I recently purchased a set of Kokatat Hydrus 3.0 Tempest Dry Pants With Socks < https://kokatat.com/product/hydrus-3l-tempest-pants-with-socks-ptuhtp > to mate/seal with a Kokatat Stoke Dry Top (Hydrus 3.0) < https://kokatat.com/product/hydrus-3l-stoke-dry-top-dtuhst >. However I cannot figure out how one would create a waterproof seal between the two. The old Goretex Kokatat dry top and dry pants I’ve previously borrowed had a skirt on both the dry top and dry pants that were rolled up together like a dry bag to create the waterproof seal - these Tempest trousers don’t have a material flap on them for such so I don’t see how they can seal up to the dry top. Have I therefore purchased the wrong dry pants to use?
I contacted NRS for advise asking:
“I’m looking for a pair of dry pants to match with it that can be mated together to create a defacto dry suit (e.g. Kokatat Hydrus 3.0 Whirlpool Bib, NRS Sidewinder Dry Bib, NRS Raptor Dry Bib - Closeout). Are you able to please recommend which of your offerings would be best for this? The combination will mainly be used for low level/amateur white water kayaking and stand up paddle boarding.”
The response advise received was:
“Thank you for reaching out to us. Any pair of drypants that have the waist tunnel system can be paired with the Stoke Dry Top. I personally want my feet to be “inside” the suit so I wouldn’t consider the Kokatat Whirlpool Bib because it only has ankle gaskets.
The NRS Freefall Dry Pants, Sidewinder Bibs, Raptor Dry Bibs and the Kokatat Tempest Dry Pants will all be good options. When paired properly the two individual pieces will act like a drysuit but cost half as much. The only thing to keep in mind is it’s not 100% dry. If you spend a decent amount of time in the water, it will slowly find a way in.
I think a good way to whittle down the options is by budget. My suggestion would be the Kokatat Tempest or the NRS Freefall Dry Pants based on cost and functionality.”.
The drypants without a tunnel (like the Tempest) have never made a swimoroof deal for me, hence I don’t even bother carrying them at the store. The tunnel to tunnel roll together method is a tested method to make a full drysuit with good results.
I wear NRS Flux dry top and NRS Freefall dry pant, which work well for me. I have a tuilik, which water can still get in from my face area, not too much of course. I stay completely dry after 50 rolls on calm water. Cockpit will have some water after the rolls. Not sure if it fits your scenario.
I had a pair of those Kokatat pants, just the Goretex version. As Marshall says, without a tunnel that can be rolled (not dissimilarly to how a drybag works) they cannot be dry in a swim. I did plenty of swimming to know that.
The only dry outfitting is stuff that was designed to be that, either the Kokatat bib system or a dry suit. But I do have times when I want just the bottoms, hence my last major purchase was Kokatat’s dry suit in two pieces that joins around the middle. The zipper can be a little cursing to get started right the first few times in the season but it works terribly well.
Thanks all for the replies. I’m disappointed with the advise received from NRS and my purchase that resulted from that advise, and certainly not confident of it’s suitability for my application. I’m therefore currently considering alternative options to replace the Kokatat Tempest with.
Celia - you mention that the Kokatat bib system is needed to have dry outfitting. Are you able to tell me more about this and what advantage the Kokatat bib system has above the tunnel system for rolling like a dry bag?
e.g. these Kokatat Hydrus 3.0 Whirlpool Bib < https://www.nrs.com/product/23007.03/kokatat-hydrus-30-whirlpool-bib > are a Kokatat bib system, how would that compare to the NRS Freefall Dry Pant < https://www.nrs.com/product/22520.02/nrs-freefall-dry-pant > that have the tunnel for double tunnel sealing to a dry top?
I am relying on the responses of others on the Bib system. But I have seen it in use and paddled with a user. While it was not the fastest thing to get into I could see that it was likely to be quite dry. The person using it that day (it was a skills session) came out of the water dry.
The tunnel system simply does not wrap around right enough - it does not do multiple rolls like the Kokatat bib system which seems to easily handle at least three full rolls of the two sides of material at the waist.
I just looked at Kokatat’s web site and think you need to look at the bib system again to understand the diff’s between that and the waist like the Tempest. For a bib system to work it requires a top to the pants that can be rolled pretty effectively with the inner layer of the top. So both the top and the pants need that inside layer. Here is a link to a video on their site. (It’d be easier if the pictured smaples on the site were not black which makes it hard to see…) https://kokatat.com/pdf/KokatatBibFold.pdf
Now as Jie mentioned above, this can be quite dry. But I should note that I also tend to stay dry even with a lesser two part system if I make all my rolls. It is when I fail and have to swim that the weakness in parts like the Tempest pants show up.
All that said, the separate top and bottom version of dry suit that Kokatat has now is really the easiest. If you are in the vicinity of spending that much money anyway, I would wait for a sale and grab that. The two part combination mentioned by Jie makes the most sense if you already have invested in a good dry top and want to achieve dryness without spending bucks for the whole package.
In my experience I could never get anything like suggested to work. I tried. Should have just bought the dry suit right away like a bunch of folks wearing them suggested who had experience. But I’m Norwegian … I have had a drysuit for 10+ years
Peace in the New Decade
J
If you’re going the dry suit route, look at the Stohlquist offerings. They’re well made and at a lower price point than Kokatat. Stohlquist doesn’t do the same level of custom fit, but the suits are rugged, breathe well and well made (Stohlquist is owned by Aqualung). If you can fit into a more standard sized drysuit, worth a look.
I’m in my second season using the Stohlquist Shift - really like the behind the neck cross shoulder opening for ease of entry and for wearing the suit in a stand by mode. Particularly good for canoeists
