Re: [Paddlewise] drysuits

>From: paragrant_at_webtv.net (Paul Grant)

>I am considering buying a drysuit top and neoprene/fleece pants as a
>kayaking uniform for winter (or year  round) in the Puget  Sound.  My
>objections to full drysuit are price and its too hard to get on and off.
>Has anyone tried this combination and are you happy with it?  Also, does
>a drysuit bib work with a nylon tunneled spray skirt?  Any preferences
>in brands?              Thanks for any info.      Paul
Hi Paul,

Although the full drysuit would obviously be the choice were money no object 
(sigh…), wetsuits do have their place, and some advantages; though wetsuits 
offer less insulation than an unpunctured drysuit, wetsuits are very tough 
and continue to offer a lot of protection even if holed in places; a flooded 
drysuit can turn from an asset into a liability, and the latex seals on a 
drysuit need a fair degree of maintenance. I'm referring to farmer john 
wetsuits here - diving wetsuits are not appropriate. So I'd suggest your 
first purchase should be a farmer john wetsuit. Upgrade to a drysuit when 
you can afford it.
No matter which combination you set out with, I'd also consider some 
insulation for the head essential - a lot of heat is lost through the head 
if you swim. Plus a hood may reduce the chances of swimming in the first 
place, by reducing the brain-freezing "ice-cream headache" caused by sudden 
capsize in cold water. This headache causes a lot of people who can Eskimo 
roll reliably in a pool to "abandon ship" in the real world. A full neoprene 
hood provides the most protection, but some people find it a bit 
claustrophobic, especially under a helmet, and that it reduces their hearing 
(you can cut earholes to offset this, though at some reduction of insulation 
value). Personally I'm a big fan of those thinnner "skull caps". While not 
as warm as a full hood, they are very comfortable, and therefore possibly 
more likely to be on your head when you need them. They also increase your 
warmth by a surprising amount, and are a easier "additional layer" to put on 
in the sort of exciting situations where you propably shouldn't try to peel 
off your drytop and add another fleece jacket:-) Skull caps do make you look 
somewhat like a deranged Medieval peasant from a Monty Python movie, but 
they work.
I would say drytops can complement farmer john wetsuits nicely.
I've worn a farmer john wetsuit/drytop combo when surf kayaking and found 
the top stayed surprisingly dry and buoyant, even when I swam in big waves. 
Bare in mind this was with a whitewater sprayskirt that fits up between the 
outer jacket and the inner "gasket", and forms a good double-layer seal. If 
you were using it with a touring sprayskirt with suspenders, I'd suggest 
wearing the jacket entirely inside the sprayskirt tunnel, and cinching the 
neoprene jacket "cummberbund" waist as tight as comfortable for the best 
seal.
The waist seal is a "weak link" in the system (as an aside, from an 
"engineering" point of view, the human body is the weak link in the system - 
it's quite hard to form an effective seal around body protrusions. However, 
I imagine a simple over-sized drybag that sealed the entire paddler in would 
meet with some consumer resistance.)
Anyway, in the case of the drytop, so long as the latex seals at wrists and 
neck hold, air pressure will prevent or minimise water from flooding up at 
the waist, in the same way that you can push an inverted glass down into 
water without the water flooding to fill the glass.
In the worst-case scenario, if the drytop did flood, the water will only 
rise to "sea level", which if you're wearing a PFD and a wetsuit, will be 
safely below your mouth. As you wade ashore, or reboard your boat, the water 
will drain off. Plus the wetsuit continues to provide a good degree of 
insulation.
In any situation where I felt a wetsuit would not provide enough immersion 
protection, I'd wear a one-piece drysuit rather than a two-piece - one less 
thing (the waist seal) to fail.
I'd also second the motion about a relief zip. It's one of nature's cruel 
practical jokes that the need to pee is most urgent in those sort of cold 
and bouncy situations where it's impractical to take off the suit. A folding 
Velcro overflap over a seamed slit is the way to go; it does somewhat 
increase the "bellows effect" of cold water ingress if you swim, but again 
this is more than offset by the increased likelyhood you'll be wearing your 
suit when you need it if you can pee when needed. (I made this modification 
to an off-the-shelf wetsuit sold by my employer - an outdoor retailer - and 
suggested to our marine buyer we should market suits with this feature as 
the "Free Willy" model, however we were concened Disney would sue our 
assests off:-)
I'd be very leary of the fleece pants/drytop combo. The fleece would provide 
little if any protection if you swam, and would tend to "wick" cold water up 
into your drytop. Similiarly, I'd mistrust a drysuit "bib" for fear it might 
fill up and hamper my swimming or reentry efforts, but note this fear is 
based on surmise rather than experience.
I hope this is all of some help.
Happy and safe paddling.

Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'


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