[Paddlewise] RE Dry suit consumer research

I have no personal experience with dry suits but have heard a fair
amount about them.  On the other hand I am a member of a boat club and I
can speak at lengths about communal equipment longevity in the club.  In
one word... BAD.  

I hope the people of your club takes better care of things than in ours
in Chicago.  Stuff is not properly dried out, often stuff gets piled on
the floor wet, damaged equipment does not always get reported.  It is
like a bunch of children were the members.  Communal gear seems to be
subject to much more abuse than personal gear and the idea of the
delicate dry suit gaskets and other critical features seems to make them
a very bad choice for a group purpose.  Also, it seems proper sizing is
important and if a person is headed out for a paddle and if their size
is not there and they grab a bigger one, it could be potentially fatal
if in for a swim to much air in the suit that rushes to the legs and
creates the wrong buoyancy (head down, feet up).  Perhaps that can not
happen with a PFD but it might be worth looking into.  Perhaps if you
feel compelled to do something, going with more durable wetsuts and
perhaps paddling jackets might be a better idea.  

Again, I have only read about them but those are my 2 1/2 cents. 

Bob
Chicago

..........................................................
                      Robert Brubaker
             http://home.earthlink.net/~rbrub
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