Dry Suits

[Nemo]

Having read the winter warning link and foolishly thinking I am going to wait until warmer weather to use my new purchace when it arrives, I could do with some advice on dry suits, how much, what type, and are there any bargains out there.

 

In other words 'What is the best dressed Yakker going to be wearing this spring'?.

 

Cheers,

 

Nemo

[Zzippy]

Having read the winter warning link and foolishly thinking I am going to wait until warmer weather to use my new purchace when it arrives, I could do with some advice on dry suits, how much, what type, and are there any bargains out there.

 

In other words 'What is the best dressed Yakker going to be wearing this spring'?.

 

Cheers,

 

Nemo

 

Hiya Nemo.

Here is a good link that Yakity Yak posted around Christmas time.

It makes good reading and should help you a bit.

http://www.sit-on-topkayaking.com/Articles...yakClothing.htm

[Nemo]

Hiya Nemo.

Here is a good link that Yakity Yak posted around Christmas time.

It makes good reading and should help you a bit.

http://www.sit-on-topkayaking.com/Articles...yakClothing.htm

 

 

Great link Zzippy,

 

Dry suit it is for me then, warm and dry just sounds soooooo!!!! much better than warm and wet!.

[Yakity - Yak - u.k.]

Hi Nemo.

 

Be worth having a chat to" Speciman " too, hes been using a dry bag for some time now, and gets on well with it.

 

YY

[richi]

me too yakkitty-I've got the GUL GCX3 breathable and I wouldn't be without a drysuit now.

[codshead]

I personally would'nt wear anything less than a drysuit in the colder months, with a couple of base layers underneath . You used to be able to get ex navy undersuits from army and navy surplus shops, if I remember correctly green was for the really cold stuff and white was for everyday use. Kept me warm in the Baltic . Just a word of warning with drysuits , if you fall in head first , the air can migrate to your feet , and you'll be upside down in the water , with potentially fatal results, I've seen it happen twice , fortunately we were on hand to save them but still a nasty experience for those involved.Its a good idea to practice righting your self in a swimming pool , which you do by bringing your knees to your chest , roll forward and then extend legs downward , all simple stuff but if you dont expect it to happen its a shock when it does.

[Nemo]

Codshead,

 

Glad you mentioned that, I did an offshore survival training course last year and I am suprised they don't come with calf zips like offshore survival drysuits.

I wonder if there are any military surplus stores anywhere that may supply such items as the only dry suit I have seen so far at the NEC boat show was £176.00 but that said I have not had a good look around yet.

[Zzippy]

Nemo.

I dont know much about Dry suits.But £176 seems cheap.It all depends what your looking for really.Its best to chat with Speciman as he knows way more than myself.I think his Dry suit was up nearer £500 or £600 mark.

You want to see what the after sales sevice is like to.

Specimans seal split round the neck and had to get a replacement from the states which he fitted himself.

I just stick to the 5mm wetsuit in cold weather if fishing out to sea.Or If in shallow water going for flounders just wear my Neoprene chest waders with warm clothing underneath and a cag on top.

Roll on the summer when I can get back to shorts and T shirt

But saying that I only wore them a few times last year.I mostly wore my 3mm farmer Johns.

Zzippy

[SpeciMan]

Clothing is obviously a personal choice and my thoughts will probably differ to others. My advice is that if you can afford it go for a dry suit with integrated feet. If you can't afford a dry suit or they just don't appeal to you, my next choice would be dry trousers with integrated feet and a dry cag ... if you buy dry trousers with latex seals around the ankles your feet won't be dry (no big deal during the warmer months).

 

Dry trousers and cag are seen by many as a versatile setup as you can wear one without the other, but in order to stay dry inside when you fall in you need both parts on- plus theres a risk of seapage between the the trouser and cag seal if your in the water moving about for an extended period of time (which is pretty unlikely but never say never....).

 

When I first bought my dry suit I heard the horror stories of people being suspended upside down by air trapped in the suit & contacted the manufacturer about this and tested it out myself. As Codshead mentions this can happen but I doubt it can happen when wearing a pfd (at least not for me). I've been in the water with my suit and pfd on with air trapped down in the legs.. my body wanted to lie horizontal on the surface as the pfd was keeping the torso up and whilst in the water. If you can force the air up towards the neck it is possible to expel air through the neck seal whilst being the water although you may risk a little seapage whilst doing so. Following this I now take advantage of the insulating properties a little air in the suit can give and throughout this winter I have not expelled much air (if any) from the suit before heading out on the water. These are just my thoughts on this although I have read of other paddlers coming to a similar conclusion.

Edited February 25, 2006 by SpeciMan

[codshead]

£176 is cheap for a dry suit, is it neoprene or membrane?. You dont get any insulation qualities in a membrane suit , so you have to wear more underlayers, also so if you dont do any diving , and just need the suit to keep dry , I think you could do without crushed neoprene that the more expensive suits tend to use. Going back to my last post on inversion, Ive seen some people make big ole rubber banbs from car inner tubes and place them around their thighs to stop the air in the suit migrating, plus if you keep your PFD on that should keep you heads up. Once took a diving club out from Fort Bovisand in Plymouth, and had a fella insist on wearing his drysuit half donned around his waist , with his WEIGHT BELT on , we were only in a 5m rib . Its frightning how some people think.