in the spot described. I suspect it is a combination of clothing, waders, body shape, kicking style, etc.
Since you are slim and athletic, most clothes are not going to fit snugly on you. Jeans are never a good idea for wearing inside waders. The cloth is too stiff and has the potential of creationg uncomfortable folds and wrinkles. I wear sweats a lot, along with some fleece in colder waters. A good part of the year, I wear one pair of thermal undies, beneath a layer or two of sweats.
One of the sets of thermals I have is made of a lightweight synthetic material and stretches to fit snugly all over. I am thinking that if you could find womething that would do the same the top layers of sweats or light cloth pants would slide easily over the first layer, without rubbing your tender flesh raw.
Another potential solution...if that is the only place you have the problem, is to get some elastic knee braces and slip them on before dressing for the waders. They will provide additional support in addition to protecting you from abrasion. You might even put on some lubricating cream in the troubled area, before slipping on the brace.
If you were a hardcore bicyclist I might suggest that you try one of the lycra/spandex suits under the warmer wear. I would not presume to suggest that you try panty hose, although some guys DO use that...until their wives find out. Since you are not married, all you need be concerned with is that you will like it too much. When you start shopping out of the Victoria's Secret catalog instead of BassPro, I'll worry about you.
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That gives me an idea on what to dress with when I go out there. I am still wearing some old swimming trunks under my neoprenes. The water out here hasn't dropped below 60 yet so that is comfy for me. I have tried the thermals under the waders and found out that it was just too much heat for this SoCal waters.
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[cool][size 1]Hey SturgeonKid,[/size]
[size 1]I remembered when I was trying on waders at Bob Marriotts, the salesman asked me to sit down to find out how tight they were on the back of my knees. While standing they felt good but sitting the waders were tight at the knees. Consequently I purchased the next size up. Glad that I did. [/size]
[size 1]I guess at this point in time - you will have to go with TubeDudes recommendations.[/size]
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Hey TD...
Thanks a bunch. I think I'm gonna have to look for some of them thermals that are a bit more snug now. I think that ought to do the trick. I may try the knee brace thing too...
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Hey there SturgeonKid,
Chafing... Ah yes, how well I remember. Here's the story according to JapanRon. Wearing anything across the kness or where the end of the shorts, etc. end near the knees is asking for trouble. When you sit in a U-shaped or other-than-a-donut-tube, if that's what you usually do, the cloth will gather when you flex your knee then return to it's original shape repeatedly.
When the cloth restricts the shallow capillaries supplying blood to the epidermal area behind the knee, the skin becomes supsceptible to skin abrasion. It should also itch, which again, is a sign of blood flow restrictions.
You may not realize this is going on until you see the end result. I had this problem when I sat to far back in my tube and the front edge of the seat was continually in contact with the back of my knees.
So there! That's another theory to ponder which happened to be correct in my case. Now, all you have to tell me is this occurs only in your pontoon boat and no contact occurs to blow the whole thing! ha ha ha
JapanRon
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yep, I know what you are talking about with them rug burns.
you may want to think about panty hose.... (even Joe namoth wore them) there are a good number of men who wear them after the age of 50 because they aid with blood circulation in their legs.
the heaver nilons are better, like the dude says, having something tight against your skin will reduce the rugburns signifantly.
the only other thing I could tell you is to go with a thermal diving suit and use pleanty of baby powder
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Hi Sturgeonkid,
I don't own a float tube but have experienced this problem. I have had the unpleasant experience while scuba diving. I've found that if I do a few things while suiting up it reduces the problem significantly. I make sure my suit is up as far as it can go without giving yourself a wedgy[blush].. Make sure your suit doesn't bunch up behind your knees. The next thing I've tried that works is a little bit of vaseline behind the knees. Too much can be messy, but just a little provides some relief from the suit rubbing you raw. I know this isn't the best solution but it's better than spending $ for a new suit. Hope this helps a little.
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