Dry suit for kayaking and paddling

A dry suit (sometimes also called a kick suit or bathing suit) is, as the name suggests, a full suit that keeps the contents (you) completely dry. In winter, or rather when the water is cold, and that is quite a long time in our latitudes (like 10 months a year), it can be nice to stay dry(er).

As with all things, there are a lot of opinions about drysuits, some claim that they are useless, that you get sweaty, hot and that you can hardly move in them. Some claim that everyone should, must and should always have a dry suit! Others think they are superb because you stay warm, dry, feel safer, etc... I belong to those who think dry suits are superb. With the suit on, you dare to push your limits even though it's cooler in the water and you can go out on off-season tours comfortably. On overnight trips, it's super nice to be able to take off your suit after a full day of paddling and crawl straight into your onshore clothes or straight into your sleeping bag.

Material.
A good dry suit for paddling is usually made of some kind of thin waterproof material with some kind of membrane that releases excess moisture but keeps completely tight on the other side (like Gore-Tex).
Furthermore, the material must be flexible and not too thick so that you are not hindered in your movements. In a drysuit that cannot release moisture in any way, you get quite wet from sweat. Those who claim that you get splashed wet in a dry suit have probably tried one that does not release moisture in any way, or they are simply struggling too much.

There are a lot of so-called "survival suits" and other things that are very thick and unwieldy and which are not very suitable for paddling but more for stationary/sedentary activities. Those who claim that a drysuit is difficult to move in have probably tried a variant of these.

Seals.
Many (most) dry suits have latex seals at the wrists, neck and feet. Others have variants in neoprene, some have socks in goretex or the same material as the rest of the suit and some have full latex feet.
Latex seals can feel a little scary the first time you try them, but you get used to them quickly. Latex cuffs are easy to keep clean and odor-free, while neoprene is basically impossible to keep odor-free for a few longer moments, I think. I think full latex feet get cold and it's also quite a hassle to put them on, especially when they're a little damp and it's a few minus degrees outside in the morning. So I prefer latex cuffs and fabric feet. I've tried latex cuffs in the legs a couple of times, but it definitely feels nice to get in/out.

Cost.
A good dry suit certainly costs a penny (it probably does most things that are good and fun, of course), but on the other hand, it lasts quite a few years. Besides, it's a shame to lump them all together the money in the mattress😉 😉
It is very nice to be able to be completely dry when you want. And the dry suit also significantly extends the season for wet activities such as rescue exercises, roles etc.

The moisture must come out
Some talk about the suits breathing, but of course they don't, only living organisms do. But what is meant is that the fabric/membrane releases excess moisture. And this is what, in my and many others' eyes, goretex is good at.
I think the greatest need to get the moisture out is on overnight camping trips. If you're just out playing, rolling, surfing for a couple of hours or half a day, it doesn't matter much if you're completely wet inside (or outside). But on an overnight trip, it's great to be able to stay dry. Of course you can get sweaty even in a suit with moisture release if you wear and perhaps especially under a tight cape and life jacket. But if you open it up when you come ashore and let in some fresh air, close it again, and then unpack the kayak, set up the tent and tinker a bit, the suit has had time to release the moisture, you then have a woolen underwear underneath, it's just a matter of taking off the suit and crawling into the onshore clothes or directly down into them the sleeping bag without being moist. Works really really well and is worth a lot.

Double waist?
Some suits have a double waist where you can tuck in the hood to make it seal properly. Double waist is really good for very wet exercises, but with normal padding it adds nothing, rather the opposite as there is even more fabric around the waist and both bumpier and sweatier. If you have a reasonably tight hood and the life vest on top of it, not much water gets into the waist anyway.

Opening front/back or?
I think most people like it best with the front opening. Back opening, many people seem to have problems with opening/closing themselves and it feels quite smooth. Have only tried back opening myself on a couple of short occasions, I probably won't choose it in the future. There are also some suits that have an opening on the inside of the legs, which can probably make a lot of sense or in any case be easy to get in/out of, but worse if you want to open up and ventilate. So opening at the front is probably the model, especially if you don't always want to need help to get in and out. There are also some two-piece drysuits with a split around the belly, which can look a bit clumsy with a zipper there, but still seem to work very well.

Goretex is the model?
Of the suits I've tried, the ones with goretex in them have released moisture the best, and it seems that many agree that this is so. We will probably buy and test some other suits as well, but at the moment it is likely that most of them will be in goretex.

Hood or not?
The hood on the suit is really nice on days when it's cold, windy and rainy. The other 99,73% of paddling days is a hood mostly in the way, weighs more, takes up space, and scoops water during swimming exercises. I think without a hood makes the most sense and then a substantial one woolen hat on or readily available. On e.g. Kokatat's later suits (after 2010) it is a fairly flexible jump-rollable hood which is certainly not very much in the way, but it is still more fabric and if you have been swimming or it has rained, the hood must be rolled out and dried at home so it becomes more and more fun with the hood regardless whether it is used or not.

Take care of the dry suit

A drysuit doesn't really require that much care either, but the occasional rinse in fresh water just makes it happier. Washing the cuffs from skin residue makes them feel a little fresher, this is especially important with neoprene cuffs that get really stale (and smell bad) quite quickly when you sweat in them and leave some skin residue there. We lubricate the latex cuffs with 303-Spray which can also be used for rubber shutters and little else. Can probably guess that Vinylglas is roughly the same thing.
We usually lubricate the zippers from time to time with a small piece of wax, otherwise they become so sluggish. A regular piece of light also works but flakes more and usually doesn't last as long (perhaps depends on the quality of the light as well...).
From time to time we run our drysuits in the washing machine on a gentle program (hand wash) without centrifugation and with gentle detergent for goretex or washing nuts. After that, they need an impregnation and it is best done with spray, Nikwax TX.Direct as example. Of course, it is also possible to impregnate in a machine or tub, but then you get just as much impregnation on the inside, and that's really not where you want it.

