lmao
i needed that…
happy holidays sing!
Jeezopete!
After that intense workout, you’d better have gotten it with a relief zipper!!!
My small Stohlie’s torso is way too long for me. Easy entry and exit. I fold over the excess material at the waist when I walk. Not an issue while paddling. The legs are the right length. But I would rather that it fit better, which unfortunately would mean a custom-sized suit.
Yeah…
fortunately, the relief zipper and booties are “standard” and not options.
sing
so when are we getting a water review?
– Last Updated: Dec-21-05 1:46 PM EST –
Now that you've squished your head and dislocated your arms getting the suit on, you need to go jump in the ocean and give us a dryness/breathability review.
Oh and am I correct in assuming you got the suit from Terrell?
edited to add: I just reread your post where you stated you're taking it out this weekend. I'll eagerly look forward to your review since I'm deciding between the Stikine and the Goretex Meridian.
Enjoyed the neck gasket segment
Now you could say you’ve been born again!
I just received and tried on my NRS Extreme. I had it on and zipped in less than one minute. Do you know why??? It’s WAY too big. I put it right back in the box and I’m returning for the next size down. I tried to err on the large side as I know it sucks to have a drytop/suit that’s too restrictive. I did err well.
Deja vu, all over again…
…or maybe it’s misery loves company.
Either way I couldn’t help smiling at the blow by blow account of entering and exiting the dry suit. I am relieved to know I’m not the only one to have such an experience. I am also a “tween” size. At a skinny 6 foot tall anything medium fits me fine except for 1 piece coveralls.
I should say at the outset of this long story that I am totally hooked on BomberGear paddlewear. It’s just my luck that BomberGear seems to have gone out of business about 6 months before I got into kayaking. Anyway, I’ve been haunting eBay and hoarding BG stuff with the fervor of an antiques collector.
Needless to say I convinced myself that I just HAD to acquire a BG Radiator dry suit. Having already bought one of their Hazmat splash suits in medium for my wife I knew that I would have to find a Radiator suit in large. I simply could not get my head inside the medium suit.
After watching scads of mediums come and go on eBay I finally found a person selling what they claimed was a large Radiator w/relief zip in nearly new condition. It’s a good thing there wasn’t another bidder as committed as I was to winning that auction. At any rate I won it for just over 300 bucks. Yes!!
When the suit arrived I was thrilled. It was in nearly new condition. The gaskets and zips were in perfect shape and the fabric was clean with no signs of wear. Then I held the suit up in front of me and had one of those “wait a minute” moments. I searched the suit top to bottom but couldn’t find a size tag anywhere.
Since the suit was still frozen from it’s trip in the UPS truck I wanted to wait before trying it on. So I got out the wife’s medium splash suit and put the two together on the bed to do a size comparison. Well ok, they’re not exactly the same, but the dry suit doesn’t look that much bigger.
The moment of truth. I was just, and I mean just, able to get my head inside the suit. So it’s on. The gaskets are all comfortable and the suit fits like it was tailor made for me. Once again I’m thrilled at my luck finding this suit.
Then another one of those moments…how the heck am I gonna get out of this thing?
There is definitely not enough length in the suit to simply reverse the head pull through the gasket routine. Ok, now I’m experiencing something like panic. The wife will be home soon and this is one of those clandestine purchases that will be revealed at a less sensitive time than two weeks before Xmas. It simply won’t do to be caught prancing around in a new dry suit.
I discovered that by slipping my hand under the neck gasket, from inside the suit, I was able to shoehorn the neck gasket back over my head. OK, I honestly think the seller was mistaken. This is a medium suit. But since there are no tags and I didn’t ask for measurements I’m not blaming the seller. And once it’s on it fits me great.
So what if I look like Harry Houdini getting out of a straightjacket. 
…Mike
Seems To Me…
drysuits can use a bit of the surfer wetsuit sizing, though would mean more inventory on stock.
xs, s, sm, m, ml, l, xl, xxl.
What do I care about folks who are xxs, or xxxl? I really just want sm.
sing
BomberGear…
– Last Updated: Dec-22-05 5:23 AM EST –
I really like their drytops. Too bad the company is gone.
Got two surfing buddies who are using BG drysuits. They like them and have not had a problem with the plastic zips. Though I was weary looking at those. Nevertheless, they got the suits for around $300 too. Seems to me if the zipper went and one really likes the suit, why not just replace the zipper at Amigos, even if it's $100-150. Still cheaper than any of the current crop of less expensive semi-drysuits out there.
sing
bomber gear
– Last Updated: Dec-22-05 9:46 AM EST –
i do really love that dry top i have from them and based on the quality of that top ordered a dry suit for my wife...
we got it, looked great, fit well but yeah, had the plastic zips....took her out and got her off of back beach up here and the thing leaked immediately. there was no way to get it to close that she didn't get wet...and on the first water test....called bg and their knee jerk reaction was "well, you didn't close the zip" and of course, that didn't sit too well with me where i've been dressing myself in this stuff for years and especially after having mastered not only zippers but really confusing hardware like buttons, velcro AND even snaps (and boys, we all know how frustrating those can be)...so long story short, that went back and ordered her a custom kokatat exped from mikco...fits like a glove, in the colors she wanted and it'll last damn near forever.
we tried the palms but they ran too big for her and i wasn't sure about customizing size for her and with kokatat, i was sure.
i just don't think those plastic zips are very impressive.
Hey!!
I care about you, Sing
Respectfully,
xxl
Reciprocal!!!
