I'm in agreement with those who say that, for really cold water (regardless of air temp) the only safe way to go is with a full Goretex drysuit. A drytop won't do the job. I do have a Goretex drytop, and I wear it when the water temp gets up to 50 or so - but even then, I'm probably taking a significant risk. A drytop won't usually keep you truly dry if you're practicing rolls. If you ever come out of your boat, a drytop will first allow your lower body to get wet and cold, and soon thereafter you'll notice all that cold water wicking up onto your lower torso. Don't try to compromise with a coated drysuit. It won't breathe, and you'll be so uncomfortable that you won't use it. As for discomfort, there is some with a full Goretex suit, but it's well worth it. When I paddle even moderately hard during late fall and winter, the polys lining my drysuit get wet - even though the drysuit is Goretex. That's okay. I have other clothes I can change into. As for difficulty getting into the suit, that's minimal. For me, it's getting out of the suit which is a bit of a nuisance. That takes about 30-45 seconds and a little careful tugging. It certainly isn't a big deal. And as for price - well, do you have life insurance? A Goretex drysuit is by far the cheapest life insurance policy you'll ever see. Get a relief zipper in the suit if you possibly can, unless you're blessed with a 6 hour bladder capacity. Bill Hansen *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jan 11 2000 - 05:49:26 PST
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:18 PDT