Gore-Tex dry suits keep you and your clothes dry, but how warm you stay is dependent on what you wear under them. Another
words, the drysuit itself provides little or no insulation -- especially in the water. There is a wide variety of clothing
that will work for insulation under a drysuit, but some will be comfortable and convenient than others. If you've been
active in any outdoor sports for long, you probably already own some clothing suitable for wearing under a dry suit, but we
have some special items that will help make your drysuit more comfortable over a wider range of temperatures than with
typical outdoor clothing. First of all, as
with any clothing for outdoor and water sports, avoid cotton clothing as cotton has practically no insulating value when
it is wet. Wool insulates when wet, but it takes a long time to dry out and requires special care when washing. So the most
suitable fabrics for wearing under a drysuit are synthetic materials such as, Polartech and other pile fleece, Powerstretch
fleece, polypropylene, Powerdry, Thermax, Hydroduct, etc. Most of these materials are available in a variety of thicknesses
or weights (i.e. "silk weight, mid-weight, expedition weight, 50 weight, 100 weight, etc.). Generally the thicker or heavier
the weight, the warmer it will keep you. Of course sometimes you will be concerned with not over-heating, in which case you
will want clothes to wear under your drysuit that provide a minimum of insulation. Other times you will want to bundle up
for cold weather with clothes that provide lots of insulation. So it is best to own several layers of different
thickness/weights so you will have options choose from to suit a wide range of the conditions and temperatures. In the
coldest of
conditions, you may want to wear a heavy layer overtop of a thin base layer (all under your drysuit). At the other extreme,
when paddling in hot weather with a Gore-Tex drysuit, I often wear just a thin, short sleeve, synthetic top and thin to
mid-weight long johns. With the 3-layer Gore-Tex used for drysuits, it doesn't feel clammy to have my bare arms touching
the inside of the drysuit sleeves, and a short sleeve top goes a long way toward preventing overheating. So if you are
concerned about getting too warm in your drysuit, I highly recommend our
short sleeve Hydroduct shirt by Doufold
For cold weather use, a one-piece suit such as Kokatat's 100 Weight Polartec Drysuit Liner has several advantages over
wearing separate tops and bottoms. With a one-piece suit you won't have to worry about cold spots from your top coming
untucked from your bottoms, and you won't have all that extra bulk of overlapping layers around your waist. Also the
one piece liner suits well sell all have zippers compatible with Kokatat's optional drysuit Relief Zipper (for men) and
Dropseat Zipper (for women).
One-Piece Fleece/Pile Suit, drysuit liner
Men's Power Stretch 150/pile bib, drysuit liner
Women's Power Stretch 150/pile suit, drysuit liner
And don't forget your head. Our most popular hat is the Kokatat Surfskin bill cap which is good for paddling, sailing, etc. in wind and rain as well as for kayakers practicing Eskimo rolls. This skull cap is only available in two sizes, L or S, but the material is so stretchy that the L size fits all but the smallest hat sizes (if you have thick hair, you'll need the L size).
Our retail store stocks the best selection of gear sea kayakers really want.
To see our complete catatlog, click here Kayak Equipment Catalog
Kayak Academy
Seattle, WA
(206) 527-1825
© George Gronseth 2004, all rights reserved.