drysuit vs dry top and bottoms

[glil]

Just curious as to how a dry top with dry bottoms would compare to a drysuit. It seems as though most everyone opts for the drysuit. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[ccarlson]

Uh, yeah... get the drysuit ;-)

[glil]

Because...?

[SeaKayaker4Life]

I loved my drytop and decided to buy bibs to go along with it. After a year, I bought a drysuit. Why?

1) The drytop/bibs combo is not perfectly waterproof. No matter how hard you try to get a good seal between the top and bibs when getting dressed, moving around and (especially) getting in/out of the boat put pressure on the wrapping and diminish its effectiveness.

Whenever I taught classes in the drytop/bibs combo, I would always get a bit of water leaking in through the seal during rescues. Not much, but enough to be disconcerting.

2) It's a pain to get dressed and undressed. It takes a lot of time to get the seal right (though, as in #1, it's never perfect), and you have to worry about two garments instead of one.

3) Even if you get Gore-Tex bibs, there will be three layers of clothing, plus your skirt and PFD, covering your torso area. There's not going to be much breathing going on there, so you'll end up a bit more sweaty.

That said, I have a pair of Kokatat Whirlpool nylon bibs, size L, with relief zipper and attached Gore-Tex socks, that I'll sell for $200. Used about 6 times.

Daniel Smith

Kayak Instructor & Guide

Charles River Canoe & Kayak

www.PaddleBoston.com

[ccarlson]

The two-piece suit will leak a bit at the joint. How much it will leak depends upon the components, how well you seal them together, amount of body movement, etc. It can range from a little annoying to cold and wet. Also, having to disassemble the two pieces for "relief" can be time consuming and bothersome. A relief zipper in the drysuit is really not a luxury ;-) But, I guess it really boils down to personal preference and either set-up can provide protection from the cold water (which, of course, you really need at this point in the season). As you've noted, most paddlers opt for the suit probably as it is more convenient to use and usually dryer.

[EEL]

>Because...?

While some WW folks have said to me they stay dry using a two piece dry suit, they are talking about bib overall style with lip or rand for rolling up with top's rand or lip. Not a common style among seakayak folks. While they may float down a river for awhile, they don't have to "swim" all that much compared to someone in a seakayak or rather who was in a sea kayak and now needs to get back in.

You only need to feel that little trickle of cold water that seems to get bigger and colder once to reach the conclusion that a dry suit is better.

Ed Lawson

[bob budd]

Dee had leak free results with her bib/dry top during trip leader training where plenty of swimming was done. Her bib isn't breathable but theoretically you don't get as much breathability with your legs inside the cockpit. Just wanted you to know that not everyone thinks its a bad idea, and you save alot of money. I don't know if you will get booties, which she did not have, and I must say booties are a wonderful alternative to two more (ankle) gaskets. I wish I had goretex booties, this will have to wait until the latex booties fail.

[Suz]

Daniel,

I am glad you are posting and appreciate your info and recent involvement on the websit.

BUT, could you please stop mixing commercial posts with information? The webmaster missed your last post advertising the dry suit sale at Charles River that you posted to the dry suit thread when in fact, if the message is advertising, it belongs on the Events and Commercial message board.

Please edit your message to remove the advertising and post all advertising on the Events and Commercial message board. That would be the right way to let people know about sales/new products or anything else you want to tell us about that costs money! That info is appreciated and welcome but it needs to be in the right place.

Suzanne

[jonathan]

I have both a dry suit and dry top and bottoms. I tend to use the dry top and bottoms in the summer. I always pack them when I go paddling in Maine, combined with a wet suit I find I am prepared for any weather conditions. I have only had the dry top/ bottoms leak once and it was a very small amount. The problem I find is it takes a long time to get in and out of the combo, I really wish it had a relief zipper! You just have to plan ahead and prepare! The breathable dry suit is much more comfortable in the spring and fall as it is more breathable, I have an old backup non-breathable suit I use in the winter, much warmer on really cold days and with the right layers moisture is not a problem. Both suits have socks but only the breathable suit has a relief zipper (the most important thing on a dry suit)

[Dee Hall]

As Bob mentioned I had good results. My drytop is made by Immersion Research which uses very stretchy neoprene on the inside tunnel. I think that this had a lot to do with it. It held the roll together nice and snug. Since I already owned the drytop, when winter came, all I needed to buy was the bib. It was a really good deal for a drysuit, and it never leaked. Even during trip leader training.

Also, to make rolling it together easier, I sewed velcro to both halves. Helped a lot. Also, not having a zipper for entry makes the combo much more comfortable than a drysuit, although you do eventually get used to the zipper.

As others mentioned the lack of relief zipper was a real bummer. However, it did take me two years of practicing before I got the hang of using the men's style relief zipper on my drysuit, but getting out of my drysuit is easier than undoing the combo was.

-Dee