can anyone with a palm stikine drysuit please give me their opinion of it. the kokatat suits seem like the obvious and most popular choice but the stikine looks to be a nice piece. feedback appreciated,thanks!
I’ve never seen this drysuit, but I have
a Palm paddle jacket and I can tell you the quality is not even close to my Kokatat pieces. In something as expensive as a drysuit, that you’re going to live with for years, you can’t miss by getting the best quality available. It will make a difference in the long run.
thank you
I appreciate your input.I think that the popular vote is to spend the money and buy the kokotat!
I have a Palm Extrem drytop
and it is an excellent piece of work with the highest quality. When I roll when wearing it I stay nice and dry which meets my expectation around the purchase.
I can’t say anything about their paddle jacket. I think you need to get input from people who have Palm dry suits as that might be a more appropriate comparison vs. a paddle jacket relative to your question.
I just spent October 14th thru the 16th at the 2005 Northern California BCU Skills Symposium and there were many Palm dry suits present. As I am looking to by a drysuit I asked as many people as I could their thoughts on their purchase. I got positive responses from both Palm people and the Kokatat people. Yes there were more Kokatat then Palm but I did run into two people who switched from Kokatat to Palm. They said they switched because of the entry zipper location. On their Palm it is across the back. With their Kokatat it was down the front. With the down the front zipper they got some water inside they believe because the location of the zipper was interacting with the run off from their spray skirt.
Based upon the quality of my Palm dry top I will probably go with a Palm dry suit. I am still checking into the quality of the Palm customer service. I hear Kokatat is excellent when it comes to customer service.
Palm
I have a Palm Sidewinder drysuit that I have been using for a good while now. I’m not even sure if it’s available anymore. The model your looking at is certainly the step up from my old Sidewinder. With that said, I have been very happy with both the quality and the comfort level of the suit. I have had absolutely zero problems with it. I have owned 4 different Palm pieces over the years and have never experienced any problems. I will not hesitate to buy their stuff again. You won’t catch me saying anything negative about Kokatat because I’ve had great results with their stuff too. If you suffer sticker shock at the Kokatat equip, Palm is a great alternative.
The Fit…
I have a Kokatat Goretex meridian, sized sm. It’s a bit of a tight fit in the middle of winter when I try to get more than a thermax and polar 200 fleece underneath. So, I went and bought Kokatat Meridian medium. Too long, though the width seems okay. I sold this at a good deal to someone. (Hope they enjoy it!)
Anyway, I’ve been looking at the Palm Stikine for the past year. They seem to be cut slightly larger. That may be the way for me to go. I really don’t want to deal with a custom kokatat which will add on a $200 or more to the hefty $950 price tag.
BTW, I paddle all winter, mostly surfing. Even with the Goretex, I get pretty damped. Similar to what I get when I used my BomberGear Hydrology Drytop. I want breathable but I am not convinced that the difference (these days) between goretex and other laminates is that significant anymore.
sing
added expense
thanks for your post, up until now I was under the impression that the kokatat gore suits could be custom sized at no additional charge, I had planned to wait and get sized and purchase at canoecopia. I fall in the middle of two kokatat sizes and the cost of custom sizing will make this too expensive for me to justify.
Leaky zippers in Kokatat?
Not to dissuade anyone from the Palm suit, just am questioning whether the folks who felt they had a leak in their Kokatat zipper had a GoreTex suit with the OptiSeal zipper. One common mistake is, because the very end of the zipper is the hardest pull, people don’t actually close it all the way. Those zippers are tough - I’d suspect that either they weren’t closing them to the end or that they had a minor seam leak around the waist, and had not sent the suit to Kokatat for maintenance to check that out.
Repair of any leaks in the seams (requiring retaping) is free for the lifve of the garment - part of the Goretex guarantee.
I was standing with a person who
had a Kokatat on and we were getting ready to launch and our instructor saw they had not fully zipped up the last 1/8th inch. The instructor commented that does happen frequently with people new to drysuits.
Zippers
Ditto to what Celia mentioned. The problem is not specific to Kokatat gear. My Palm Sidewinder suit also features a front zipper and has the same “sealing” pull on the last 1/4" of the zipper. If you pull it snug you will have not problems. If you don’t, you might get a liitle damp. As Sing mentioned, I’m not convinced there is that much of a diffence between Gore Tex and the newer breathable laminates. My Palm suit (as well as my tops) all breath fine. I also used to have a Bomber Gear Hydrology dry top for whitewater and it was quite breathable.
Don’t Think So…
I am pretty conscientious about making sure the zippers are tight all the way. Not doing so would mean serious problem if not death in winter surf.
sing
Drysuits
I recently purchase the new Plam Torrent Drysuit and have used it twice. It does not leak, I didn’t sweat on a 12 mile paddle with surface tempts in the mid sixties and my longjohn’s stayed dry. It’s made from a three laminate material with heavier cordura on the areas that see wear. The material in other respects is not as heavy duty as Kokatats best but then I’m not in the Arctic and the water temp seldom drops below 50 degrees. The Stikine is a four laminate material and is much heavier and is also a lot cheaper than “some” and has many more features for the money. My 2 cents.
Ravenspring
every bit as good as the best out there, and cheaper. i like mine. http://www.ravenspring.co.uk/system/index.html
PALM STIKINE DRY SUIT
I HAVE A PALM STIKINE DRYSUIT; I HAD A CHOICE BETWEEN IT OR A KOKATAT AND PREFERRED THE PALM. THE REAR ZIPPER MAKES FOR GREATER COMFORT OVER THE FRONT ONE ON THE KOKATAT. AS FAR AS QUALITY IS CONCERNED, BOTH ARE EXCELLENT. I LIKE THE REAR ZIPPER AND THE COLOUR IS MUCH NICER. IN THE END EITHER SUIT WILL PERFORM. I KAYAK OFF THE COAST OF NOVA SCOTIA AND NEWFOUNDLAND; DRYSUITS ARE SAFETY EQUIPMENT OUT HERE, THE WATER CAN KILL YOU 12 MONTHS OF THE YEAR!