So I’m in the market for a dry suit and I’ve had extensive experience with Kokatat dry suits before and would like to stick with them because of quality and the warranty.
does anyone have any experience with the light weight paddling suit they offer?
http://www.kokatat.com/products/paddling-suits/gore-text-lightweight-paddling-suit-men.html
I’m curious as to how much the neck leaks?
Its either the light weight suit or save some more for the GFER.
Warranty
If one of your reasons for sticking with Kokatat is the lifetime warranty, then you’ll need to get a Goretex suit. The tropos suits only have a 2-year warranty, I think.
I’d be more concerned with the
breathability than with the weight. Are you planning to race in cold weather, or to climb ridges, dragging your boat behind? If not, the weight of the suit when you’re in the boat may not matter.
Are you concerned with the flexibility of the garment, and thinking a lighter fabric will make a difference? I find that getting a size larger than I absolutely need allows for easier movement.
Unless the lighter fabric breathes easier, it won’t be superior in warmer weather.
I think Kokatat needs to design a lithium battery mini pump system that circulates air through the drysuit. But I’m a little crazy.
Gore-Tex Lightweight Paddling Suit
Just to be clear, I am the NE Kokatat Sales Rep and I do have the Gore-Tex Lightweight Paddling Suit. I got it last year before it was released to the public. It is Gore-Tex so it is covered under the same warranty as all other Gore-Tex product.
As for how much water, comes in the neoprene neck with the cinch collar, it depends on your neck size and how close you pull the cinch cord. Skinnier necks will get more water in them.
My advise to people is that you can roll with it and remain dry if you can roll quickly. At most, you will get your collar area damp inside. You shouldn’t use it to LEARN to roll though. You will be much wetter doing that. It is a semi dry suit. If something is semi dry, it is also semi wet. You will get some water in the neck if you were to spend time upside down in the water. How much depends on your neck and how tight you cinch it.
The material is Gore-Tex Performance Shell and it is lighter weight than the other Kokatat drysuits made of Gore-Tex. It is more breathable than them also and more comfortable to wear in warm weather cold water conditions.
Hope that answers your question. Maybe someone else here has bought one and can chime in with their experiences. It is a new suit though and only started shipping Jan 15.
Suz
Durability?
Just curious if a suit like this can be expected to last as long when subjected to the rigors of touring. I suspect not, otherwise they would use this fabric in their regular line of drysuits.
oops
Disregard my comments. I read “paddling suit” and thought Supernova.
Is touring that abusive?
The last time I had a Kokatat suit was when I was stationed at a Coast Guard motor lifeboat station for 4 years. I distinctly remember the abuse our suits took and still functioned fine. The poor souls who got stationed on a buoy tender wore these as well and the suits were put through there paces even more so.
I can see a need for ruggedness in these cases and for white water kayaking where climbing and hiking would be involved but I guess I’m ignorant to the rigors of kayak touring?
Thank you
This was the info I was looking for.
kokatat
All i can say is kokatat is a fantastic american made company! they have great gear, warrenties, and they treat their employees wonderful.
No tunnel … water in the boat?
Not sure how much water gets in the boat in normal paddling / rolling vs. one with a tunnel?
I’ve had mine…
…for about two weeks. I’m 5’6" with 30 inches for inseam, waist, arms and weigh in at 145 lb. However my neck is about 16 inches. Based on those measurements I ordered a small and it fits very well.
I’ve used in with water temps from 50 to 55 degrees and air temps 60 to 72 degrees. Under the suit I’ve been wearing light syn pants, shirt and t-shirt with the exception of yesterday as the air temp was about 74 degrees and I skipped the t-shirt.
Each time I’ve gone out I’ve done around 25 to 35 rolls plus a wet exit, re-enter and roll. At the end of a couple of hours the collar and front of my shirt are “very damp”, even more so yesterday when I skipped my t-shirt. My waist, butt and feet have remained dry. I seem to be either getting a very small amount of water in via the wrist gaskets or perhaps it’s just sweat.
I’d guess that about half the water that has leaked in from the neck has been when I have forgotten to tighten the collar (well, duh!).
Anyhow I’ve been very comfortable in this suit, even yesterday when the temps were hitting the mid 70s (although I did rolls every five minutes or so, which helped). It is a very big improvement in comfort over my light weight wet suit and when the weather heads south next fall, I’ll likely be out on Lake Erie making the most of things with this suit.
The collar is very comfortable but I have to get better at remembering to cinch it in before inverting 
BTW, I ordered this from the Kayak Academy. The person on the phone was very helpful in answering questions. Also they didn’t have my size in stock so they arranged to have Kokatat mail me one direct. It came in three days. Not bad at all!
Thank you
this is very helpful as I’m almost exactly your same height and weight and was looking at a small size.
You would be …
… welcome.
I think that the two things that really surprised me the most were kayaking without getting a wet bun and having dry feet.
I gotta say that again… “dry feet”… so nice with cooler water tempts:)
Coastie suits
I have one. Got it off of EBay and it’s a good winter suit, when the fleece collar is great and the bulkiness matters less. I can’t prove it, but to my feel the suit is altogether heftier material than either of the regular paddling dry suits I’ve had. Gaskets certainly are.
I am not familiar with the new lighter weight GoreTex used in these suits. But I use dry wear a lot, when most have gotten out of the suits, and in general the lighter weight materials take much fussier care to stay in shape.
USCG suits
I read an interview with Kokatat somewhere recently - maybe on their blog? They said that the USCG suits are constructed of a heavier goretex fabric than the consumer suits.
As far as the ruggedness required for touring - At least for me, ocean touring involves a fair bit of hiking up through brambles and brush and stuff like that to get to tent-sites, lunch sites, etc. Plus I get brushed up against a barnacly rock sometimes when playing. It’s really important that your suit doesn’t tear during any of this stuff, so I’m glad the Kokatat suits are as tough as they are. I’ve been very impressed with how my Kokatat Goretex suits have held up to that fairly rough use.