I would like to kayak throughout the winter in Nova Scotia.

I have a 5mil wetsuit.

I am looking at getting a drysuit.

I have seen a one piece for around $800. I can get a 2 piece for about $400.

Suggestions?


Thanks

Micheal

Per Micheal Artindale:
I have seen a one piece for around $800. I can get a 2 piece for about $400.

Suggestions?

What's the 2-piece? Farmer john bottom, dry top with a rollover
gasket at the waist? Or something else?
--
PeteCresswell

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
Per Micheal Artindale:
I have seen a one piece for around $800. I can get a 2 piece for about
$400.

Suggestions?

What's the 2-piece? Farmer john bottom, dry top with a rollover
gasket at the waist? Or something else?
--
PeteCresswell

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...45524442503911
is simmular to the dry tops i am looking at. The dry bottom is not the
farmer john type, it is like a pair of trousers.

Gaskets are at the waist, neck, wrist and ankle openings. I think I have
seen a pair of bottoms that had attatched socks.

Micheal

On Jan 8, 9:33*am, "Micheal Artindale"
wrote:
"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message

...

Per Micheal Artindale:
I have seen a one piece for around $800. I can get a 2 piece for about
$400.

Suggestions?

What's the 2-piece? * Farmer john bottom, dry top with a rollover
gasket at the waist? * Or something else?
--
PeteCresswell

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...%3Efolder_id=2....
is simmular to the dry tops i am looking at. The dry bottom is not the
farmer john type, it is like a pair of trousers.

Gaskets are at the waist, neck, wrist and ankle openings. I think I have
seen a pair of bottoms that had attatched socks.

Micheal

Gaskets and zippers being the weak spots, I'd go to minimize them as
much as possible. You only get in and out of it twice a day, but rely
on it being waterproof constantly. Go one-piece.

--riverman

On 2009-01-08, Micheal Artindale wrote:

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
Per Micheal Artindale:
I have seen a one piece for around $800. I can get a 2 piece for about
$400.

Suggestions?

What's the 2-piece? Farmer john bottom, dry top with a rollover
gasket at the waist? Or something else?
--
PeteCresswell

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...45524442503911
is simmular to the dry tops i am looking at. The dry bottom is not the
farmer john type, it is like a pair of trousers.

Gaskets are at the waist, neck, wrist and ankle openings. I think I have
seen a pair of bottoms that had attatched socks.

Micheal


I would go for a Bottom or 1 piece with socks Attached. Cold feet is a
common problem, even with a dry-suit.

Also, the attached sock can be either latex (can tear more easily)
of neoprene. I would go neoprene. Actually i have Latex socks
attached but am considering a change.

I never tried a 2 piece so i wont comment on 1 vs 2 pieces.


Sylvain
fauvel at emt dot inrs dot ca

Micheal Artindale wrote:
"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
Per Micheal Artindale:
I have seen a one piece for around $800. I can get a 2 piece for about
$400.

Suggestions?
What's the 2-piece? Farmer john bottom, dry top with a rollover
gasket at the waist? Or something else?
--
PeteCresswell

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...45524442503911
is simmular to the dry tops i am looking at. The dry bottom is not the
farmer john type, it is like a pair of trousers.

Gaskets are at the waist, neck, wrist and ankle openings. I think I have
seen a pair of bottoms that had attatched socks.

Micheal

One of the big advantages of 1-piece dry suits is the elimination of
multiple waistbands that can feel like they're cutting you in half.
Additionally, you don't have to spend a lot of time mating the waist
seals and such as you do with a 2-piece setup. The dry bottoms that I've
seen have all been made of non-breathable fabrics and none of them had
attached waterproof socks. Both of these things, along with a relief
zipper, are important requirements for a dry suit system, IMO.

Per Micheal Artindale:
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...45524442503911
is simmular to the dry tops i am looking at. The dry bottom is not the
farmer john type, it is like a pair of trousers.

Gaskets are at the waist, neck, wrist and ankle openings. I think I have
seen a pair of bottoms that had attatched socks.

Looks to me like something that would keep one reasonably dry as
long as they stayed in the boat.

Come out of the boat, go through the rinse cycle a few times, I'd
bet a weeks pay it's gonna take on water - big time.

I use a one-piece bag suit for lake paddling.

One-piece mixed-mode (neo john bonded to bag top with PolarTec
shirt) for ocean/surf when the water's really cold.

For less-cold water, I use a regular farmer john with a dry top
like the one you linked to.

That combo will keep one dry for the first few moments of
immersion, but in the end it's wet. OTOH, the john is a wet
suit.... i.e. it's designed tb warm with a film of water under
it. The top? Like I said I don't wear it when the water's
really cold.... maybe down to the low fifties; then I go to the
one-piece solutions.
--
PeteCresswell

Per Sylvain Fauvel:
I would go for a Bottom or 1 piece with socks Attached. Cold feet is a
common problem, even with a dry-suit.

What concerns me about my one-piece bag suit with integral
GoreTex socks is the prospect of shipping water, but not having a
place (ankle gaskets) for it to drain. It would just pool in the
legs. At some point, the weight of same could impede re-entry
into the boat.

Comfort/convenience-wise, it's the cat's meow, but I wouldn't
call it bulletproof.
--
PeteCresswell

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Sylvain Fauvel:
I would go for a Bottom or 1 piece with socks Attached. Cold feet is a
common problem, even with a dry-suit.

What concerns me about my one-piece bag suit with integral
GoreTex socks is the prospect of shipping water, but not having a
place (ankle gaskets) for it to drain. It would just pool in the
legs. At some point, the weight of same could impede re-entry
into the boat.

Comfort/convenience-wise, it's the cat's meow, but I wouldn't
call it bulletproof.

You can make that type of argument about almost anything, but in the
real world, it's a much more theoretical problem than an actual one.
I've never heard of anyone dieing due to water in their dry suit. Unless
you paddle in conditions where you frequently tear up your clothing and
end up with water in it, it's simply not a realistic concern.

Per Brian Nystrom:
I've never heard of anyone dieing due to water in their dry suit. Unless
you paddle in conditions where you frequently tear up your clothing and
end up with water in it, it's simply not a realistic concern.

I've read of one dying and a couple almost dying - and I don't go
looking for that kind of stuff.

The guy who died was local. Went out without enough under the
suit, fell in just beyond the surf line and perished before the
eyes of people on the beach.

The near misses were a couple of guys on a Hobie 16.

Repeated attempts to right the Hobie caused their suits to ship
water in small increments (make a fist and observe the little
tunnels that open up between the tendons.... same thing with the
neck).

They had taken on enough water that the PolarTec under the suits
had become so heavy that they could no longer climb up on the
Hobie's hull. Their account was that they would have died if a
power boat hadn't happened along in time.

Balancing the insulating layer under a bag suit is a game that
everybody has to play: too much and you overheat from paddling,
too little and you lose heat too quickly when immersed.

After every cold-water sesh in my bag suit I try to flop into
neck-deep water and fool around with the boat for awhile until
the chill starts to penetrate.

Call me a slow learner, but I am always surprised at how short a
time that is.
--
PeteCresswell