What is the difference between a wet suit and a dry suit?
Dry suits are loose fitting except for gaskets at the neck and wrists that seal water out so you and your clothes stay dry. With dry suits for sports other than SCUBA diving, the suit itself does not provide insulation -- you wear clothes under the suit for that. The more clothes/insulation you wear, the warmer you will be.
Wet suits don't keep you dry, but they can keep you warm. Wet suits are made of waterproof,
closed-cell, foam-rubber (neoprene) which insulates even when wet. The two main things that
determine how warm you will be are the thickness of the neoprene and the snugness of the wet
suit. The looser a wet suit fits, the more water will flow in and out of it, and the colder
you'll be. However, if a wet suit fits skin tight, most of the water that leaks in will stay
there, and eventually your body will warm that water up to skin temperature. Once the water
inside a wet suit is at the same temperature as your body, it no longer chills you. Contrary to
a popular myth, the water inside a wet suit doesn't keep you warm, at best this water is neutral,
neither warming or cooling you. After you've warmed up the water inside a wet suit, the
neoprene can do its job -- insulating you from the water outside the suit. Assuming a wet suit
fits you snug enough, then the thicker its neoprene, the warmer you will be. Unfortunately, the
thicker a wet suit is, the stiffer it is too, and the stiffer the suit, the less comfortable it
is for active sports such as paddling. On the California coast in the summer, a 3mm thick wet
suit may be thick enough for acceptable comfort for kayaking, but in the Northwest, a suit that
thin will not give much protection from the weather or water. For kayaking in the NW, I prefer
wet suits that are 5 or 6mm thick, SCUBA divers here wear suits with two layers of 6 to
7mm neoprene (12-14mm covering their core area). Almost all the wet suits marketed to kayakers
are 2-3mm thick. So generally you need to go to a SCUBA dive shop buy a thicker wet suit. You
don't need to wear anything under a wet suit for warmth. Most people wear a bathing suit and
perhaps a rash guard shirt under a wet suit to prevent chafing, but the warmth is determined by
the thickness of the wet suit not the clothes you wear under it.
What do I wear under a dry suit?
Since dry suits don't provide much inherent insulation (with the exception of some SCUBA diving suits), you'll need to wear some clothes under them to stay warm. The colder the conditions, the more insulation you'll want to wear. Even though dry suits seal out water, it is possible to get wet from your perspiration or a leak; so as with other outdoor sports, the best types of clothing to wear under a dry suit are clothes made from materials that insulate even when wet. This includes polypropylene, pile fleece, wool, etc., but not cotton. A layered clothing system provides a versatile choice of insulation thickness' to deal with a broad range of weather and water temperatures, but in winter conditions, where you know you'll need a thick layer of insulation, it may be more comfortable and certainly faster to get dressed if you use a single thick (i.e. 200 weight pile fleece) layer rather than a large number of thin layers. A one-piece unisuit style liner suit is worth considering as it will prevent cold spots from shirts coming untucked from long johns.
To view our selection of clothing to wear under a dry suit, go to our Equipment Catalog page
Kayak Equipment Catalog
A standard dry suit comes with snug fitting ankle gaskets at the bottom of the legs. Of all the
gaskets on a dry suit, ankle gaskets are the hardest to get on and off because they require the
greatest ratio of stretching and you have to do it while bending over. Dry socks are an
optional item that replace the tight fitting ankle gaskets with loose fitting socks that keep
water out of the suit and keep your feet dry. Most people find dry socks make dry suits both
easier to use as well as more comfortable -- your feet will be dry and generally warmer. There
are several types of dry socks, but for most applications other than SCUBA diving the two
popular types are latex rubber dry socks and Gore-Tex dry socks. Both these types of dry socks
are thin and require other footwear to be worn over them. (See "What footwear can I use with
dry socks?") Wearing
a thin, slippery liner sock on your feet will make it even easier to slip in and out of a dry
suit with dry socks. (On suits with ankle gaskets, the gasket needs to seal against the skin
of your leg; so if you wear socks at all, with ankle gaskets you would put the socks on after
stepping into the suit.) A Gore-Tex dry sock "breathes" so your feet will be less wet from
perspiration; Gore-Tex dry socks are only an option on Gore-Tex dry suits. Call us for more
details about the pros and cons of latex vs. Gore-Tex dry socks.
