I’ve been trying different sprayskirts but have not as yet had the results I had hoped for. My nylon ones that are backed seem to drip through, even shortly after a DWR treatment…and my one and only neoprene, that looks like new, drips through as well…
I didn’t expect the neoprene to drip through; does that need treated with a DWR - water repellant treatment as well?
I’m getting tired of sitting in soggy shorts!
I’m not rolling the boat, or even hitting waves that come over the combing. The water is just from the drops that come off of my paddle. It pools on the spraydeck and then seeps through…
How thick is the neoprene?
I’ve never had a neoprene whitewater skirt drip through, but thin neoprene might have enough faults to allow some leakage.
Another possibility… What feels like leakage is actually condensation on the underside of the skirt, followed by dripping.
Or it could be a physiological problem caused by leakage down below the skirt, between the legs.
Hey!
I’m old, but not THAT old…!
It’s a water sport…
you get wet.
feel your pain but
there is no reason to put up with it.
All my neoprene skirts (spraydeck in USandA) have leaked.
Then I discovered Reed by Chillcheater.
While it is usually hard to keep any drip out a kayak I certainly have a much dryer ride now with my Reed skirts.
If you ain’t rolling or going through waves that would push water in from the top of the tunnel (your waist) there is no reason that a quality skirt should leak.
Ah, BTW, no condensation either under the Reed: it breathes very well.
what boat/skirt?
Skirts usually are stitched, if the seam is not taped, leakage may occur.
Coaming lip - some will seal better than other. Some combinations of kayaks/skirts work better than others.
Anyways, share what you have
Snapdragon skirts…
Snapdragon’s website is up so they must be in business…great quality(always used to be). Small company that had problems with production and staff…etc, so not sure with present status…but their website’s there…sometimes need to have patience if you accidentally back out.
$.01
http://snapdragondesign.com/
I have a couple of…
…nylon Wildwassers that are taped and backed that appear in pretty good shape, and a Snapdragon that looks like new! I tried the Snapdragon again today and although I couldn’t feel any droplets under the deck with my knee, I could see the water in the material and it was visible on the inside surface around the back when I hung it to dry. Same deal; wet shorts and boat. I’m fine with the skirts other than they seem to let water through. It is NOT a problem with the combing/skirt seal; I don’t do anything that would force water between them. It’s coming off of my paddle and saturating the material and finally soaking through!
I am that old. And I forsee a time when
bankside landowners will have all of us going in our boats.
Seals
tried many. the best fitting and most WP for me thus far is the Seals brand.
pooling?
Is the water pooling on the skirt? If so, try to wear it outside the pfd and use suspenders to lift it up a bit. Of course, that is assuming you don’t get your torso in the water and waves don’t crash over your boat.
Some skirts have a special plastic ruler that lifts the skirt and prevents the water from creating standing puddles.
Yep I have the same problem
I have 5 or 6 Neoprene Spray skirts and every one leaves me soaked after about a half hour paddling. I use a GP and the water runs down the paddle and drips off of my thumbs. It pools between the back of the tube and the cockpit coaming, then down my back. It is to warm to wear my drysuit during the summer months so I just have to endure and carry dry clothes to change into. I have contacted the manf. and they say water doesn’t penetrate neoprene, HA thats a laugh.
same here, pool behind my back
Always drips in eventually. I figured it was normal and just accept every paddle ends with a my butt wet, at a minimum.
So there are ways to keept dry? Interesting!
~~Chip
Snapdragon neoprene with breathable
tunnel sprayskirts - no problems with leaks after over one year. We take good care of them (rinse them after a day of paddling) and they are holding up really well.
skirts
Nylon skirts always leak some, they are cooler though.
My Snapdragon will eventually get damp on the underside, not wet.
My Seals never leak.
Bill H.
I had a Seals nylon skirt
that let in a lot of water when I rolled (about 5 gallons in three rolls) and when I contacted Seals, they told me that their nylon skirts weren’t made for “extreme paddling”.
Yes…
…maybe I need a Seals or Reed, or one with the plastic bow in it?
Try treating the fabric
I think any neo sprayskirt is going to let a little water in, especially with a GP that (for me) just puts a lot of water onto the deck.
My Neo Seals leaked more after a few uses, even though I always wash it in wetsuit shampoo with the rest of the gear after every use. I treated the fabric with a DWP treatment, (like you use on your Goretex gear) and it made it act more ‘like new’. This also worked very well on the old neo hatch covers on a 9 year-old Necky kayak I bought last year.
It improved it enough that I don’t seem to notice all that much water in the cockpit, but it’s not ever gonna be as dry as a hatch.
get a canoe
no skirt no issue
kayaking is a wet sport.
Would you
put up with 5 gallons from doing three rolls? (I think not)