I’m considering the purchase of a drysuit, and am wondering how much time and hassle is involved in removing enough of it to pee? Maybe I should just where a diaper. 
Get one with a Relief Zipper
No hassle at all.
I second that
It shouldn’t even be considered an option.
Agreed.
I’m female and even I have a male relief zipper. Works great with the FUD or “paddling penis” as it was referred to on this site many years ago. 
just pee in it
– Last Updated: Feb-15-14 5:58 PM EST –
it keeps your feet warm.
Disagree with the relief zipper people...one more thing to break, and an extra minute or two to drop the top gives you a chance to stretch your legs.
I am able to unzip the main zipper, drop my shoulders and go if in a hurry...
Thanks us later…
Get the zipper, down below, and be happy, happy, happy !
Never had a zipper. No problem.
I’ve had three dry suits, none with a relief zipper.
It takes 30 seconds to drop the dry suit, maybe less if you are highly motivated.
Get a relief zipper if you want and can afford one. Consider one more strongly if you have significant prostate issues. Otherwise, they are a convenience but not a necessity.
Bilge zipper
be real handy ta have. Ta me it be more o’ a pain in de poop-deck ta git de drysuit off ‘nuff ta do yer duty than it be ta crank open a relief zipper. One woyd o’ warnin’ … ta all yer male varmints - make sure yer stow yer gentleman’s cargo securely before yer zip up dat relief zipper! Ouch!
FE
Dry Suit Zipper
While using a rubber band is cheapest, buy a dry suit with a zipper.
Prorated over years of use, the zipper isn’t very expensive and certainly the easiest solution to the problem caused by the coffee you drank just before launching.
Dave
30 seconds to drop the dry suit?
Heck, I haven’t even worn mine, yet, since I’m not sure that I could either get it unzipped or get my head out of the latex neck gasket and you say you can have your dry suit down to pee in 30 seconds? Impressive.
zipper
I can even use the relief zipper and a bottle to relieve myself on the water in a kayak.
Takes me much more than 30 seconds to remove PFD, skirt, tow rope, etc. to let me get to the dry suit, and there is no way I would be able to do all that on the water. Maybe in a canoe.
my view
You can survive without a relief zipper, but nobody I know who has ever had a dry suit with a relief zipper would go back to using one without.
Zipper
I had a drysuit for the past two years, it had a relief zipper. And to be honest I never used it. Typically in the winter when I wear my drysuit my paddling trips are shorter, usually 2-2.5 hours. If I take care of business before I get all buttoned up in the drysuit I’m good till I take off the water. I sold that drysuit last fall and recently ordered a replacement from Mythic without a zipper. For me it wasn’t worth the extra cost for a feature I didn’t use. And don’t forget to make sure the relief zip is zipped up tight BEFORE you roll.
So I’d say everyone’s wants and needs are different, I guess if everyone wanted drysuits with relief zippers they wouldn’t make any without?
Maybe I just have a good bladder…
Maybe age hasn’t caught up with you
yet.
Survive? Wow! We first adopters . . .
. . . of dry suits must have won the Darwinian lottery because we all survived even though NONE of us had relief zippers in the 80’s.
Man, you guys now are such . . . uh . . . weenies. You never would have survived the wet suit era.
I used to particularly enjoy watching the steam coming off the women’s blue poly pro tops as we all stripped off our dry suits at rest stops during New England whitewater runs in March.
in a wide boat…
…diaper is a great idea - will make you fit in the seat much better >
Me too.
I now have a relief zipper and have never used it. Not to say I never have to go. But if I stop for lunch in the spring on a longer paddle, I usually drop the suit because I’m usually changing my damp first layer anyhow. If I was buying again, I would get booties and no relief zipper. I found it no problem to open the chest zipper and lower an old water bottle down to take care of things.
in lieu of peeing
I sweat a lot…must have been due to all that playing in the holes and on the waves. Went 7 hours one day, drank my 2 liters of water…never had to go.
Eckilson must be getting old, ‘cuz quite often he was out there playing as well.Maybe he misses me. I know we brought out the best/worst in each other…lot’s of “Hey, watch this move”…blub blub blub.We didn’t have TIME to pee, fer cryin’ out loud, we were to busy surfing, sweating and swimming.
Should you need to “pee at sea”…
You will need the relief zipper, unless your craft is incredibly stable and the seas are incredibly calm. Sometimes it’s too rough offshore to even risk opening the zipper, much less removing part of the suit. Often when I launch for the day, I stay in the kayak until I’m done for the day.
If you paddle near shore and can easily hop out, then this might not be a big issue. That said, while my advice is coming from doing long crossings and offshore paddling in a kayak, I have regularly seen expedition canoes far offshore in Lake Superior, so it depends on where/how you plan to use the suit.
Greg Stamer