What foot-wear should I use with dry socks?
Dry socks are paper thin, so you need to wear something to cover and protect them. And for kayakers, this means both while walking and when sitting in your kayak. So for kayakers, sandals are out becuase you need your heel covered to protect the sock while paddling. Wet-suit booties will work, but for sea kayaking, rafting, and fishing, we sell a new water-sports shoe by Heli Hansen that is my favorite. For river and surf kayaking there's no room in the boat for shoes, so thin soled wet suit booties are the only things that will fit. With dry socks, it will be most comfortable if you wear a thin, wicking sock (such as those sold as a liner sock for hiking) inside the dry suit. This makes it easier to slip your foot in and out of the suit, helps the moister there wick up to the leg where the breathable Gore-Tex isn't covered by a non-breathable shoe or bootie, and a liner sock provides some warmth (for more warmth wear a thicker sock). For most people a thin sock inside the dry sock provides enough insulation that your feet stay warm enough without needing the insulation of a wet suit bootie -- which without a dry sock you would want to wear in winter. Kayak shoes provide little warmth, but they provide a better heel cushion for kayaking (where your heel rubs inside the boat) than wet suit booties, and good ones have a sole that doesn't waste as much foot space as a sandal or tennis shoe. So for sea kayaking, a good kayak shoe gives both your feet and the drysocks the protection needed without wasting foot room in the boat. Ideally the kayak shoes should be so comfortable that they are my only shoes at camp while on a kayak trip, etc. Being able to hike, paddle, etc. all with the same shoe saves space and weight in the kayak, raft, etc. as compared to wearing booties in the boat and carrying a pair of sandals or shoes for shore. There are many water-sport shoes on the market, but most are either too narrow to wear all day, or they slip off your feet after getting in your kayak, or they trap water. If your feet get cold easily, then you can also wear a neoprene sock (we sell 3mm socks for about $25) on the outside of the dry suit's dry sock and inside the kayak shoe. In this case, buy the shoes 1/2 to 1 size larger than your normal shoe size to allow room for the neoprene sock to be worn under the shoe. The kayak shoes we sell are avaialbe in whole and half sizes from unisex 7-12 and 13. No-one makes women's sizes in wet suit booties or kayak shoes, so women generally need to buy one size smaller unisex shoe than their women's shoe size, unless they plan to wear thick socks and/or neoprene socks inside the kayak shoe, in which case then the same size unisex kayak shoe as their regular women's street shoe is probably right.
To view our selection of foot-wear to wear over a dry sock, go to our Equipment Catalog page
Kayak Equipment Catalog
What is a relief zipper/drop seat?
A relief zipper is like the fly zipper on a pair of pants, except on dry suits this zipper
is waterproof and runs horizontally. A women's drop seat zipper serves the same purpose for
women and again is a waterproof zipper. These are optional features on dry suits, but almost
everyone buying a new dry suit for surface sports (i.e. kayaking, rafting, fishing, sailing,
etc.) benefits from this option. Even though you generally have to be on shore to use these
zippers to heed nature's call, the time and hassle saved with a relief zipper or drop seat is
worth the price -- especially if you wear a life jacket or harness over your dry suit. This is
the most commonly ordered dry suit option. Relief zippers can be added to either men's or
women's suits, but the drop seat is only an option on women's suit and it can not be
retrofitted to a suit (it must be added when the suit is being built, men's relief zippers
can be retrofitted, but it costs more than when it is ordered as part of a new suit).
What other options are available on dry suits?
Optional features include (for pricing information see our Catalog page):
Reinforcement patches on seat and knees are optional on some brands but they come standard on Kokatat dry suits
Relief (pee) zipper
Drop seat zippers are available on women's suits only
Dry socks sealed to legs instead of tight fitting ankle gaskets -- choice of Latex or GoreTex
dry socks in three sizes
Zippered pocket on the sleeve (you may order pockets on Left, Right or both sleeves)
Removable Gore-Tex hood
Reflective tape on sleeves (both)
Overskirt (for kayakers who do a lot of Eskimo roll practice or paddling in rough water, this
helps keep water out of the kayak).
