Do big people not go boating?

[gus]

This is as much a wake up call to sailing clothing manufacturers as it is a strong moan to my fellow boaters. People in general are becoming bigger in size than they were in the past. Better feeding, lifestyle etc. Many facets of society already recognise this and have made changes accordingly, cars are bigger, boats are bigger etc. However this fact seems to have been missed by the sailing clothing manufacturers because they are not making the sizes to fit the bigger boaters. I am not carrying much excess weight but still need the XXXL size, but trying to find such a size is almost impossible. Some of the 'Offshore' - expensive gear and some of the 'Industrial' outfits are available in XXXL sizes, but everything else is not. The chandlers I visited commiserated by saying that they have a lot of requests for bigger sizes but the manufacturers don't seem to be listening.
So what do you suggest?
Give up boating?
Shell out for a more expensive suit than I actually need?
Wear an 'Industrial' suit and a hard hat?
Convert a pack-a-mack?
Make something out of bin bags?
Or shall we all tell the manufacturers that we are not happy in tight suits?

 

[trapezeartist]

Lose the excess weight?

Runs and hides.........

 

[westernman]

Go sailing somewhere warm where no cloathing is required

 

[rob2]

I have the opposite problem - being short. The clothing manufacturers are quite happy to sell outfits, the price of which rivals the running costs of the boat for a decade - but they only make three sizes! If I buy a pair of jeans, each waist size is available in three leg lengths - why do they think I want half a meter of waterproof leggings dragging along the deck behind me?

Technically great clothing, but rendered useless!

Rob.

 

[prv]

Buy the "industrial" option? It'll probably last longer, and you won't look like a yottie poser

You can leave off the hard hat

Pete

 

[Poignard]

Better feeding, lifestyle etc.

More likely:- over feeding, sedentary lifestyle.

I speak as one of the guilty ones

 

[Ceirwan]

Well if you need the XXXL size then I think it's a case over over eating not better eating.
I'm 6'5'' and I manage fine with large.

IMO of course

 

[alteredoutlook]

I 2nd that one about losing weight - I cringe and the boat winces whenever someone clambours aboard who is too large!!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I suffer on the other side - no problem with Jackets, but I am short in the leg. I also have very small feet for a man - size 6. But I have normal sized calves! So I find a) that most trousers are too long b) that long boots don't fit at all and c) I often have to put up with over-size boots (as size 7 is the smallest men's size). Of course, ladies sizes go smaller - but my foot is too wide for them; ladies fittings are narrower than men's

 

[Signed Out]

Well if you need the XXXL size then I think it's a case over over eating not better eating.
I'm 6'5'' and I manage fine with large.

IMO of course

You must have a long torso then, cos (ok, admittedly with motorbike gear; haven't bought oilies for a while, but same principle), I may be a chubber, but it's always the length of the limbs that requires me to find larger gear. Typically I am wearing a belt and have fair deal of space around my gut before I have happy wrists and ankles.

 

[dmmbruce]

Just buy industrial, I have for years. It is much better quality at much lower prices. My sailing jacket cost me £25, and it is perfect!

Mike

 

[asteven221]

Gloves are a problem for me! My fingers must be too short. Every other body component seems in reasonable proportion and every other garment in XL or XXL will fit okay. However with sailing gloves, and motorbike gloves for that matter, there is always a wee bit of fresh air, hence excess material at the fingertips, which makes pressing buttons difficult.

 

[mattnj]

I am not carrying much excess weight but still need the XXXL size

er yeah.....if you say so

is this a late April fool wind up?

 

[sailor211]

I cannot find a pair of boots, at any cost, that will fit over my calfs, naked, So no chance with socks and with midlayer, in the boot.

Also all sizes seem to be minimum dimensions. I had to delicately say to wife that in sailing terms XL is a size 12 as that is what fitted over thermals!!

 

[SvenglishTommy]

I suffer on the other side - no problem with Jackets, but I am short in the leg. I also have very small feet for a man - size 6. But I have normal sized....

lol, sorry to lower the tone of the thread but I was expecting a different fenale to that sentence.

To the OP - I find sailing gear is often quite oversized anyway, and I know many "big" sailers who do just fine with XL. Do you not get this issue with normal clothes?

 

[aquaholic]

What type of clothing is it you want? As u say if the wet weather gear is ok then what else do you need to get? I wear regatta trousers and shorts mostly which come in large sizes, everything else comes from normal stores.

 

[dt4134]

You must be big. I'm 16 stone and my racing smock is just L and the oilskin trousers M. OK, my cruising oilskin jacket is XL but that's partly to get half a dozen fleeces on under it for winter sailing.

On the supply issue, a friend recently went to the Musto outlet at Bicester and complained they only had S & XXXL, so that might be worth a try.

 

[colvic987]

The manufacturers must have a new sizing chart as i have a large old oilskin, whilst now large is now too small for me to fit in and i have to get xl, but i still fit into the old stuff, they must be measuring up small chinese people to save on material.

 

[gus]

cheeky midgets

I posted the original message because there is a problem with finding sailing clothing of the right size. Like as someone has already said - the sizing seems to be one size smaller than it should be. I can sympathise with all the others who also find that 'one size fits all' is not good enough.
For those that alluded to an excess of fat and overeating being the problem, I can assure you that that is definately not the problem. My waist size is less than my chest size. I am just a big active person trying to continue to enjoying boating.

 

[bromleybysea]

I don't want to be unkind- and being horrid to fatties is one of the few socially acceptable prejudices left, as I know from personal experience. But not being able to get into a XXXL set of foulies means you are significantly overweight. Having a chest size bigger than your waist size is irrelevant- so have I but I also know that I would be better-off losing a few stone. Cognitive distortion and denial is about as powerful in overweight people as it gets, and the less socially acceptable it is the more entrenched it becomes. Keeping weight off is much harder for some people, due to a combination of physiological and psychological factors, but there it is, life’s unfair.