Dressing for Success
Fighting the Cold War: Readers Wade In
Are drysuits worth what they cost? And which is better — to be a comfort-loving Amphibian or a safety-at-any-price Frogman? Those were the questions Tamia posed in a couple of recent articles. She outlined her answers to both questions, of course, but paddlers have minds of their own, and they weren’t shy about letting her know what they thought.
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by Tamia Nelson | May 5, 2015
Last month I penned (keyboarded?) a couple of columns on a vital subject: dressing for cold-season paddling. The first of these asked if drysuits were worth the cost. (My answer: Yes, but not every paddler needs one, and some of us who need one can’t afford it.) The second outlined the less restrictive alternatives available to the experienced paddler who prefers to “dress like a sensibly turned-out hill walker” rather than an “out-of-work frogman” — a comparison borrowed from sea kayaker and British Canoe Union senior coach Derek Hutchinson.
As luck would have it, the two articles attracted a fair amount of mail. Any notion I’d had that they (along with my earlier columns on cold-season paddling and hypothermia) would exhaust the subject were soon proved wrong. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Past experience has taught me that readers often contribute information and insights that have heretofore eluded me, and this time was no exception. So I asked readers’ permission to reprint a representative selection of their letters. You see the result before you.
And the topic is still timely. Adirondack rivers have only now begun to flow free, and ice remains on the higher lakes, at least in sheltered bays. A recent preliminary scout of a portion of my “Journey Home” route yielded numerous examples. (See, for instance, the photo at the end of this article.) Nor has the water temperature risen much above the freezing point. When I dipped my hand in the river that I first explored under the watchful eyes of my grandfather and mother — that’s it in the photo above — the chill immediately numbed my fingers. Which makes the question that headed my first column on dressing for cold water, …
Are Drysuits Worth the Cost? …
Pretty much moot. Reader Mark Scantlebury’s response was perhaps the most succinct:
When taking out beginning paddlers and putting them in drysuits, I find it takes just one swim in the cold waters of Oregon while wearing the drysuit to convince them it’s worth its price.
Of course, I’d never questioned the drysuit’s utility. I’ve endured baptism by total immersion in freezing water too often not to be aware that wetsuits do very little to blunt the first sharp shock. I even labeled the drysuit the ne plus ultra in cold-water protection, and Farwell, who survived several impromptu swims in 40-degree water protected by nothing more than a tee shirt, shorts, and a PFD, has no doubts in the matter, either. Which is why we were both overjoyed to learn that the price of protection is coming down, and that cash-strapped paddlers are no longer forced to choose between drysuits, on the one hand, and wetsuits, on the other. There is now, it seems, …
A Full Spectrum of Protection
Reader Clint Holeman pulled no punches in setting me straight, either:
I have just read your article about drysuits and their costs versus the benefits, and must say I don’t agree with much of what you said. I don’t think you did your homework very well. There have been some changes in the past few years worth noting.
First, there are quite acceptable “paddling” suits available now with “soft necks” that cost around USD500. While they are not 100-percent waterproof, they only allow a couple of tablespoons of water, even with total immersion. They protect very well from an inadvertent swim in ways that a wetsuit simply can’t. I know, I just took a swim last Saturday in Lake Tahoe while it was snowing, with winds around 35-40 mph. I have a Stohlquist Bunny Insulating Suit (it cost me around USD99). Even with the high, cold winds, I was never cold, even pumping out my boat.
My wife has a similar paddling suit with a drop seat, designed for women. Same price. The cuffs may be trimmed, and they will stretch, as well. It is the only type of clothing to wear during the cold weather for safety and convenience…. If you use it, it’s worth it. After all, a kayak is a boat, and a boat is a hole in the water to pour money into, and sometimes, there is a cost associated with things. A drysuit or paddling suit is just that.
Your comments about adjusting expectations do seem right on[, however.] Thanks for a great site!
Clint’s e-mail certainly opened my eyes to possibilities I hadn’t considered in my original column, though I suspect — in fact, I know — that there are many paddlers for whom the prices he quotes would prove an insuperable barrier. Not all of us can pour money into our boats at will, after all. Some of us have to make do with second, or even third, best. Cliff is also mistaken in thinking that Paddling.net is our site. It isn’t. It is a great site, to be sure, and an invaluable resource, but the credit for this belongs to the guys who started it up, and who continue to work behind the scenes to keep it running — and also to readers like Cliff, whose critical insights have done much to improve In the Same Boat over the years. And make no mistake: Cliff was spot on when he noted that I didn’t do my homework very well. Because if I had, I’d have learned that drysuits are nowhere near as pricey as they used to be. You can still drop a grand on a drysuit if you’re of a mind, but now you don’t have to. You don’t even have to spend 500 bucks. In short, …
The Era of the No-Frills Drysuit Is Upon Us
As Bob Holtzman, president of Mythic Gear in Rockport, Maine, was happy to point out:
I appreciated your article on drysuits, and I agree with almost everything you said about the drysuit versus wetsuit equation.
