> My club is considering making a mass purchase of Whites dry suits for the > club members. If anyone has a Whites dry suit I'd like to hear from you. > > *************************************************************************** My wife has one and I have one as well. Both are the basic model (some coated nylon I guess). You have the option of having boots included or leg gascets if I remember correctly. I prefer the included booties. I wear two pair of socks, then the suit and then I put on my sailing rubber boots (yes, that is now in the winter season). I used to wear Tevas but I like wearing solid footwear when I get out of the boat with all the driftwood and logs around. At this time of the year the dry suit is a great piece of gear even if you do not have the full imersion in mind. It is just so comfortable no to worry about getting wet during launch and landing, or while attempting to take some underwater pictures of nearby sea lions (as Steve usually tries to do :-)). For my wife it is the extra safety margin which gives her peace of mind paddling year round, and joining me on more exposed crossing in our double (which can be a great weekend safer!). There is one issue with the zippers. Whites switched forth and back with different zipper types. On the suit we bought first there is a T-zip which can also be found on Ortlieb water proof bags. Though we did not yet have problems with the suit, I have great problems now (after two or more years) with a waterproof Ortlieb bag with the same type of zipper. With the newer suit they switched back to a much more robust (it seems) all-metal zipper. It is bulkier but to me also makes a more trustworthy impression. I like it better. Another issue concerns the gascets. The first suit we bought had uncut gascets. Originally the gascets have some conical shape. If they are not cut to size (your size!) then they are much too small. So you take the suit home and cut off a little slice to your prefered size, both the hand and the neck gascets. The trick is to leave it somewhat smaller than you can bear because the rubber gives in after a while of stretching and if the gascets are too large the suit is basically useless and need to be replaced. I think buying a suit with uncut gascets is the best thing, given that you fully appreciate the above said. However, when I bought the second suit, I had the impression that the gascets were precut to some standard size, which was too large for me. I had some lengthy argument with the sales people who insisted that the gascets where untinkered with. I can not prove the following, but my impression was that someone had MAYBE returned the suit (cut too much?). Anyway, they ordered me another one in. Again I had the feeling that the gascet was larger than the original piece attached in the factory because I did not cut this one to size. It seems to be ok for the time beeing but if the rubber stretches a little more they would be too lage. What do I do for maintenance? I am usually not too concerned, but I find a rins with fresh water after each use essential. After every third or so use I lubricate the zipper (I use white teflon) and apply some UV protectant to the rubber gascets (I use something called "SPF 40 sunscreen" by a brand calles "303", but there is certainly other similar stuff out there). Given the amount of maintenance and the fact that IMHO the gascets really have to fit I consider the drysuit next to the paddle possibly the most personal piece of gear. Alltogether I like the Whites. Cheers, Falk. -- Falk Herwig, Victoria B.C., Canada email: fhg_at_telus.net yahoo messenger ID: fgfgfg40 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Jan 15 2003 - 06:32:53 PST
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