So I’m getting to know my first-ever (semi) drysuit, a Kokatat. I’m liking it a lot so far…nice piece of gear. Today on my downstream return trip I stopped paddling and coasted for a while and the silence was pretty dramatic.
What?
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Yup, my Kokatat Radius is noisy as well. Swish, swish, swish…
I have a Kokatat semi-dry as well. Mine is about 10 years old now and doesn’t sound quite as loud as it did when new, but I did suddenly get a craving for potato chips while paddling today…
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I can’t say I’ve really ever noticed it, as the wind, waves, surf, sound of the hull in the water, etc. drown out any noise from my dry suit.
They do break in like a comfortable old sneaker over time(unless you’re one of these spendthrifts who feel the need to buy a new one every year to keep up with paddler “fashion.” The more wind and icy water they’re exposed to, if the Gore Tex holds up, then the softer they get and the sturdier you get😉
I have never found my dry suit to be noisy. Although, when dressing for potential immersion, I do take out my hearing aids.
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Mine isn’t Goretex. Maybe kayak movements are quieter than (my) canoe movements. It’s no big deal, just kind of funny. It’s a little quieter than potato chip bags.
Sound"s the same in my canoe.
I have never noticed that my Palm dry suit makes any noise. In between my singing and the noise of my paddle in the water, fishing boats, sea gulls and wind…I suppose all that as I have a dry suit on, I feel indestructible.
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Hey … there’s the core of a splendid idea here! Some vendor needs to build dry suits modelled on Superhero costumes, even padding out appropriate faux musculature etc.
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At first I thought Tony Stark but then I became concerned about rust.
Aquaman, then? 
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Aquaman sucks… 
same material and noise as a paddling jacket…not really any different. I never notice either.
Your neck cuff isn’t tight enough. It should cut off the blood supply enough that all you hear is throbbing. That’s how you know you’re safe.
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That’s funny.
Careful Out There All You Encased With the Fabric of Wind-Whipped Wheatfield Phonics!
Don’t Fail In Your Roll As a High-Tech Eskimo!
Yer gonna really start to worry
with that Swish-Swish-Swish,
if you eggplant in icy waters
of the Bobba-Go-Fish,
a mercenary meanie
of the gill-flapper type,
big brother of Cookie-Cutter
that ain’t got a fabric of a gripe.
When he ain’t denudin’ Boomers
of their sonar dullin’ coatin’,
or guardin’ castles of Crimea
where he floats per a demoatin’,
then he glides beneath the surface
awaitin’ kayakers to vex,
with his desires to void those warranties
and bring out gore in the Goretex!
(Some say it’s all because he’s kinky
and wants only best British Latex.)
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