RE: [Paddlewise] Doug's Ultimate Drysuit

> For a dry suit, I never found the breathable fabric to
> help much either.  I wind up wet anyway, only I am
> more likely to feel wet and cold with the breathable
> fabric.  With the cheaper non-breathable fabric I
> usually feel wet only when I take it off at the end of
> the day.  So even if I am a little drier (not dry)
> with Goretex, what good is that if I feel wetter and
> colder.

I suspect that this cooling effect might be less a consequence of wind 
penetration than of Goretex's breathability. If you think about it, any 
moisture lost through the Goretex membrane inevitably carries away some 
heat with it. If it did not, the moisture would be shed as frost or it 
would condense to liquid water, in which case it would not pass through the 
membrane in the first place! The reason moisture barrier liners keep you 
warmer when winter camping (inside a sleeping bag, for instance) is they 
retain the heat along with the moisture. A coated drysuit can be thought of 
as a very effective moisture barrier liner.

So I suspect that heat loss is an inevitable consequence of breathability. 
Thinking positively, it could be interpreted as evidence the fabric is 
working as it should. It's up to the user, however, to decide whether the 
trade-off is worth it.

Chuck Holst

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