Custom sizing is also available, call us for details; custom sizing is surprisingly affordable
($20 - $60 per adjustment).
To view pictures custom options for dry suits, click here
Drysuit Options
How much does a dry suit cost?
Our waterproof/breathable dry suits start at $375.00 for a front-entry style one-piece dry suit
without any options.
However, most people are now buying Gore-Tex fabric dry suits, because they breath the best (let your
perspiration breath out of the fabric) so you and your clothes stay even when it's warm out and
you are working hard. Our Gore-Tex dry suits start at $699.00 With options such as relief zippers and
dry socks a GoreTex dry suit will cost around $865.00
Isn't a wet suit a lot cheaper?
A typical kayaking/rafting style farmer john wet suit (3 mm neoprene sleeveless bib pant) runs
about $100.00 - 150.00, but then you will usually want some of paddling jacket or dry top to go
with it for rafting, kayaking, etc. and these days most people are choosing Gore-Tex tops for
this which typically cost around $250.00 - $400.00 So when you look at the wet suit option as a
complete system, it may be that a coated nylon dry suit is less expensive and a Gore-Tex dry
suit is only a little more.
Will I need a custom fitted dry suit, and how much does that cost?
If you are a "big or tall" size person then you will definitely want to have a dry suit custom
sized for you. Even if you are average proportioned, you may want to have neck or wrist gaskets
that are looser or tighter than on standard suits your size. It turns out that well over half
of the people buying dry suits are better off with some kind of custom sizing. These custom
sizing features add from $0 to $60.00 per item to the cost of a dry suit.
If you can afford a Gore-Tex model dry suit, it is worth it. You'll be drier, much
drier, because Gore-Tex breaths. Coated nylon is waterproof, but you get
damp/wet from your own perspiration. Hardly anyone is buying coated nylon suits anymore,
especially if they've tried a Gore-Tex suit. So a Gore-Tex suit also holds
it's resale value better if you ever want to sell it. If you use the suit on
multi-day trips where there isn't any way to dry your clothes overnight, the
Gore-Tex is a huge advantage because all your clothes stay dry. And by the way,
yes, Gore-Tex works fine in salt water -- we go snorkeling in ours and come out dry!
What about non-GoreTex waterproof breathable drysuits?
Gore has over twenty-five years of experience developing their waterproof/breathable Gore-Tex membrane that lead to
the special fabric Kokatat buys to build their Gore-Tex dry suits (Gore-Tex Evolution
fabric is not your run-of-the mill raingear Gore-Tex). No other waterproof breathable membrane is as well tested, well
proven, ruggid, chemical resistant, durable as Gore-Tex. I remember when Gore was new and advertised the
first-ever rain gear that was waterproof and breathable. Some people said they loved it. I bought
some and got wet from the rain leaking in as well as from my sweat not breathing out. After some bad
experiences I went back to my old system of two shells -- a totally waterproof shell for when
it rained and an uncoated, totally breathable wind breaker and pant when the sun was out. A few years
later Gore came out with a new and improved Gore-Tex. Sales people admitted that the first
generation stuff wasn't so good, but they insisted that the second generation fabric really
worked. I bought some and got wet. I kept trying to make it work, but it soon delaminated.
Years later Gore came out with their third generation fabric, and again sales people said they
knew the older stuff wasn't so good, but you had to try the third generation -- I didn't. I
went back to wearing coated nylon when it rained and uncoated nylon when it wasn't raining
(I carried two jackets and two pants wherever I hiked/skied/camped/etc.). Of course by then Gore
had some competition. New companies got into the act and claimed to have a cheaper fabric that
was "like" Gore-Tex. I tried a bunch of them and got wet. Years later a company I really trusted
(Kokatat) came out with the first waterproof/breathable (Gore-Tex) drysuit, and I was in a
dilemma. Kokatat had earned my trust for making the best quality dry tops and dry suits for
water-sports, but Gore-Tex?
