Top 12 ways to stay warm surfing in the winter

The water's cold; so here are some tips for keeping warm this winter:

1. Wear the right thickness suit. Yeah we know, obvious, but I've been wearing a 3/2 so far this winter and am dying. I should be wearing a 4/3.

2. Wear Booties or Gloves in the water, and socks until you put them on. You lose most of your body heat through your feet, hands and head, because these are the regions that have the highest surface-area-to-volume ratio. Booties are the most common, but there are gloves, heated jackets, and facemasks if you're in a really rough area.

3. Wear a liner. This is my solution in the short run, I've been wearing a 1 mil wetsuit top under my 3/2.

4. Drink coffee / tea / warm water en route. Keep you core temperature up in prep.

5. Use a longer board. This keeps you out of the water (but only works when the wind isn't wicked).

6. Put a coat of Vaseline on your face – this will act as an insulator...sounds weird, but from what I hear all the New York City winter warriors do it. There's an article on The Runner's Cool Down about it and Wikipedia notes that it is a "useful moisture insulator for local skin conditions characterized by tissue dehydration".

7. Wear as many layers as you can until you put on your suit, including a hat. Again, this is to keep your core temperature up until you actually hit the water.

8. Do warm ups. Run to the beach from your car, do jumping jacks, whatever you want.

9. Keep moving when you're in the water. Don't sit around waiting for the waves, paddle for them and keep moving.

10. Bring a towel poncho for you walk from the beach to the car. There are a few surf ponchos on the market that you can wear out to the water and then again when you get out to keep the wind off of you and the heat in.

11. Stay out of the wind. Windy weather removes more moisture from your skin and makes you colder.

12. Dry your stuff the night before. Make sure you pull the legs all the way out, and use driers, there are a few special ones that don't mess up your suit. DO NOT put the suit in the clothes drier.

More articles on gear and style for the urban surfer at surfinginjeans.com.