Replacement of cuffs
The latex cuffs break after a while. How long they last depends, among other things, on how much they are used, how much sun they are exposed to (good with something over the cuffs that protects) and how often you put on/take off the suit. We usually hand in our suits to a local diving company for a change of cuffs, quite easily. When the suits otherwise leaked a few times, we sent them to Gore's service center, where we received excellent service for a reasonable price. It is perfectly possible to change the cuffs yourself, a bit more tinkering, of course, but significantly less expensive than having someone else do it, and also often fun when you can fix it yourself.

Dry suit or paddle suit?

As the name suggests, a drysuit is dry. So the content anyway. However, there are some suits that are called paddling suits, semi-dry, semi-dry, semi-dry, etc. What is usually meant is that the fabric itself is tight, often they are also completely tight at the feet and arms but perhaps have a simpler seal at the neck. We each have a Kokatat suit that has full fabric feet, latex cuffs in the arms but a slightly simpler neoprene closure in the neck. Actually, these semi-dry suits are more comfortable to paddle in for most people. However, for a lot of bathing and splashing exercises, they are preferable completely dry.

How long does a dry suit last?
Of course, it depends a lot on how it is used. If you use the suit mostly for normal paddling and are reasonably afraid of it on land, they will last many years, of course you have to change the cuffs from time to time and maybe re-impregnate it. But if you do a lot of kayak climbing, i.e. rescue exercises where you climb, crawl on the kayak, they wear out considerably much faster. With frequent use with a lot of climbing and maybe a bit of cliff hanging on land, you can easily wear out a dry suit in a year or two.

I bought my first dry suit in the winter of 2001, it was from PolarSafety and in GoreTex and quite similar to Ursuit's suits of today. No wider fit, but fairly thin and flexible fabric. It had latex cuffs at the wrists and a hood made of some kind of thin Goretex; when you pulled it up, it held it almost close to the neck. In order to get it completely tight, one supplemented with a Neoprene hood at the end and then only the face gets wet.

In the fall of 2003, I wanted a new outfit and then it was a Kokatat Expedition. Felt like a lot of pennies, but it also felt very good. Well sewn and good fit, not as bulky as my old one. Latex also in the throat felt like that at first, but you got used to it quickly.

In the spring of 2004, it was time for Pia to get a dry suit, it turned out to be one similar to mine, but a women's model, Kokatat Expedition Women, with a hatch at the back. It was before our first trip to Norway to the Helgeland coast in 2004 as it felt like dry suit mode even for her.

We got rid of a couple of suits of the same kind in between and at the latest in the summer of 2012 autumn 2009 if we bought new ones, then it became one solid red Kokatat Expedition for me and a blue/grey colored Meridian (GMER) for Pia. In the summer of 2012 we also each bought a Kokatat Goretex Lightweight Paddle Suit to have something thinner, lighter, both so that they are easier to take with you but also more flexible to wear, maybe not too much bathing as there is no latex in the neck, but certainly seems nice as tour suits.

In 2009, I chose to try the Kokatat Meridian GMER, which is a slightly simpler version without a hood, and Pia again chose a Kokatat Expedition, but without a tailgate. Instead, she chose one with a front flap, similar to the men's model, although it sits a little lower down and is positioned for the use of the FUD (Female Urinating Device)!! 😉 Something that Pia hasn't used yet... Looks a bit cute. Tailgate is clearly smooth, but can be a bit in the way depending on the seat and size of the cockpit opening. GMER has no hood, no pockets on the arms and slightly simpler protection for the latex cuffs but otherwise the same fabric and stitching.

I bought myself a Stohlquist b-pod in late summer 2009. The idea was to find a slightly simpler suit to have as a complement. I used it for 10-20 days in slightly different temperatures and conditions. Unfortunately, I found it released moisture far too poorly to be a full-fledged option for me, so I resold it. Otherwise it felt and looked clearly well made with a supple fabric.

I have also used a borrowed Artistic suit for a weekend a couple of years ago but thought it also released moisture too badly. And it also had latex feet and I don't like that, I think it feels both wetter and cooler.

We have also tried Reed/Chillcheater in both jackets, sweaters and suits, but they don't release much moisture either. However, they probably smell worse than the worst synthetic underwear when you've used them for a while 😉 But for bathing/play and then washing/cleaning, they work perfectly fine. More like a variant of a wetsuit or a wet-warm cover, then. For our part, the Chillcheater is perfect as a cape but nothing to wear, at least not if you have the idea/ambition to stay reasonably dry & fresh.

Even when it's warm (to be in our latitudes) in the water, it can be nice to crawl into the kick suit for wet exercises, instead of being completely chilled after 1 hour of rolling and splashing, you can (almost) last as long as you like !

At first I had some thoughts about Kokatat's Tropos material, but had a jacket in it and thought it was both poor durability and poor moisture release, although that jacket was probably only in single-layer Tropos. Have tried Ursuit's thin version on land and was a bit keen on one like that, very flexible material but unfortunately a bit too much of a potato sack over the fit of their suits so it became the Kokatat Goretex Lightweight Paddle Suit instead. Convenient with a small and light suit that is easy to take with you.

And should you get a little warm on the water, you actually have access to unlimited cooling water at a very short distance, just go down to take a dip and if you're really hot, you can lie down for a while and the heat will probably go away!