doug m wrote:

thinking about the question further, surfers in New England use wetsuits
nearly exclusively. i don't think i've ever noted a drysuit used by a
surfer. they spend hours in the water at cold temperatures and require
quick reflexes and great coordination.

How thick is the neoprene of those wetsuits? 3, 4, 6 mm ?
I don't think that I would want to wear one out of 3mm neoprene for
paddling, 3mm is sometimes to restrictive. And a full wetsuit? I think I
would be very uncomfortable in it, thus likely tempted not to wear it.
As we all know you need immersion protection in case you tip over. Most of
the time this doesn't happen on a seakayaking trip. Surfers and WW paddlers
get wet by nature of the sport, and cool of that way, seakayakers not
necessarily. So we need to find a compromise between being comfortable while
high and dry, and increased survival time in case we find ourselves swimming
next to our boat. Both, wet and drysuit just buy you more time to get out of
the water, but the time window will not last for ever.

I rate the wearing comfort of a breathable drysuit much higher than the one
of a farmer john wet suit, espcl. on those days when the air is warm and the
water is cold -like all summer in Nova Scotia.


Ulli
(Halifax NS, air temperature last weekend 20, water temperature ~10)