Kokatat Tropos Swift Entry Drysuit

Hi,

Does anyone have any opinions on this drysuit? I can’t find any reviews of it anywhere and it seems to be a good price for a ‘light duty’ dry suit. Under what conditions would this suit not be suitable? Thanks…



Chris

I think this has been brought up before
but I believe the Tropos is not a completely “dry” drysuit because of the neoprene neck. People reported last time the topic came up that if you’re doing a lot of rolling or surf work and getting in and out of the water, you will experience some leakage.



I tried one on at REI when I was looking to buy a suit and it was certainly very comfortable because of the neoprene, but I wanted a suit that would be completely dry, so I went with a Palm that had a rubber-gasketed neck. Not as comfortable as the Tropos (at first) but completely dry. I got used to the neck in time, so it no longer bothers me.



Also, while I’m sure the material in the Tropos is fine, I wanted something a bit beefier. I ended up getting a Palm Stikine, which cost me about $200.00 more than the Tropos.

actually Tropos is the material.
For the price, you can’t beat a Palm or NRS suit. The NRS suits right now are crazy cheap especially their clearance suits from last year.

Stohquist body pod


I think the Stohquist Body Pod is a better deal and the neck closure it has should be drier.

Swift Entry


Native VT’er is confusing the two suits - Kokatat Supernova and Kokatat Swift Entry. They are both made from Tropos (the material, but are different suits)



See link below for Swift Entry:



http://www.kokatat.com/product_detail.asp?code=tse



Supernova:



http://www.kokatat.com/product_detail.asp?code=sno



It is a less expensive option than a Gore-Tex drysuit.



Best,

Suz

NJ is right
provided that you don’t have too small of a neck. With my 15.5" neck I’ve been very pleased with the dryness of the Stohlquist seal. If your neck size is smaller then the latex gasket would accomodate the smaller necked paddler. While the Goretex of the premium Kokatat suits breathes the best the Eclipse fabric of the Stohlquist does an admirable job with the Tropos having the lower transpiration rate of the three.



Well, my $.02



See you on the water,

Marshall

The River Connection, Inc.

Hyde Park, NY

www.the-river-connection.com

Latex neck in the Swift Entry

– Last Updated: Feb-07-08 1:50 PM EST –

Yes, the Swift Entry has the Latex neck seal.

"It is a less expensive option than a Gore-Tex drysuit."

I think there are better options than the Tropos for about the same price. (Goretex is much more expensive.)

The Tropos fabric is two-layer. Most of the other suits use three-layer fabric. That is, the "magic" breathable layer (which is relatively delicate) is sandwiched between two layers of other fabric. This means the three-layer fabrics should hold up better.

Tropos/Goretex
I guess I am qualified to comment since I originally purchased a Tropos drysuit from kayakacademy.com, and a year later exchanged it (full credit) for the Kokotat Goretex model.



Both suits are great, and the difference is not really a matter of suitability for conditions.



The Tropos breathes very well, but the Goretex is noticeably better in that department, which extends the upper temp ranges where you can wear the suit. This was important since I paddle at times when the water is quite a bit colder than the air temps and I want to use the drysuit.



The Gortex model is also beefier, and has a better feel to the fabric. It will probably last longer.



Kayakacademy will send you examples of each to try if you don’t have a local dealer. They stock used suits for their classes.



My friends also like the Palm and Stolquist drysuits, but I don’t think they breath as well as the Goretex, or maybe even the Tropos.

Fabrics

– Last Updated: Feb-07-08 2:55 PM EST –

"The Gortex model is also beefier, and has a better feel to the fabric. It will probably last longer."

Other suits (eg, NRS and the Stolquist Body Pod) have "beefier" fabrics than the Tropos. The fabric in some of these other suits is even "beefier" than the fabric in the Kokatat Goretex suit (which isn't that beefy in my opinion (I own one)).

rate of heat transfer
A friend and I rented Gore-Tex and Tropos suits from Kayak Academy in early January, to test them out. One surprising fact: both she and I noticed immediately that the Tropos felt cold faster when we were swimming around. I would have been skeptical about this claim before I tried it myself, but Barb at KA confirmed the difference, so there’s a third data point for you.



I didn’t notice a difference in waterproofness, and to my surprise I didn’t notice a difference in breathability. I ended up with Gore-Tex because Barb recommended it for race training and for springtime use. It helped that she had a used Gore-Tex suit that almost exactly matched my ideal, at a good price, so I didn’t have to think too hard.



I agree with previous posters that Tropos is two-layer (Gore-Tex three-layer), that Tropos is softer and probably less durable than Gore-Tex.



– Mark

Gore-tex
"I agree with previous posters that Tropos is two-layer (Gore-Tex three-layer), that Tropos is softer and probably less durable than Gore-Tex."



Gore-tex fabrics can be made in two-layer or three-layer. The Kokatat Gore-tex suit is a three-layer.



Three-layer fabrics cost more to manufacture.