What happened to Sunscreen.

[bd]

Mike, when you said you wanted to go fishing in the buff, I thought you meant...   

Seriously, the only time I've used one is while pheasant hunting.  There's one place near a lake where we have to hike through a lot of old cattails, and once that fluff gets in the air it's almost impossible to breathe without choking unless you've got something covering your face.

For fishing, I love the new aerosol sunscreens that have hit the market in the last couple years.  It sprays on MUCH easier than the old greasy stuff that you had to rub on your skin.

bd

[MikeA]

The guides and people who live on the open salt flats day in and day out should be wearing the buff. No question whatsoever on that. The guy who's floating down an inland river that's shaded 70% of the time but wears it because he thinks it makes him look like a flats guide... Hand it over buddy.

Wide brim hats are at least somewhat manly.

[bd]

Wide brim hats also shade your sunglasses a lot better than a baseball cap.  That cuts down on glare bouncing off your lenses, and you can see the fish better.

bd

[JoelO]

I went to the wide brim hat a couple of years ago...big difference...it really saves the back of your neck, nose and ears.  A couple of guys at my golf club have had chunks taken out of their ears and noses due to sun-related cancers...not fun.  I'm going to have to try the spray on stuff...that sounds pretty good. 

[Steve H]

The guides and people who live on the open salt flats day in and day out should be wearing the buff. No question whatsoever on that. The guy who's floating down an inland river that's shaded 70% of the time but wears it because he thinks it makes him look like a flats guide... Hand it over buddy.

Wide brim hats are at least somewhat manly.

Agree 100%!!

[Aquaholic]

The guides and people who live on the open salt flats day in and day out should be wearing the buff. No question whatsoever on that. The guy who's floating down an inland river that's shaded 70% of the time but wears it because he thinks it makes him look like a flats guide... Hand it over buddy.

Wide brim hats are at least somewhat manly.

Agree 100%!!

On the Caney and a may of the eastern rivers, where it's shaded most of the time, I agree 100%- no need for a buff.  But, if I'm on the salt or guiding/fishing at 6500ft on a big western river in ID, WY or MT.....I buff.

[Kylemc]

I just got back from WY and I can damn sure see where you would wear one. The tops of my ears got blisterd and I didn't even know it. Cool breezes and wet wading makes you tend to forget the sun is beaming down on you, unlike here with the high humidity. You know damn well its hot.

[bd]

This is true.  Out West, the sunburn sneaks up on you because the cool air and lack of humidity hides it.  You can get dehydrated in a hurry too.  Many years ago, while we were still dating, my wife wound up in the ER from dehydration out there after a rafting/fishing trip on the Colorado River - she was feeling a little sick to start the day, and she made the poor decision not to drink anything because she didn't want any bathroom issues while on the water.  She didn't mention this decision to me, and I didn't really pay attention, until we got to about 3:00 and she suddenly started having trouble sitting upright.  We hustled to the takeout and got there in an hour or two, but by the time we got to the tiny little medical center that poses as an ER up around Leadville, she was in rough shape.  She was so dehydrated that they had trouble starting an IV - they couldn't get a vein.  We both got fairly sunburned too - I learned a lot that day.

bd

[Aquaholic]

I just got back from WY and I can damn sure see where you would wear one. The tops of my ears got blisterd and I didn't even know it. Cool breezes and wet wading makes you tend to forget the sun is beaming down on you, unlike here with the high humidity. You know damn well its hot.

Green R perhaps?

[toddro]

I just got back from WY and I can damn sure see where you would wear one. The tops of my ears got blisterd and I didn't even know it. Cool breezes and wet wading makes you tend to forget the sun is beaming down on you, unlike here with the high humidity. You know damn well its hot.

Yep - plus at hight altitudes, the UV rays are more intense. 

Which makes me think of something else.  I see a lot fishing shirts labeled as being SPF 30+ or whatnot.  Is this a gimmick?  In my lifetime, I have never been sunburned underneath my shirt or pants, and I'm talking a cheap t-shirts and basic hiking pants.  Even a simple cotton bandana will protect the back of my neck, yet my Buffs are rated "SPF 30+".  Gimmick, or something to it? 

[MikeA]

I think the closer to the equator you get the more important the SPF shirts become.

[bd]

Ah, I think the SPF clothing is a gimmick.  I've spent multiple days on the water in the sun in Costa Rica, which isn't the Equator but it's getting fairly close.  A regular hawaiian shirt and shorts was plenty of SPF to keep me from burning under my clothes.

bd

[Kylemc]

I just got back from WY and I can damn sure see where you would wear one. The tops of my ears got blisterd and I didn't even know it. Cool breezes and wet wading makes you tend to forget the sun is beaming down on you, unlike here with the high humidity. You know damn well its hot.

Green R perhaps?

North Fork and its tribs

[bd]

Another thought on the need for SPF fabrics for your fishing clothes.  I remember back several years ago, it was fashionable for all the nudie models to have very pronounced tan lines.  Were they wearing SPF bikinis all the way back in the 1980s?   

bd

[MikeA]

Another thought on the need for SPF fabrics for your fishing clothes.  I remember back several years ago, it was fashionable for all the nudie models to have very pronounced tan lines.  Were they wearing SPF bikinis all the way back in the 1980s?   

bd

The images in my head that this post invoked have made my morning a little better. Thank you kind sir.