Hi y’all,
finally decided to spend some money on a Reeds Tuiliq to extend my rolling season. I am struggling between their regular Tuiliq
and the Tuiliq paddle suit
The suit seems to be a better investment but I don’t paddle in the winter months and it’s quite a bit more.
Love to hear your experience/opinion. I do mostly fresh water lake/reservoir with occasional coastal trips.
My two cents, FWIW…… you say you want to extend your rolling season so I presume that the water where you are gets a bit (or a lot) colder as the seasons change. If you have a dry suit the Tuliq on it’s own would be fine. Without a dry suit the Tuliq paddlesuit may be better for you. It looks like you could wear warm (fleece?) clothing under it and it would keep you dry. I have no personal experience with chilcheater (I have a Kokatat dry suit and a Brooks neoprene Tuliq) but I have heard nothing but good things about chilcheater products. I hope this helps!
Lila
I have that very paddle suit for use with my Ilaga. I use it in combination with the chillcheater thermal layers and it is a great combo.
I’m not a huge fan of the shoulder zip, it’s a pain to get it on and off compared to a waist or front zip. Once it is on it is very flexible though, no issues with mobility or flexing. I liked the fact that it is custom fit for you, so you don’t have to worry about parts fitting and others not.
As for picking one over the other, I wanted a simple solution for self-rescues. I didn’t want to deal with a dry-suit and a tuliq or forgo the dry-suit and worry about taking a swim in cold water. I use a re-enter and roll for my self-rescue so I wasn’t worried about scraping the paddle suit over the back deck for a scramble or anything. However if that was your go-to self-rescue I would be nervous of the paddle suit. The material is tough but I could see it snagging and ripping easier than a dry suit.
I don’t use it in warmer weather though, it’s purely for cold water rolling. I wold use the regular tuliq over the paddle suit if you were primarily using it in the warmer months. Too much of a hassle to put on for anything less than water that is one degree away from freezing.