If it weren't for all the kayakers asking me about Gore-tex drysuits back when they first came out, I would probably have stuck with my coated nylon drysuit and assumed a GoreTex suit could never work. But in the name of science I had to have first-hand experience with what I talk about. So as an experiment I put up the money for a new Gore-Tex suit (with assurance from Kokatat that I could return it if it didn't work). My expectations were low. I would have been reasonably satisfied if it simply didn't leak. But after the first day I wore it I couldn't believe what I found. I was dry! I had been in the water swimming and wading for over an hour, I had been paddling the rest of the day in the rain, and I was dry. My clothes were dry. I was shocked! This was the first time I had ever seen Gore-Tex work in the field. And in the years since, my Gore-tex dry suits (I have about 50 counting rental suits) have never let me down. I do little to maintain them, and they just keep working. I've bivouacked in mine; I've hiked miles in down-pouring rain; I've swam and snorkeled till exhausted; and of course I've kayaked all over the NW, BC, Alaska, Grand Canyon, and northern Baja in it. My Gore-tex drysuit is one piece of gear I know I can count on, and that is very important because often my life as well as my enjoyment of the trip depends on it. In fact, it breathes so well that I've even taken clothes that got left out in the rain at camp and dried them out on rainy days by wearing them inside my drysuit.
As with rain gear, there now are some non-Goretex "waterproof/breathable" drysuits. So it's time again for us to be guinea pigs and see if any of them work. Using Gore-tex as the gold standard to compare all other fabrics to, the questions are: how waterproof is the brand-X "waterproof/breathable" fabric, how breathable is the brand-X "waterproof/breathable" fabric, and how durable the brand-X "waterproof/breathable" suits? A fourth question would be, "Do they work as well as Gore-Tex in salt water?" Are these new cheaper fabrics even as good as Gore was twenty years ago let alone the newer Gore-Tex? Are they as good as the special Gore-Tex (Evolution) used for dry suits? Kokatat Gore-Tex drysuits have successfully past many years of testing by the US Coast Guard, military special forces, raft guides, kayak and canoe instructors, long distance expeditions, etc. To me, real world tests are more valuable than all the advertising, marketing hype, and indoor lab tests.
I thought it would take a lot of testing to (days of use) find out how the non-Gore "waterproof/breathable" drysuits compared to Gore-Tex, but with one exception I over rated the competition. More than one manufacture's new "waterproof breathable" drysuit leaked right from day one. Turns out there's more to waterproof/breathable drysuits than just the fabric. If you could test raingear under water, you would find that a lot of brands have leaky seams. In rain gear it goes unnoticed, but not in a drysuit. Kokatat probably has the best seam sealing equipment combined with the most experienced (due to low employee turn-over) seam sealing operators in the world of manufacturing waterproof/breathable products. We found one other brand of "waterproof/breathable" drysuit didn't leak, but I got wet from sweat before we even had time to get on the water (15 minutes of doing nothing but getting ready to go kayaking and I was noticeably wet on the inside). So just because a label says some fabric is breathable it doesn't mean it will breath well enough to keep you dry the way Gore-tex does.
There's only one non-Gore-Tex drysuit that we've found that worked nearly as well as a Gore-tex drysuit. It's the new
Tropos fabric drysuit by Kokatat. Tropos is a new waterproof/breathable fabric that Kokatat developed and tested. In 2005
the introduced a suit made from Tropos called the SuperNova Paddling Suit. These suits have a thin neoprene Adjustable
Punch Through (APT) neck rather than a true drysuit latex neck gasket. The APT neck doesn't seal water out as well as a
latex neck gasket, but it is a lot more comfortable on your neck. So because of this neoprene neck, Kokatat calls these
suits Paddling Suits rather than drysuits, but other than the APT neck, the suit is completely waterproof (the wrists do
have latex gaskets same as any drysuit, and the suit comes standard with Tropos dry-socks). With the Super Nova Tropos
Paddling Suit, you can stand in water up to your shoulders and not get a drop of water in. You can also paddle all day and
only have a little bit of dampness from perspiration inside the suit. For more information on these suits, click
SuperNova Tropos Paddling Suit Now that Tropos has proven itself for
durability as well as waterproof/breathability, Kokatat is introducing two new full-on dry suits made from Tropos. The
Tropos Meridian (TME) drysuit which features an overskirt for kayaking and front entry zipper will be available beginning
December 2005, and the Tropos Swift Entry (TSE) dryuit (a universal water-sports front-entry dry suit) will be available in
mid-January 2006. We've already field tested prototypes of these new suits and can testify that they live up to Kokatat's
high standards for waterproof integrity and are second only to Gore-tex (in our experience) for breathability. And Kokatat
leak tests every one of these suits before they leave the factory. Maybe you'll never swim in your dry suit, maybe you'll
never need to bivouac in it, maybe you'll never wear it as rain gear at camp, but isn't it nice to know you could? And now
you don't have to sacrifice quality to save money on a non-Gore-Tex waterproof/breathable drysuit, check out the Kokatat
Tropos drysuits available from the Kayak Academy.
