doug m writes:

I own both and have used both for a number of years. My question is:
"Was the drysuit necessary, or did I fall for the 'sports marketing' hype?"

Have not resolved the question in my own mind yet.

When I was paddling white water boats, I used a full wetsuit and took
many swims in icy Adirondack rivers just after break-up. According to
drysuit proponents, wetsuits are not "good enough" protection for 32-34
degree water, and yet I'm still here and don't recall being especially
uncomfortable in wetsuit during these adventures.

Well, not everyone thermoregulates the same. Perhaps more to the
point, your ability to thermoregulate isn't always the same as it
was some other time. First time I ever went whitewater kayaking was
December 20, in Massachusetts, I wore a wetsuit, AND I swam...but I
also was pretty amped by the whole situation, so who knows?

When people come on this or any other forum and ask questions like,
"Do I really need a x?" or "Which y is right for meeee???", they are
asking something that they themselves can only answer, through trial
and error. But they want information, so people try to give it to
them, and generally, they give conservative advice. Nothing wrong
with that.

Were you a victim of marketing hype? I have no idea. Did you read
a lot of ads saying, "You better get a drysuit OR YOU'LL DIE!!!"?
If the answer is yes, then perhaps you are. If the answer is more
like, "No, I asked a bunch of paddlers and that was the advice I
got," then you're the victim of nothing...except, perhaps, a
beginner's understandable desire to take a shortcut in figuring out
which x is right for them.

--
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Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield,
Other days you're the bug.