I have just recently been assigned to work on a very small island (6 acres) in Lake Erie. My department is based out of a rural area, i.e. nothing bigger than a small pond in my jurisdiction. This limits my experience working around water  One question I had was about duty belts , mine is rather heavy – mags , Glock 22 w/ tac light , O.C. spray, key pouch, leather man, ASP, flashlight , Handcuffs. I have a feeling it is a bit too heavy to have on near water, what do most of you carry? Also what kind of shoes/boots are you issued.  I guess my big question is this , i was  issued shorts , but if it gets cold I don’t want to put on my regular uniform pants , if I wanted some thing like wind pants , what am I going to hook my belt keepers to? I have seen the ones they make for bike details, and they suck.  Is there any company that makes police uniforms geared toward marine detail?

Here is THE Island, [url]http://www.sg.ohio-state.edu/slab/o-slab.html[/url]
And to answer some questions, yes the castle is haunted; yes the island is closed to the public except on the Annual open house.  

Thanks for the help

Mr10,

Funny thing, I work around that area.  FOR THE state Div. of WATERCRAFT! I was working in the Toledo area but recently transfered to Sandusky.  So are you working for PIB's marine patrol?  Or PC's new patrol?  

I wear all that gear and more.  I am a bit of a Boy Scout when it comes to being out on the water and away from civilization.  I'd rather have the gear and not need it.  It doesn't get in the way too much.

We are issued shorts, and I wear them a lot in the hot months, BUT I always carry a gortex rain suit in my boarding bag in case a storm creeps up.  I will occasionally use this gear if it's a little cool out too.  We have yet to find any marine patrol oriented pants either.  BUT our gear is supplied and we don't always have a say in what we get to wear.  (I'm not complaining too much, since I don't have to pay for it:)  We carry mustang suits for cold weather patrols.  Those suits have a waist belt that we can attach the keepers to.  But you have to let your duty belt out a bit since the suit is so thick.

I really like a black coach's shoe with good support for working on the boat.  BUT we are not allowed to wear those any more and have to wear a thicker clunkier Danner hi or low top.  I am currently wearing out my old Bates low tops, and they work great too.  If you are working on a Whaler or other center console type boat you tend to be on your feet a lot, so a good shoe is a must!  We started with Rocky 911's and they hurt my feet a lot due to a lack of support.

I second Wave's suggestion of RR 511's, those are nice pants!  We wore those at the academy.  

Let me know how it goes.  I work out of the Sandusky office.

[url]www.dnr.state.oh.us/watercraft[/url]

by the way, did you attended Marine Patrol Training two weeks ago at Alum Creek?

watersniper , i sent you an IM , hope you got it

Lighten up your load....put other stuff you need close at hand...DON"T WEAR KEEPERS!!!!

I work for an OPP Marine Unit on Georgian Bay, we wear the Micheals of Oregon nylon gear (very light) and dark blue tac pants with grey golf shirts, keeps you a little cooler, the shoes are from a company called Magnum, they are also very light, but we usually have two duty belts, one for the road and one for marine patrol, I don't think you'll need your ASP and any of the extras on the water.