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.

Have swum a few times with the drysuit (once in Glacier Bay with a few
bergy bits floating around...probably also about 32 degrees), but by
choice, never dumped. Likewise, don't recall being too uncomfortable.

So, if the point of either wetsuit or drysuit is to survive cold water
immersion when kayaking/canoeing, can anyone cite examples of deaths
attributable to properly selected and worn wetsuits and drysuits? Have
found credible news stories of one kayaker death in unzipped drysuit,
but no accounts of fatalities for healthy paddler wearing a wetsuit.

Any input?

Thanks and good paddling,
doug m

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.

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

doug m wrote:

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?"

You fell for sports marketing hype. Note how the drysuit costs more,
is less durable, and more prone to catastrophic failure.

The only problem with a wetsuit is that, in heavy cold rain, the layer
of warm water next to your skin gets replaced too quickly to rewarm.
However this problem can be mitigated by wearing drypants, at much
lower cost than a drysuit.

What baffles me is the number of drysuits that come with ankle gaskets
instead of integral booties. Unless it keeps your feet dry and warm,
the drysuit's only advantage is that, after boating, you can drive away
without changing clothes.

Bill Tuthill wrote:

doug m wrote:

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?"

You fell for sports marketing hype.

Baloney.

Note how the drysuit costs more,

This seems to be the crux of the issue for wetsuit proponents. From what I've
seen, most of them are simply looking for justification for NOT spending the
money for a dry suit. If you want to be cheap, be cheap, that's your perogative.
However, that doesn't mean that you're getting equivalent protection

is less durable, and more prone to catastrophic failure.

This is largely a red herring. Sure, the potential for failures is there, but as
a practical matter, it's not an issue. The only gasket failures I've seen have
occured when the paddler was donning or removing the suit, which is when the
gaskets can be stretched pretty hard. They don't fail in use, since they're not
under any appreciable stress.

The only problem with a wetsuit is that, in heavy cold rain, the layer
of warm water next to your skin gets replaced too quickly to rewarm.

No, the real problem with wetsuits is that in order to get the same level of
immersion protection as a drysuit/fleece combination, you'd need a wetsuit so
thick that you couldn't paddle in it, as was mentioned in a previous post.

However this problem can be mitigated by wearing drypants, at much
lower cost than a drysuit.

Dry pants + a wet suit is going to come quite close in price to the cost of a dry
suit.

What baffles me is the number of drysuits that come with ankle gaskets
instead of integral booties. Unless it keeps your feet dry and warm,
the drysuit's only advantage is that, after boating, you can drive away
without changing clothes.

"Only advantage"? Hardly, though it sure is nice not to have to expose damp skin
to a biting winter breeze after paddling. With ankle gaskets, your feet can still
be warm with the proper footwear, though if you end up swimming, they won't stay
dry. Every dry suit manufacturer offers latex or Gore-Tex boots as an option.
They can easily be added to a suit with ankle gaskets by the consumer.

One thing you forgot to mention was the versatility of dry suits. They can be
used with a wide variety of underlayers so they can function well in water/air
temps from below freezing to the low 70's.

In a waterproof/breathable drysuit, you don't have to spend the day "stewing in
your own juices" like you do in a wetsuit. While you may become damp when
exerting yourself, you'll dry off when you reduce your activity level. In a
wetsuit, you start dry, but quickly get damp and it can only get worse as the day
wears on.

Wetsuits have one REAL advantage over dry suits and that is price. If that's what
matters most to you, your decision is simple. Just don't try to delude yourself
into thinking that you're getting the same protection, versatility or comfort for
a bargain basement price. You aren't; you're getting what you paid for.

--
Regards

Brian