which hobies will keep me the driest, I was thinking about an outback or revo for inshore and off shore for king fishing.

Besides launching or landing most yaks, you can get wet feet and a wet butt while on/in the water.

So buy or keep the yak you like and buy a pair of Kokatat Tempest Pants w/ socks to wear while yaking or fishing and yaking.

If you want to start early in the season and then extend your yaking season in the fall early winter. This is the way to go. Your feet, ankles and lower legs stay warm and dry as the rest of your body waist down. No more wet butts and wet/cold feet when we wear our K's.

Some evil genius must have designed other Kayak pants without attached waterproof socks/feet. If your feet get wet while launching a yak, they will stay wet/cold the rest of the trip. So we went to the Kokatat Tempest Pants with the built in feet/socks.

Unless you have worn these before, you probably should go to a store which sells these Kayak Pants with w/feet. Then have one of their good people help you to find the right size. After finding the K's that fit, you should try various sandals or boots to see which ones fit. I knew my fly fishing Korker Boots at home would fit and they did. I now use the Korker wading sandals.


My wife couldn't find a comfortable fit, and the Clavey sales rep suggested taking them to a shoe store or Big 5 and try on various feet gear. She took the kayak pants to a big 5 and found a sandal that fit over the K's socks with her feet in them.

At that time we only owned a Hobie Oasis, and we knew that that our feet with her bigger sandals or my Korkers would not fit into the foot strap/strirups of the Hobie Mirage Pedals. So we took off the foot straps on the Mirage Pedals. It took us about 30 seconds to learn to use the Mirage Pedals without straps, and we haven't used the straps since then.

My wife puts on her Kokatat Pants at home and leaves them on until we get back home. I don't want to drive with my Korker big Footprints, so I put the Kokatats and Korkers on at the launch site and remove then after we get the Oasis back on its trailer. Or my Freedom Hawks back in my truck bed. When I yak/fish with my Freedom Hawks. I put the Kokatats on before I get into either yak. With the Freedomn Hawks, I do a standup entrance with one boot in the yak while holding the grab bar, and I use my oar to steady me in the water with my left foot in the water. Then, I shove off and step into the yak.

This brings some water into the yak, but I'm dry due to the Kokatats. With our Oasis, my wife gets in while I steady it. Then, I move the Oasis up with my vacant seat next to me, steady myself with an oar, straddle the yak and sit down and shove off. Either way with the K's I'm dry and warm. Without the Kokataks, my feet/socks/footgear would be wet and cold for the trip.

I 'launched' my new Freedom Hawk Pathfinder this way in the last week of February. I stayed dry and warm while other yakkers got wet feet and often wet butts. The air and water temp was in the 40's, and I was warm and dry.

I own several fly fishing waders, and the Kokatats have become my waders of choice when fishing Doran Beach and other areas where I don't have to wade deep as they are so easy to put on and take off. If I decide to beach my Freedom Hawks and wade and cast from the shore of a river or lake, the Kokatats work great as I step from the yaks onto the beach and back on the yaks.

Launching or bringing in the Oasis without the Kokatats can be a wet and cold time. The K's eliminate that problem. We use various Goretex and non Goretex jackets with our K's, which is an advantage over more expensive one piece Kayak suits. My wife might put in up to 3 tops into her storage area by her on our Oasis to stay comfortable throughout the trip. As the weather and temps change on our yak trips, we can change our clothing tops and our feet and butts stay dry with the Kokatats on.

Since I have 3 yaks, I keep my Kokatats, my life preservers, hats, gloves and jackets in the trunk of my Ridgeline. That way they are right there when I get ready to put the yak off the day in the water.

So find the yak or yaks you like or love, and then buy a pair of Kokatat Tempest Pants w/ socks/feet to stay dry and warm. Since they breath, it has to be a day over 95 degrees before I get uncomfortable.

The link below will take you to reviews by other yakkers:

http://www.campmor.com/kokatat-tempest- ... ader-76062

which hobies will keep me the driest, I was thinking about an outback or revo for inshore and off shore for king fishing.