Since the club I recently joined requires wet or dry suits for their outings, I'm thinking of investing in a drysuit. I've seen a bunch of these advertised on Ebay, but they are mostly "diving" drysuits. Should I assume a diving drysuit would be too warm or otherwise inappropriate for kayaking? I typically kayak off the coast of Vancouver island or Puget Sound, where it's cold water but not frigid. If you reply, please include a cc to me directly, since I'm on the digest version of Paddlewise. Thanks Evan Dallas Woodinville, Washington *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Evan Dallas wrote: > > Since the club I recently joined requires wet or dry suits for their > outings, I'm thinking of investing in a drysuit. I've seen a bunch of these > advertised on Ebay, but they are mostly "diving" drysuits. Should I assume > a diving drysuit would be too warm or otherwise inappropriate for kayaking? > I typically kayak off the coast of Vancouver island or Puget Sound, where > it's cold water but not frigid. I kayak and dive so I will bring out a few points. Divers and kayakers have different needs, use different postures and different motions. Kayakers need to paddle and twist. Divers are mostly flat, imagine laying on your belly on the floor with your feet raised up at the knees and your hands under your chin. Mostly you move your legs. Diver's suits also have valves to add air to the suit as you descend and let air out as you ascend. These are in the way for a kayaker. Kayakers usually like the breath ability of goretex but this is completely useless for a diver. Most diving suits have attached boots but this is a personal choice item for kayakers. All in all, it is better to buy a kayaking suit for kayaking and a diving suit for diving. michael (recreational and commercial diver and sometimes kayaker) *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
>Since the club I recently joined requires wet or dry suits for their >outings, I'm thinking of investing in a drysuit. I've seen a bunch of these >advertised on Ebay, but they are mostly "diving" drysuits. Should I assume >a diving drysuit would be too warm or otherwise inappropriate for kayaking? Non-breathable diving drysuits won't work very well. Last fall I ran across a person listing Canadian military surplus drysuits on ebay. They are breathable (Goretex) and are in good condition. They don't come with booties or ankle gaskets so I purchase latex booties and adhesive from OS Systems. I used the suit all this winter and have been very happy with it. I just checked and they have several more listed: http://tinyurl.com/3b8fw Seals and adhesive: http://www.ossystems.com/repair/seals.html Usual disclaimers: I have no relationship with either the ebay seller or with OS Systems --- just a satisified customer. *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:37 PDT