"Wilko" wrote in message
...
riverman wrote:

Moving water doesn't 'pull you down', it only moves you around. The
increased mass would equally tend to keep you from being submerged by a
swirly as it would prohibit you swimming to the surface when you were
under. The primary deleterious effect of having water in your drysuit is
that you cannot get out of the water, and that you are a large mass on
the end of a throwline.

Wasn't it Larry Cable who had a bad swim a couple of years ago when his
drysuit filled with water?

Possibly, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that the problem wasn't in being
'pulled under' as much as it was with being unable to change direction. And
being unable to pull himself out of the water.


I was thinking that since, as a kayaker, I have a tight fitting neoprene
seal (in the form of a spraydeck) around my waste, that should keep the
water out of the lower part of my suit.


Yep, that should do it. Good thing, too. As a rafter, I never appreciated
the importance of having some sort of waistband; but now that I know the
impact of having a leak in a drysuit, I'd strongly encourage any rafters who
wear drysuits to also include a wading belt to seal off the lower half.
Imagine trying to get pulled into a boat when you weigh over 500 pounds.
Hmmm, that makes me think of another good use for a relief zipper....its one
way to let out all the water down to your crotch!

--riverman