Anetik Clothing: Comfort in Chaos
by Blake Beatty
Clothing is the most important tool available to us in kayak fishing and is probably the most overlooked in my opinion. If you look at some of the biggest names in our sport, they all have performance clothing to protect themselves from the sun and to keep cool or warm on the water. Additionally, skin cancer is a legitimate concern. This is why it is so important to protect ourselves with UV protective clothing while on the water. One thing that attracted me to Anetik is they look at clothing as a tool and they are dedicated to fine tuning that tool to get the job done. The fact the designers are the users, and the users are the designers is what sets Anetik apart from the competition.
The Mission Shade Sock
As someone who will burn if I sit too close to a 60-watt light bulb, protection from the sun is the most important aspect to me. I tried the sunscreen route but when I’m fishing I’m focused on fishing, not if it’s time to reapply sunscreen. Not to mention I don’t want the sunscreen scent getting on my line when I make a cast or grab my bait. After my first few trips out in my new kayak I was left with legs burnt to a crisp – it was bad. A friend told me about Anetik Shade Socks, and I instantly bought a pair. That was in 2018 and as long as I have my socks on, the sun hasn’t been able to touch me.
The Mission Shade Socks started off as an idea from Ty Southerland and Anetik to create breathable lower body protection that also protects your feet. This gives an angler the advantage of not wearing shoes while on the water, something other products don’t offer. No matter the type of shoe you wear if your kayak flips over, shoes can make it hard to swim. Giving anglers to ability to not rely on shoes to protect their feet is a game changer and potentially a life saver.
The author in his Anetik Mission Shade socks & Tech Hoodie
The Shade Socks are constructed using Vent Technology giving the polyester fabric even more breathability. In the dog days of summer dip your legs in the water and you have your own built in air conditioning. Yeah you can wear pants but pants don’t protect your feet and pants don’t let the cool breeze run up your legs while sitting down.
The Mission Shade Socks aren’t just for men either, ladies they’ll work for you as well. The clothing market hasn’t quite caught up with the demand for clothing for women anglers leaving them with very few options when it comes to fishing shorts. With the Mission Shade Socks you can wear whatever shorts you like and still have your legs and feet protected from the sun.
The only drawback of the Shade Socks and has more to do with user error than by design. They like to get stuck to treble hooks and once you get the hook out the hole will eventually become larger. The easy fix to this is to put some clear nail polish over the rip and it’s good as new. I’ll end with this: if you’re still on the fence about buying a pair of fishing stockings, just think how cool Benjamin Franklin was and how he wore stockings.
Anetik Low-Pro Tech Hoodie
I recently tried out the Anetik Low-Pro Tech Hoodie. I’ve tried numerous different fishing shirts from the major brands and this one is by far the most breathable I have worn. The first time I wore this shirt I learned just how breathable it is. It was 60 degrees with an unexpected north wind blowing at 25-30 MPH that dropped the windchill into the 50’s. It wasn’t bad until I hit a wave wrong and got soaked. That cold wind hitting that wet hoody, oh my it felt like I was taking an ice bath. This isn’t the shirts’ fault at all, I brought the wrong tool to the game based on those conditions.
The Anetik Low-Pro tech Hoodie
The next time out was a few days later and it was 90 degrees with a little breeze, welcome to Texas where if you don’t like the weather wait a couple days. This is when I became a believer in this hoodie. I could tell it was hot outside, but I wasn’t hot at all. The hoodie soaked up any little sweat I had, and it was like I was wearing an air conditioner as a shirt. I’m telling y’all, this hoodie was a game changer for me.
I usually fish in the evenings and at night during the hot summer months just to get out of the heat. But with this hoodie matched with the shade socks, it doesn’t matter if it’s the heat of the day, early morning, or late at night – I’m completely comfortable. I can actually enjoy my time on the water.
Like I said, clothing is the most important tool at our disposal when it comes to kayak fishing. Not only to keep us cool and comfortable, but to keep us protected from skin cancer. Yeah, you may think your bronzed tan skin looks good, but not getting skin cancer looks like a better option to me.
Additional Info
For more about Anetik Products, visit: https://anetik.com/
Blake Beatty is an outdoors blogger and kayak angler. He lives in Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @dragonajig
© KBF 2022