Oilskin

Oilskin jacket and sou'wester

Oilskin can mean:

• A type of fabric: canvas with a skin of oil applied to it as waterproofing, often linseed oil. Old types of oilskin included:-
  • Heavy cotton cloth waterproofed with linseed oil.
  • Sailcloth waterproofed with a thin layer of tar.
• Oilskins, a garment made of oilskin, or of other heavy waterproof material (but excluding gaberdine and similar). Such garments include:
  • Sailor's waterproofs
  • Some other wet-weather clothes
  • Coats, vests and chaps for use on the stations of Australia.

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These days, oilskins or oilies means the foul-weather gear worn by sailors, made of modern synthetic and often quite advanced fabrics. (At sea, wet can come from sea spray as well as from rain.)

Design

Oilskin jacket (left) and high trousers (right). Note the high-visibility hood on the jacket and the shoulder straps on the trousers

Oilskin trousers are very high-cut for a large overlap with the jacket and prevent water entering through the join. Often in moderate weather, however, only the trousers are worn (as in the right of the photo) and their high cut then keeps wind and water off the lower part of the torso. It has shoulder straps to hold the trousers up. Straps around the bottom of the trouser legs let them be tightened around seaboots, providing a semi-watertight join. This does not let them be used like fishing waders, but a wave sweeping briefly across the deck will generally not penetrate. All but the cheapest oilskin trousers will be reinforced across the seat and the knees.

Oilskin jackets are similar in many ways to waterproofs used for walking. The most visible difference is that they usually have a much higher collar to keep out spray, and in many cases to warm the ears or the whole head. A fold-away hood will be provided, almost always in a high-visibility colour since the head will be the only part showing above the water if the sailor is lost overboard. It often has retroreflective patches on the shoulders for the same reason. Its tails are very long to keep water off the legs.

The cuffs of better oilskin jackets include an inner seal, something like that on a scuba diver's drysuit, to stop water getting in if a wave is forced up the sleeve. This is less important in walking jackets since in walking on land the arms usually point down away from the rain; but this nuisance can happen in motorcycling where the arms holding the handlebars point forwards into a wet headwind.

Pockets on trousers and jackets are often lined with a synthetic fleece material designed to be quick-drying and warm even when soaked. Most sailing consists of bursts of hard work between periods of relative inactivity; hunched up with hands in pockets is a common pose in bad weather during the inactive parts, and soft linings help keep the hands warm. A recent innovation is removable soft linings, enabling them to be washed.

Some oilskin jackets include built-in harnesses; typically just a strap around the chest which a lifeline can be clipped to during very bad weather. This avoids the need to wear a separate harness, but may be less safe than a modern separate harness which includes a lifejacket. More expensive oilskin jackets may also act as a lifejacket. A few jackets contain equipment like lights, flares, and an emergency radio beacon.

Variants

Although a few all-in-one, boilersuit-shaped oilskin suits are available, most sailors prefer the flexibility of a separate jacket and trousers.^{[citation needed]}

Handling

Care must be used with traditional oilskins because of the danger of the oil coming off onto other surfaces.

References

External links

• Classification of Foul Weather Gear