You mention that “you can easily drop a grand” on a drysuit, and while this is correct, you can also spend a lot less. Mythic Gear’s drysuits sell for USD250 to USD395, and that makes drysuits a lot more attractive when comparing them to wetsuits.
These are not fancy drysuits — in fact, they’re unashamedly basic — but they are made from good quality breathable fabric, and they do exactly what a drysuit is supposed to do: keep you dry and safe.
About a year ago we wrote a blog post comparing wetsuits to drysuits that’s somewhat similar to your article [see link in Elsewhere on the Web, below – Editor]. We covered a few topics that you might find interesting.
A basic drysuit at a modest price? This is very good news, indeed. And though I’ve no first-hand experience with Mythic Gear’s products, at least one reviewer has found their USD225 (now USD250) drysuit both “functional and affordable.” Paddlers on a budget would do well to investigate further. The Mythic Gear blog is worth a look, too. A recent post shows how to locate and repair drysuit leaks, and another demonstrates how to trim gaskets.
But what about wetsuits? Are they destined to be relegated to forgotten corners of musty closets, unwanted relics of the Paleoprene Age of paddlesport? Probably not. It’s true, however, that I dwelt long and not too lovingly on …
The Problem of Wetsuit Chafe …
In several earlier articles. Which moved Jim Penistan — his name will be familiar to regular readers of this column — to craft a well-reasoned corrective to my rhetorical excesses:
Excellent discussion, as always. Two details leaped out at me.
First, you make more than one mention of wetsuit chafe. My experience with wetsuits is less extensive than that of many paddlers, but I have done three- and four-day trips on whitewater, with portages, and have escaped the dreaded chafe. I expect this is the result of luck rather than of judgment, but I have found that the combination of a front-zip farmer john full-leg suit and a short-waisted, long-sleeved jacket (front zipper, again) has kept me warm, comfortable, and able to enjoy a full range of movement — without chafe. The combination has a huge bonus, which has a bearing on …
Second, hyperthermia. The older and fatter I get, the more I need temperature regulation. The flexibility of ventilation offered by two zippers and the ease of shucking the top layer cannot, I think, be bettered by any other protective garment or garments available. Neoprene booties and gloves complete the ensemble — also easily sheddable.
Truth to tell, Jim’s outfit is very like my own, which I purchased as soon as I could afford to move up from a cut-down, repurposed diving wetsuit. And no, chafe wasn’t much of a problem once I had proper paddling attire. But I’ve known other boaters who never seemed to find the right wetsuit, or get the right fit. There may well be an element of luck involved, as Jim suggests.
That said, the problem of fit would loom less large if paddlers could try out different makes and models of wetsuit (or drysuit) before taking the plunge, and Jim had something to say about that, too:
One other point: affordability. A drysuit is clearly the best protection against hypothermia, but it has the drawbacks you mentioned, chief among them price. Is there not, for those of who need a drysuit only a couple of times a year, the possibility of renting one? That seems a solution that might meet the needs of paddlers who cannot justify the price tag of a drysuit that is used infrequently. Failing rental, the dollars that might go on a drysuit are quite sufficient to acquire a wardrobe of wetsuits.
Well, Mythic Gear may indeed be changing the cost–benefit calculus of protection, reducing (or even eliminating) the price advantage of the wetsuit, but renting would still make sense for occasional canoeists and kayakers. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me. It should have. Rafting companies rent wetsuits and drysuits to their clients, but I know of none who extend that service to independent paddlers. If you do, please tell me.
OK. We’ve been worrying this subject for a good while now. Is there a …
Bottom Line?
I’d like to think so. But I’ll leave the summing up to professional wildfire fighter, all-round outdoorsman, and Revolutionary War reenactor James Stone, another name which will be familiar to regular readers of this column. Here’s what James had to say:
Good articles! Takes everyone’s budget into consideration and offers reasonable solutions to apparent risks.
That’s it. Strike your own balance between risk and comfort, and then buy the best protection you can afford. The good news? The price of protection seems to be coming down.
Are drysuits worth what they cost? And which is better — to be a comfort-loving Amphibian or a safety-at-any-price Frogman? Those were the questions I posed in a couple of recent articles for In the Same Boat. I outlined my answers to both questions, of course, but paddlers have minds of their own, and you weren’t shy about letting me know what you thought. So you waded right in, and I’ve learned a lot as a result. I hope you have, too.
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