Are there any Drysuits that are not …
… all bright and colorful ??
I’ve looked around and every suit I see looks like a christmas tree lit up .
I’d like to find a solid color one in anything like plain ol army green with no strips , embelishments or decorations .
Ebay, military surplus
Camo and everything, though they are often beat enough to require new gaskets or whatever. A friend has a Navy Seals suit in very good shape though - very nice suit and really solid.
Personally though I like the visibility of the Christmas tree look - especially with hunting season on us and hunters already having managed to shoot each other. The redder the better.
Kayak Fishing Stuff . com
Has a gray colored one- I think.
They advertise here, so I think it’s OK to post their link.
- for visibility colors
I agree with Celia. If I end up in the water, I want my paddling buddies or someone on shore to see where I am.
By now I’ve usually hung up my boats and equipment until I head to FL in January. But this year I bit the bullet and decided to try extending the season, even if only for an extra month. Bought a pair of Glacier Gloves plus NRS hot mitts. Have tried the Glacier Gloves and love them - have yet to try out the mitts, but I do keep them in a dry bag as something dry to change into if needed. Also in my dry bag are those hand- and toe-warmer packets plus a space blanket.
After one heckuva lot of research and talking to people, I opted for Kokotat’s semi-dry suit. They all said that at best they would only get about a tablespoon or two of water when they dove in numerous times to test the suit out and that unless you’re going to do a lot of rolling or playing around in breaking surf (neither of which I intend to do off-season), the semi-dry suit was great for them. I don’t like anything really tight around my neck … and I mean I reaaallllyyyy don’t like it - phobia maybe. So a latex neck was out and I have found the neoprene/rubber neck of the Kokotat is a snug enough fit without feeling like I’m being strangled. Additionally, my cold-weather/cold-water paddling will only be close to shore with extra special attention to wind direction and tides when I go out into the bays or along the coast. I’m definitely a cold-weather wuss!
I wear polartec socks, tops, and bottoms under the suit and have two different thicknesses of tops that I can choose from - or double up if it’s that cold. Chotas and a nifty waterproof, polartec lined hat round out the outfit. Not exactly a fashion statement - LOL - but so far I’ve been ok.
I’m modifying things as I go along and taking note of what I wore, the temps and wind conditions of the day to make the best decisions in the future. One day I wore so much I had to stop paddling every 10 minutes because even at a moderate pace, I was overheating. Learning is taking place
Kathy
Man… How Cold Does Your Water
– Last Updated: Nov-18-08 1:44 PM EST –
get? I am still using a 3mm surfing wetsuit up here quite comfortably with water a tad over 50 degrees. And, I am waveskiing which means water all over around and on top of me.
You definitely can spend under $500. Unless you get convinced a "drysuit" is the only way to go.... LOL!
sing
Who has two expensive drysuits sitting in the basement for past several years 'cause I fell for the "seakayaking" must have BS...
But Sing . . . .
Aren’t you very active while you are out surfing and generating alot of your own body heat as opposed to many folks that are not paddling hard?
Playing in the surf is different than just paddling moderately. Those folks that are just paddling moderately are not generating a lot of their own body heat.
Comparing apples and oranges, yes?
You Can Go With Thinner Neo…
– Last Updated: Nov-18-08 2:53 PM EST –
It's a compromise. But one makes a similar compromise with layering under a drysuit. Even layered enough to stay warm for long periods in the water, you will likely be sweating from just paddling. I used to get drenched from sweat under the drysuit and then get cold when sitting and waiting for a wave. With wetsuit, I am wet anyway but I go with a suit that keeps me warm for the air temps and exertion level. I then roll as needed to cool off.
Heck, for water temps that won't drop much below the 50-60 range, I would go with a 3/2 wetsuit for about $150 and then add a semi drytop for another $100 to extend the range.
The compromise range -- whether with drysuit layering or wetsuit thickness -- is proportional to one's skills in rolling and self rescue.
sing
you won’t feel that way
when you see a powerboat bearing down on you in limited visiblity—you will want a neon orange drysuit, preferably all lit up like a christmas tree.
try that
when the water temp is 34 
It’s wet and chilly this time of year
and I mostly paddle on flatwater close to shore during the winter months. My standard clothing of choice on cold rainy days tends to be a fleece long-sleeve top and fast-dry pants under rain gear or else a fleece long-sleeve top, waterproof jacket and snowboarding pants. I have a pair of farmer johns that I supplement with a wool sweater or fleece for bigger water in not so perfect weather. I also have a pair of those Chota booties I use in cold weather.
