> I have had one for two years and use it all the time in the > pacific northwest. Used it for the two day 40 mile San Juan > Challenge. I have a choice of wet suit F.J. and the gore Dry > suit I always go for the dry suit. I mean no offense by this, but if my memory serves me correctly, you looked pretty hot and miserable when you came out of the water on the first day. I too did the San Juan challenge (what a great race!) and didn't wear anything but nylon shorts and a polypro shirt. I might add that 90% of these racers were dressed similarly. I can't imagine how you drysuit types can paddle hard at a race pace without dieing from heat exhaustion. Dressing for immersion is a vague term. You don't need to dress for a long immersion. You only need to dress for an immersion lasting the time it takes you to get back in your boat. If you practice your rolls and other self rescues in rough conditions, then you can dress for the air temperature knowing that you'll be back in your boat before you get in trouble. Of course, If I flipped and became hoplessly separated from my boat, I would die without a dry suit (and proper insulation underneath). This is a remarkably rare event and I suspect the risks I'm taking are tiny compared to the dangers I go through driving to the put in. by the way, I don't realy expect to change anyones mind on this issue -- in fact I was really hesitant to enter into this discussion. I just wanted to make sure the "non-drysuit/wet-suit" voice was heard in this discussion. --Tim P.S. Its bound to come up, so let me say it now and get it over with. In white water or surf-play where I know I'll be spending lots of time in the water I wear a wet suit or a dry suit. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun May 17 1998 - 10:57:14 PDT
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