Re: [Paddlewise] Drysuits - insulation

I guess I need to pipe in on the San Juan drysuit issue as I was the other
idiot on that trip. - quite the learning and life changing experience.

Anyway,
The drysuit  was a cold water scuba diving real thick neoprene type, it
leaked a bit, mainly at the hose on the front that would be used to blow out
the water. The gaskets were in pretty good shape except for were they cut it
off at the hospital (the zipper was tough to open) it's still in good shape
in a box in my garage. The neoprene is 1/4 inch thick.

Most of it's insulative value came was due to the fact that it was so thick
and fairly tight fitting, so that even with a little leakage it would still
function as a good scuba wetsuit.

The downside of this arrangement is that it was never very comfortable, but
obviously worth wearing.

I guess that I'd have to conclude with the thought that most dry or wetsuits
that one would wear paddling in cold water can bring your survival time up
from 10-15 minutes that you'd have without one, up to 2-4 hours, so you
should still give serious thought to how you're going to be out of the water
in that time frame (i.e. self rescue, assisted rescue, etc..), but that it's
unlikely that one that you'd be willing to paddle in would keep you warm or
even functional for the 16+ hours of temperatures in the air and water that
were in the 40'sF and lower of that experience.

And yes, I always wear a wet or dry suit every time I paddle.

Happy paddling - Saul

-----Original Message-----
From: superiorvisions_at_att.net <superiorvisions_at_att.net>
To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Saturday, March 13, 1999 9:38 AM
Subject: [Paddlewise] Drysuits


>
>----------------------  Forwarded Message:  ---------------------
>From:    superiorvisions_at_att.net
>To:      paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
>Subject: Drysuits
>Date:    Sat, 13 Mar 1999 16:19:41 +0000
>
>This is a reply to the post from Julio MacWilliams.
>Julio, I intentionally left my drysuit completely
>unzipped in the pool when I performed a self rescue. I
>wanted to see if a self rescue was possible with the
>water that would enter the suit. Even with three gallons
>in each leg I performed a self rescue.
>I believe and teach students that Drysuits are the best
>thermal protection available. You must wear a thermal
>barrier between you and the drysuit like polar fleece or
>some other barrier like Jack Martin does. When using a
>drysuit you must keep the waterproof zipper completely
>zipped up also. And just as Ralph typed you must have
>proper gaskets. Years ago a sea kayaker drifted over
>eight hours in the waters of the San Juan Islands until
>he drifted up to an island. He slept in his drysuit
>overnight and was rescued by the Coast Gaurd when they
>saw him walking on the islands shore the next day. In
>comparison a few years ago a sea kayaker in Lake
>Superior was in a wetsuit for three hours while holding
>his sea kayak. He was found after a three hour search
>and was hypothermic. He was still conscious but was
>brought to the hospital and kept overnight.
>It is best to have thermal protection and both wetsuits
>work and drysuits work. They just have to be used
>properly.
>
>Good Paddling,
>Don Dimond
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