I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. It’s just what I wear. I don’t own a dry suit at all and the jacket with the gaskets that my cousin gave me stinks and makes me feel like I’m suffocating, so I’m not eager to spend the big bucks on a whole ensemble.
Best regards,
Amanda
I Have…
I am out year round, almost whenever storm waves hit. I change to the appropriate wetsuit for the conditions.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2230070400043300790CiuQkp
sing
In Lousiana you can do either
wetsuit and drysuit or both.
In mid-winter you might have 40 degree water temps and 50+ degree air temps. If you exert yourself on a warm winter day, you can sweat pretty good in a drysuit and be miserable.
On a 30 degree day with 40 degree water, the drysuit is a little more attractive although a wetsuit plus layering will keep your core warm, you might still get pretty cold and be uncomfortable.
Both options have there place in the south, but you will always find conditions where whatever you choose isn’t ideal.
jim
Holy Ccrap Sing !!!
You mean, you and I agree on something.
My wife’s and my NRS dry suits have never been used since our first AK trip which we bought them for, used them one day, and then decided they were not for us.
Cheers,
JackL
Jim 40 degree water sounds too cold
– Last Updated: Nov-19-08 9:21 AM EST –
I had a sailboat on the gulf coast for three winters and the water temperature never got below the 50s even in January and Febuary. This was gulf salt water.
Cold water kills but if you can get out within a few minutes it can be survived. One winter in my younger days I decided to swim in the ocean all winter. So every day after work I swam off of the beach in Myrtle Beach SC. Septemebr and october were easy but late November the swims got shorter. febuary and March were the hardest. The rule was that I had to wear my swimsuit to the beach and wade out until it was deep enough for a brief swim. I survived that winter and oddly never had a cold!!!! Now in SC the water temperature rarely gets below about 50 degrees. My argument is that if you stay close to shore and carry dry clothes a drysuit is not required. Now I have no experience with Northern waters with temperatures below about 50 degrees. I did fall through the ice once as a child. I was crossing the creek using a tree limb and it broke midway putting me into chest deep water. The ice wasn't very thick and I walked back home(rapidly) through the snow and had no ill effects. I would never try to cross a large body of cold water without a drysuit or thick wetsuit. That is why my wife and I paddle near shore only during the winter. Usually without a wetsuit. Sometimes with a thin wetsuit. We tried the thick wetsuits once and were so uncomfortable that we decided that discomfort trumped the risk.
http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/egof.html
Used suits
Many people upgrade to a breathable drysuit and sell their old one on Ebay – so there are used suits available. You have to be careful to consider that the old latex gaskets may need replacing and the cost and difficulty of that… http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product_list.asp?deptid=1036
For what it is worth:
I have posted this here in the past.
Three times up in Alaska I waded into water that was in the upper thirties just to experience it since I heard all of this stuff about the gasp reflex.
Once was in Icy straight. Once was in Glacier Bay, and the other was in the Noatak River in the Arctic National wildlife refugee.
I made up my mind to walk in fast without hesitating and then dive under. On all three occasions I swam a few strokes under water before coming out.
I made the mistake on one of them of opening my eyes under water, and ended up with like a head ach of the eyes after I came out.
Needless to say on all three occasions I came out quick
There is no doubt in my mind that if I took a dump in frigid water and was just a short distance from the shore, I could make it back into the beach.
Here in NC we stay about fifty feet or so of the shore line in our local mountain lake during the cold weather.
Cheers,
JackL
JackL where do you paddle???
I used to live in the Tri-cities of Tennessee and Paddle on Watauga and South Holston lakes. Also paddled on Fort Patrick Henry lake at Warriors path State park. I scuba dive the first two lakes…it is cold on the bottom year round.
I would expect
– Last Updated: Nov-19-08 2:16 PM EST –
that you wouldn't really need them in North Carolina--even in the middle of the winter--up here when the water temps are between 35 and 45 they can be a comfort--despite the neck gasket. and for me they are much easier to get in and out of then my farmer john
Mostly Lake James, but many times
Watauga.
Watauga is closer, but Lake James has a lot of nice little beaches and has awesome views of the Blue Ridge including Table Rock and Hawkes bill.
A few years back we were breasking through a 1/4 inch of ice one day when we were training for the now defunct bogey and bacall race.
I gets a little hairy hearing that tinkle of the breaking ice against the kevlar hull.
cheers,
jackL
In New Orleans
You would probably be fine with a 3/2 wets suit ~ $120
and some 3 mm booties ~ $30.
A 4/3 suit and a semi dry top ($160 and $100) and you can paddle in pretty cold water.