Cold water paddling

[tarquin]

Looking at doing more paddling this winter. In France. Mainly flatwater and some downwinding. Water temp around 10°C, air temp can be 8 to mid teens on a warm day.
 Wondering what people are wearing. I have a 3/4 wetsuit at the moment. Most of the time I find it too hot. Except when downwinding and being in the water at times.
 Looking at a new wetsuit, so many different zip systems etc. I guess some can be annoying. Maybe a dry suit or combo of pants and dry top.
 I have a 2mm long john that is great for warmer days. I can wear a warm top/ wind breaker with it. I am thinking of a 3 or 4mm long john with a couple of different tops could be a good combo. Some of the sailing brands do products that are more wind proof and flexable than a normal wetsuit.
 Interested to know what people have found that works and is comfortable.
 

[SupSimcoe]

I have an assortment of Enth Degree tips and bottoms ( shorts, pants, tank top, long sleeve with thin arms and regular long sleeve) which are water proof treated thin neoprene on the outside and fleece on the inside that allow me to go from5-18 degrees. Lower than 8 I have a Level Six SUP semi drysuit that gets me down to -7. To plus 8 after that I find that I overheat in it.

I also have Xcel dry lock  5 and 7mm booties and a pair of 1.5 and 3 mm Xcel gloves and a 3mm NRC mitt type glove for cold days

[puget sound]

Winter paddling here is usually air temp in the 30s and 40s, water temp 45-50F...a tad cooler than OP. I'm always trying to find the balance between staying reasonably warm and sweating myself into dehydration. A 4/3 full would be too hot most days. I usually wear a 2mm farmer john wetsuit or 1.5mm neoprene pants with either cycling/climbing type gear up top (base layer + various jacket options) or a 1.5mm neoprene top, or all of it on sub-30F days.

Feet and hands:  7mm Rip Curl flash bomb booties and my feet still go numb sometimes. I bought them big and wear wool socks underneath if it's going to be cold. Avoid split toe booties if you want this option. Cycling gloves are great for hands. I have three pairs from thin basic layer to GoreTex gloves that could be used for skiing. Like Creek, I keep wetsuit gloves on board just in case.

I've ordered a SupSkin drysuit which might control sweat and temperatures better, but it's been months and months and I've given up hope of predicting when it might arrive.

[SupSimcoe]

I looked at the supskin but the cost is way too high for me. Often the level size is on sale for less than 400 USD and it does breath well with efforts around 4mph but above 5, which is the pace I like most, i sweat a lot. Under it I only have a thin craft base layer from my cycling/cross country skiing wear as anything more would make me completely overheat.

In my heat I wear a running hat and a cycling to headband to keep my ears warm.

I do like the safety of the drysuit because if you fall in nothing gets more wet than my normal sweating.