Drysuit Tune-up.....

Since I am currently in GA and the weather and water is hot I figured this was a great time to send my drysuit back to Kokatat and have the neck gasket replaced (preventative maintenance).



While they had it I had them do a water test and patch any leaks they found. I did not realize they did this until I called them to inquire about the neck gasket replacement. They professionally tested the suit and patched all the pinhole leaks they found. Wow did they find a lot!!! I never realized that my suit had so many leaks. The cost was very minimal and now my suit is as good as new.



The total cost was $66 with shipping and I think that about $50 of that was for the neck gasket replacement.



Something you might want to think about this summer. I am really happy that I did it.



Matt


Kokatat
Great service

Matt,
Is this a relatively new Kokatat suit - say within the past three years or so? Also, is it Gore-tex or Tropos fabric? Just curious. My suit is ancient heavy Gore-tex fabric (ca. 1991) and they replaced all of the seam tape last summer, but there were no holes.

~wetzool

Gore-tex
It is a Gore-tex suit–the one with the spray skirt tunnel, relief zip and goretex socks. I am not sure of the age, as I got it used. I think it is five years old or newer.



Matt

leaks??
How did you not know about the leaks? Don’t you test it?

How did you not know about the leaks
Kokatat will find leaks so small that you thought the dampness was sweat!



I sent my Kokatat Expedition Dry Suit in last year for gasket replacement, and they discovered the Gore-Tex was delaminating ( which I hadn’t noticed)so they sent me a new dry suit for the price of replacing the gaskets.

Exactly as stated above…
Sometimes holes/leaks can be very small. I had tested my suit on several occasions by swimming in it and it seemed fine–no leaks that I could tell.



However, after a whole day of paddling and lots of rolling (I roll dozens of times every time I go out) I would find that I was a bit damp. At that time though, it is hard to tell if the dampness is from a tiny leak in your suit, or from the sweat of a day’s worth of paddling in warm air/cold water conditions.



I had suspected that there might be a tiny bit of leaking as I thought that the dampness was a little bit more than it should be from just sweating. I also thought that the neck gasket was a bit loose and that I might be getting a little water seaping in around the neck while doing rolls, again though it was hard to tell as there were too many variables. This is the reason that I decided to get the neck gasket replaced and the suit tested just to be sure.



Now I will have peace of mind knowing that any damness that may occur will be from sweat and not from any pinhole leaks, etc.



Matt

I see…
No experience with breathable. (only leaky tent seams) My suit is heavy tri-laminate, a diving drysuit. I don’t think I’m going paddling during cold months, but I do wear the suit on the beach, while surf fishing in December. It’s very warm.



It’s nice to see good, very good, customer service from a company. That sounds like a brand to stick with.