Hope you noticed that I did include “xxl.”
sing
Plastic zips
Well I just went and looked. Yup, the zips are plastic and the pull/closer thingy is metal. It’s gonna be a few months before I actually test the suit. I didn’t buy it for playing in the ice floes. Just for spring/fall comfort in water temps around 50 or so.
Is it best to store the suit with the zippers open or closed?
…Mike
open
i think is what manufacturers recommend…to prevent rusting…of course, they also recommend that they be rinsed after each use and then it doesn’t hurt that the zips get waxed fairly often.
it’s the only piece of gear i do actually take care of pretty religiously.
here’s something else…the latex gaskets on these things? when you hang it up, use a wooden hanger. the polyethylene that plastic hangers are made out of will eat away and destroy the latex in the neck.
or so i am told…i am sure some chem student/buff out there will have something to say on whether that’s accurate.
happy holidays
You Can Test It Now…
Just fill your tub and get in. Of course, being shorter, my whole body can fit in. You may need to sit and see if the relief zip works. The get your legs out of the tub and slide down with your upper body, up to your neck.
If you find a leak, you can take care of it before you really need/intend to use it.
sing
Whadaya think about…
…sticking a garden hose down the neck and watching for spurts. Just kidding.
Thanks for the tub idea. I’m pretty sure it’s ok but you’re right, I’ll be kicking myself if it needs fixin and I wait too long to find out.
For right now though the suit is in hiding, shhhh…
Dry suit? What dry suit?
…Mike
Uh oh…
I have been doing the “which drysuit to get?” dance myself lately. I broke down though and ordered the new Kokatat Tropos Meridian suit. I called one online dealer and they told me it had a neoprene neck seal (like no seal at all) and when I contacted the Kayak Academy on the west coast they assured me it had gaskets on neck and wrists to go with the breathable booties and relief zip.
I was really leaning towards the Palm Stikine suit such as you got before I saw the Tropos Meridian and now I am wondering if I made the right choice!
As to taking the suit off, I was told by another 'yakker that he uses a 16 inch piece of line with a caribiner to pull the zip after a day of paddling. So instead of 4 extra inches of reach you get more than 12 inches. You might try that, Sing!
Don’t worry though, I will keep my suit review writeup shorter!!
It Could Have Been Longer…
– Last Updated: Dec-24-05 5:48 AM EST –
but I refrained from including in the post many of the colorful terms I was freely tossing about while trying on the suit. As appropos those terms at the time, I think very few here would appreciate them, except perhaps a notable exception here and there. :)
Well, this morning is first in-the-surf test, follow by another on the day after Christmas. Will report back then.
sing
Final Impression
– Last Updated: Dec-26-05 4:54 PM EST –
Attaching the 'biner with a short piece of paracord, I was able to zip the suit on and off fairly easy. The trick is to shrink the offside hand into the sleeve, grab hold, stretch it out to give some tension to the zip while the other hand pulls the zipper open or shut.
I like the fit of this suit much better than the kokatat, i.e. it's got little more width to it. The double tunnel seals the skirt top pretty tightly.
Two things that did come up. One, my Astral pullover PFD can get caught on the horizontal back zipper if I not careful. Two, I definitely have a pinhole leak on my left sleeve somewhere. Two days of surfing in the suit and both times my left arm was damper than my right. Considering how much rolling I do in the waves, I think the leak has got to be minute since my sleeve was moist but not soaking wet. I'll not sent it back. I'll find the leak and put a dap of aquaseal on it instead.
Do I recommend the suit? A qualified Yes, so far based on the construction and breathability, fit (if you tend on the stockier side) and that it's $300 less than a Kokatat Goretex Meridian. Only time will tell how it's going to hold up.
sing
dry suits and Bomber Gear
– Last Updated: Dec-31-05 12:14 AM EST –
sing et al....i'm new to this list, and found it while googling Bomber Gear. In early November I spoke with one of the owners at Bomber Gear who told me to send him my Radiator drysuit (which I did) for repair of a small leak. When I didn't hear from him for about 3 weeks, I called - and their number is out of service!! It seems that Bomber Gear has gone out of business, and I'm without a dry suit that I bought about a year ago. Damn! I have filed a report with the Durango, Colorado Police Department, where Bomber Gear was located, that they stole my drysuit.
Today I went shopping for a new drysuit - what a pain. I looked at O.S. Systems (located here in Oregon), Stohlquist, and Palm. The Palm Torrent suit had all the features I want, but I'm a bit intimidated by the rear zip. By the way, I got stuck pretty badly trying on the Stohlquist - almost had to rip my head off to get out of it!
I sure liked my Bomber Gear Radiator drysuit! It was roomy, not too bad to get into (yes, the head-neck to the side move was a bit tricky), got lots of comments about how good it looked, and the upper sleeve wet pocket was perfect for my GPS.
I'm happy to hear the good reports about the Palm suit - I might go back and buy the one I saw for $480 (USD). Then I'm going to bug my homeowners insurance company to cover the stolen Bomber Gear drysuit.
Paul
Okay
I really checked the sleeve. There was a section on the tape for the gasket that seem to have the smallest worn spot. I put a dap of Aquaseal on it. Seemed to have done the trick. Three hours in good surf this AM and no extraordinary dampness on the left sleeve. I was, of course, damp (or perhaps slightly more) on all my layers as I would have been in my Goretex Meridian.
I am liking this suit more and more, just because it’s a more comfortable fit than my Meridian. The ‘biner with a 12’ section of rope and ball on the end really makes zipping on/off much easier. The other thing that helped was applying zipper wax.
sing