Looking for some updated info on what folks are doing when they have latex allergies. Level Six has a men’s dry suit that is latex free And maybe coming out with a woman’s version in 2025.
I rented a Kokatat and was told that if I used silicone grease or Vaseline would probably be okay. Second 3 hour session later, I seemingly had no skin reaction after applying Vaseline. I know in general that Vaseline will break down latex faster than usual.
I’ve seen kayak academy sells some pretty expensive neck and wrist liners that one can wear underneath the latex gaskets.
I don’t have anaphylaxis to latex exposure, could I do get itchy with raised rashes that tend to worsen with exposure.
Things may have changed in the (many) years since I was learning the surf (Westport, WA).
I most often (esp winter) wore a drysuit.
I am alergic to the latex neck gasket (not so much wrist or ankles). Pretty bad neck rash.
I used vasoline for a while until being told it wasn’t good for the latex.
Was told instead to use ky-jelly. It worked well.
Recently I’ve been told that using silicone grease will work better than 303 at preserving the latex. So if that helps at least it’s not bad for it as the petroleum is.
The Kokatat Supernova has a neoprene neck gasket and the same lifetime warranty. It is advertised as a semi-drysuit because of the neoprene gasket which is not as waterproof a latex gaskets, but is still pretty resistant to water getting in. It is composed of Hydrus 2.5 waterproof, breathable fabric, not Gore-Tex. Much less expensive than the Gore-Tex suits.
I don’t have any personal experience with these suits or know anyone who has one.
I am on my second Kokatat Supernova (along with having a full Kokatat dry suit). Decent ligtweight “paddling”/semi-dry suit. The neoprene neck is not as thick as I would prefer, but does seal Ok I prefer something like this (but you’d have to install on your own):
If the likelyhood of swimming is low, I much prefer the Supernova to the full dry suit. Much more comfortable neck.
Supernova does have latex wrist gaskets, so may not be a solution for the OP.
When it’s really cold I sail in one of the Kokatat drysuits mentioned above; I don’t suffer allergies but figure I can toss in a couple of suggestions not made earlier. You might try a “silicone glove” type of skin barrier cream - it’s stuff you put on your hands if you anticipate doing dirty work and want to be able to wash them off easily without going hard on your skin. The other solution tackles the problem from within: An antihistamine. One of my daughters used to suffer some irritation on her hands when handling raw chicken and popping an antihistamine to suppress the reaction was one of the things that worked for her.