Do Gore-Tex dry suits really work?
Yes.
Do Tropos waterproof/breathable dry suits really work?
Yes. They don't breath quite as well (when you are at a high activity level) as a Gore-Tex drysuit, but pretty close.
Why buy a Kokatat brand dry suit?
If you are a woman, Kokatat is the only brand that makes dry suits in women's sizes, and they
have done an excellent job of proportioning their women's drysuit to fit real women, not just
super models. Kokatat is also the only dry suit manufacturer offering a waterproof drop-seat
zipper for women's dry suits. Support companies that make gear for you.
If you want a Gore-Tex dry suit, Kokatat is the only brand making Gore-Tex dry suits. The reason why no-one else makes Gore-Tex drysuits is that Gore won't sell their fabric to just any dry suit manufacturer. Gore doesn't want their waterproof/breathable fabric to get a bad name, so they set very high standards for anyone who want to use their fabric to make drysuits, and Kokatat is the only manufacturer with high enough quality to meet Gore's requirements. This says a lot about Kokatat.
Kokatat leak tests EVERY drysuit they make before shipping them. It would be cheaper to only test one out of 10 dry suits or one dry suit from each batch of production runs, but then every once in a while a customer might get a defective suit. Is it worth taking the risk of buying an untested, possibly leaky suit from another brand just to save a little on the initial purchase? With a Kokatat drysuit, you are not a guinea pig -- the suit you buy will not leak.
Kokatat's GoreTex dry suits use American made GoreTex fabric, and the suits are made in Arcata, California. Want to help keep some manufacturing jobs here in the US? Here's your chance to do so while buying yourself the best product available. Even if you don't care about buying American, if you buy a drysuit made in Asia how long will you have to wait if you send it back to get a repair made?
Ko-ka-tat (with a long O) is from a northern Californian native American word for “into the water”.
What if I rip a gasket, can it be replaced?
We also stock all sizes of Kokatat replacement latex gaskets, latex dry socks, and the tools to
make it easy to replace them yourself.
Click here for information on ordering gaskets and dry socks
Gaskets and Dry Socks
What about two-piece dry suits?
With one-piece dry suits you get in and out through a waterproof zipper. Two-piece dry suits
have skirt-like pieces on the top and bottom halves that you fold together to join the pieces.
The process of folding these pieces together is slow and awkward at best (especially the part
behind your back), and the rate of leakage depends on how good a job you do at this. Some
people aren't flexible enough or lack the finger dexterity to needed to use a two-piece suit,
and it is a misnomer to call these suits dry even if you can fold things behind your back. In
the water a well sealed two-piece dry suit will be a slow leaker, a poorly sealed suit will be
a fast leaker. You wouldn't want to spend much time in the water with a two-piece suit or have
to swim very far with it. Given this why would anyone want a two-piece suit? The top half of a
two-piece dry suit is generally just a kayaker's dry top, and if you already own a dry top then
a dry bottom costs you only half as much as a complete dry suit. There are short sleeved dry
tops which you could use as the top half of a two-piece dry suit in warm weather; until someone
offers a short sleeved one-piece dry suit this may be a reason to go with a two-piece suit.
When you are ready to order a dry suit, call George toll free at: 1-866-306-1825
If you have more questions, but are just shopping around, call George at (206) 527-1825
To view all our dry suit models and prices, go to our Equipment Catalog page Kayak Equipment Catalog
© George Gronseth 2003, all rights reserved.