Posted October 5, 200717 yr I have no idea if this product is going to be useful for sea kayaking, but I thought I'd mention it, even if it's just for grins. This is mainly aimed at the surfer community, but ripcurl is rolling out the H-bomb this month. It's a battery heated wetsuit. It's written up in the April issue of Surfing magazine (no, I don't surf, my daughter reads the magazine, and I skim it for anything relevant...tasty beach breaks or something, uh...dude...). It sounds like you get a few hours of heating on on charge, it can be recharged in a car, and there are probably 500 charges on one battery. Here's the URL for it - I'm not endorsing the product or anything, know only what I've read in Surfing, and what's on this website. http://www.ripcurl.com/hbomb/
October 5, 200717 yr Author I looked a bit further into it. It looks like Ripcurl is now shooting for a spring of 08 for the h-bomb.
October 5, 200717 yr There's a well-known scientific formula: Electricity + Salt Water = Bad Idea Seriously, assuming that it will actually work as advertized, it seems that it's only use for kayaking would be that it would extend the useful temp range for wetsuits a few degrees in an immersion situation. Considering that it's going to retail for ~$1000, a dry suit is a much better option, IMO.
October 5, 200717 yr There's a well-known scientific formula: Electricity + Salt Water = Bad Idea Seriously, assuming that it will actually work as advertized, it seems that it's only use for kayaking would be that it would extend the useful temp range for wetsuits a few degrees in an immersion situation. Considering that it's going to retail for ~$1000, a dry suit is a much better option, IMO. no, no...they've worked out that electricity+salt water thing...you have to wear a brass hat....that's going to be optional for '09. and dude...we all<surfer babes> know why <surfer babes> you read the <surfer babes> the magazine. it's very well <surfer babes> written with lots of <surfer babes> info on good <surfer babes> breaks/locations.
October 5, 200717 yr Battery powered! I was hallucinating something completely different. We all read the magazine for the articles...
October 5, 200717 yr Author We all read the magazine for the articles... It is a complete coincidence that this article was in the swimsuit issue of Surfing.
October 9, 200717 yr This whole thread is a joke, right? I mean is there really such a thing as an electrically heated wetsuit?? And has anybody out there bought one?
October 9, 200717 yr Patco has been selling wet suit and dry suit heating pads for diving for years. I don't know anyone who uses one, but if anyone is interested you could always ask on scubaboard.com for a report http://www.patcoinc.com/aqua_heaters.html Ralph
October 9, 200717 yr Author It may be a "joke" - as in "the product stinks", but RipCurl seems serious about it. It was in a featured article in the April edition of Surfing Magazine, and the website seems earnest about it. RipCurl originally listed the availability date as Oct 07, but now says that it should be out in spring '08. As Brian comments, it's probably not too useful for kayakers - personally, I'd go with a drysuit, but I thought it was an amusing product, and the name was also amusing, but, evidently, RipCurl is really trying to market this thing.
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