[Paddlewise] dry suit research

Here's the promised update on my dry suit research.

To briefly recap I asked for feedback from owners of Whites dry suits.  My 
club is considering making a large group order for club members who want to 
buy a dry suit and take advantage of a volume discount.

 From a statistical point my research was a bust as I got far to few 
responses.  Nevertheless here's what I found out.

One owner said,...."I have a White's dry suit - non-breathable. I wear it 
religiously,
especially in "off season"... I maintain it by rinsing it after every use,
lubing the zipper with zipper wax and treating the seals. The seals are
starting to show some wear now after two years but are still sound.
I had one leak in the suit initially, I took it back to Whites and they
fixed it on the spot, no charge. Good service I thought."

A second said,...."Personally, I would recommend Kokatat over White's for 
dry suits.
We have both. I am considering getting rid of my White's and replacing it
with a Kokatat when ever I get around to it."  This owner found the sewn in 
feet of the Whites to be far to large and cut them out and replaced them 
with rubber seals.

Two owners found the rubber seals started to fail well within a year of the 
purchase date.  In both cases Whites said it was due to exposure to too 
much sun light.  One owner was able to make a deal with Whites to replace 
the seals at a discount price.  The second owner who's log book indicated 
that the suit had been worn less then thirty times, and who stores his suit 
in a windowless garage, was told the neck seal would cost over $100 CDN to 
repair.  Both of these suits where the non breathable suits.

One owner who has a Goretex Kokatat with a tunnel that goes over the spray 
skirt cut the tunnel out.  He found the tunnel kept pushing the skirt so 
low that water would pool and leak through.

I cannot draw any conclusions from what I found out except that regular 
maintenance is a must and that good negotiating skills help when dealing 
with the customer service representative.  There's simply not enough 
information here to influence my clubs plans one way or another.  I've 
posted my meager findings only to fulfill an earlier promise.

Whites is a small dry and wet suit manufacture here on Vancouver Island 
that produces products mostly for the diving community.

Gordin Warner



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