hi everyone, at the moment i own a dry cag and am looking for something to keep me warmer on the legs after a cold winters paddling. i was woundering is it best for me to go out an buy a dry suit or should i save some money and buy some dry trousers to go with my cag?

thanks in advance

Dorbin

buy a suit,

a friend of mine went for cag & trousers and constantly findes the water collects down his legs

with a suit, you just take your stuff out of your pockets, put it on and zip it up, and your good to go until the time when you wanna go home. You dont need a towel or a change of clothes cos your not gunna get wet!

as far as prices go, there are many different suits

i bought mine from www.WWTCC.com

great, helpful and a good range of suits in the uk

hth

Go for the suit! Get fabric socks and a relief zipper. Best investment in paddling I ever made. I wear a Kokotat.

t

Thanks guys

theres a shop up the road that does a dry suit for £200 with free fluffys and wet boots. i gather this is a good price. but is it worth paying the extra for a beter quality suit?

Bite the bullit and buy the best suit you can afford. I went cheap the first 2 times and paid for it in the end. The first suit was not a laminate, but a coating and just did not breath. I was drenched from sweat at the end of every run. I might as well have just swam the river. We also were buying a well known brand that I won't mention that were 300USD less than the Kokotat. We had 7 suits delaminate and that was just local!! The company was great and replaced them all but who knows. I don't want to have to screw around every 6 months. Gore fabric has been at this game a long time. Their material is really breathable and holds up great. I can't say Kokotat has \"the Best\" customer service but I can say no one is better.

By the way I am not on their payroll, but am willing if anyone is listening!

t

If you're going for a suit then check out Lomo, the renegade is supposed to be awesome and at only £250 you cant really fault it.

Their stock is available at www.ewetsuits.com

and I'm not affiliated, just a happy customer

everyone here thinks the kokatat is the best and cant be beatin as far as quality goes....

go for the full suit

the pants/bibs will work well initially but there is more to go wrong so will not last as long as a full drysuit.
Additionally, the drysuit will not have all of those over lapping layers around your body that make movement more difficult.
I have had a Kokatat Gore drysuit for 8 years now and don't take care of it other than hanging it up to dry when I am done. I have gone through one neck gasket and one pair of latex booties.

Save your pennies and invest in the drysuit with lattex or goretex booties. Wear paddling shoes over them and wool socks under and you will be warmer than you thought possible.
Also, a relief zipper in the front is a nice item to have if you go boating for more than one hour during the winter.

I paddle primarily in the northeastern U.S. all winter long, as long as the water is moving. Connecticut can usually be paddled 11 months of the year. Maine about 9 months.

I've got the Kokatat Rogue dry top. Unbeatable quality. Love it!

hey guys thanks for the advice. i have a rarther low budget and was woundering if i should save for longer and get a more expensive suit

Save! You will be happier in the end!

Good Luck

t

hi again. this is probably going to sound stupid but lets say iv been looking on ebay and foundsome cheap second hand dry suits. should this be well avoided or would they be ok for a first duit?

AVOID

usually those ebay suits are a rip-off waiting to happen

Dorbin wrote:

hi again. this is probably going to sound stupid but lets say iv been looking on ebay and foundsome cheap second hand dry suits. should this be well avoided or would they be ok for a first duit?

Ask yourself, why are you wearing a dry suit? To keep warm? Why do you want to keep warm? To enjoy your paddling and to stay alive in an environment where if your body temperature drops enough, you could 'develop' something called hypothermia and you could die...

Buy the best you can afford. I personally think that a second hand suit is not the way to go.. My

Two paddlers I know bought a pair of 2nd hand suit in thinkin they needed just a new seal. However both suits needed all seals replaced approx £60-£100 plus postage, also the seem tape had peeled away all over plus the majority of the material had delaminated. Check before but BEWARE!

I would recommend brand new as you will have a garrantee from the manufacturer if anything does go wrong. Also I would save up as much as you can as the suits will be more breathable, harder wearing etc. The Palm Sidewinder Torrent is very nice and I think its great value for money.

Another thing, no matter what trouser cag combo you have you will always get a damp patch/ wet through from the waist area, then the water pools around the ankle seals and makes your life much harder if you are swimming.