The nylon spray skirts only last for a few years. I’ve had several and the waterproof coating on the inside of the skirt disintegrated on all of them. They were good quality Seals spray skirts. My neoprene skirt is 10 years old and still in great shape. Don’t waste your money on the nylon ones.
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Get a proper size neoprene and you can take it off with one hand. Some skirts fit tighter than others so try a few. Means getting one at a shop equipped with many so no online sales. My one skirt fits my Valley avocet so hard i can barley get it on with two hands when its dry . Easier when wet. Not a skirt for you. BUT than have another a Seals surf that fits easily BUT don’t trust it in big conditions. Forget nylon junk
One of my neo skirts has a strap that goes across it just in front of me. It can be tightened to cause the skirt to pop loose when I raise my knee. It could also be grabbed and pulled.
Nice, who makes that?
Not all people can remove a skirt with one hand.
I went to a nylon skirt for paddling solo in Maine a while ago. Since I am paddling solo I also avoid the kind of more challenging weather that I am my husband would take on as well. So I have lots of head room and, if things get swishy, easy time pulling the skirt behind an island to pump it oput.
That said, going to the same place for over 30 years means that with proper attention to the weather forecasts it is going to take a surprising turn for weather to catch me out badly. And if the western sky looks concerning I can always hole up on an island. Lots of them where I paddle. Or take a straight line to the mainland and figure out how to get to the cabin later.
But important point - I have not tested to see if the nylon skirt would pull off of the hard edges of a fiberglass boat without assistance. More easily than a neoprene skirt, but if it is going to be needed that should be tested.
There are nylon skirts that come with something you can grab like mentioned above for neo skirts. Can’t tell you which ones though. I have had a couple of neo skirts like that but they are fairly old, would not count on the same thing being available without a renewed look at manufacturers’ web sites.
It is an Immersion Research brand I use on the Shearwater Merganser 17 I built. You can see the adjustable strap and placement in the Photo I took this morning for you. The strap is tightened to make it easy for the knee to pop it lose.
It seems to me it could be added to a skirt that doesn’t have one, but I would test it on the dry if I did that to make sure it worked.
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I like it. You could also slip a small fanny pack type thing on that if it had a sleeve on the back. I don’t see unfortunately that IR still makes a skit with that feature.
I have a similar neoprene skirt from Level Six that has served me well for several years. It’s about due for replacement, so I need to see if they still offer the same model.