Re: [Paddlewise] What paddling gear for FC Java SOT?

From: Craig Jungers <crjungers_at_gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:22:37 -0700
On Wed, Jun 22, 2011 at 5:18 AM, Paul Ash <AshP_at_sundaytimes.co.za> wrote:

>
> What kind of gear would you recommend? There will be plenty of practice wet
> exits/re-entries (not that that is much of a mission with the Java :-)) but
> I loathe paddling in a wetsuit. Would dry pants be overkill? And do dry
> pants breathe? I will be wearing rubber booties.
>
>

Before I got a drysuit I had a two-piece Kokatat outfit that was lightweight
and comfortable in warm weather, relatively inexpensive, and quiet. The
pants were made of "Tropos" material which is not as sturdy as the material
NRS uses (or Kokatat, for that matter) in their more expensive suits.
However the pants were "farmer john" types in that they had a bib and the
separate top could be mated with the pants by rolling together the bottom of
the top and the mid-section of the pants.

My problem with the suit was that it was gasketed at the ankles and because
I have difficulty bending my left leg it was difficult (and tiring) to put
on and sometimes almost impossible to get off. I'm not sure how they'd stand
up to repeated exits/entries on a boat with lots of doodads on the decks.

However they are light weight, breathable, comfortable to wear, and less
expensive than a complete drysuit.

Link to NRS (where I bought mine):

Pants: http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=2261&pdeptid=1173

Note: I can't find the link to the Kokatat matching top at NRS but any
drytop with a two-part bottom (one around your torso and the other for over
your spray-deck) would probably work with the pants.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
www.nwkayaking.net
www.bigboxbikes.com
***************************************************************************
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 Jun 22 2011 - 06:22:57 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:31:45 PDT