Currently I'm in the process of buying a drysuit. My budget is 450 euros. So far i've looked at the Kokatat Tropos Meridian suit which is 450 euro, the Lomo Renegade suit which is 310 euro, and the Palm Element (female version of pslm torrent) which i might try to get for 450.

What do people think of these suits? And do you have any other recommendations for a suit in my price range?

A swift reply would be appreciated as i'm hoping to buy while all the Ney Years sales are still on.

Thanks
Sarah

i have a typhoon multisport wich i got for 275 gbp frome wetsuitoutlet.com or something like that great price great quality great customer service i honestly cant think of anyway it could be improved on the zip is easy to get clogged with dirt though so be carefull. i have no experience with any of the ones u talk of but ive heard that lomos buld quality is fairly pants

I have always had good customer service with NRS and IR. They have some NRS suits on i-canoe for your price range, but they are unisex. The Mission would be the most comparable to a Gore-Tex suit, but the others are still good options. Try to see if you can try on the drysuit over something that you would wear if you were just walking around on that day, and keep it on for 20 min. or so. If you are sweating, it isn't breathable enough. All of my gear is not way too breathable (around 8K or 6K) but I haven't had problems with overheating, even with a really warm neo shirt under it (IR Comp) on a 60 degree day and rain.

Unless you plan to paddle in weather below 45 air temp and 35 water, you should be fine with the drytop/drypants combo. That's what I am using, and I barely had any water in it after a minute long swim. There was more water in the sleeve than the pants, which was surprising, but I have neo socks over the neo ankle gaskets on the drypants, which creates a pretty good seal to keep water out. The temps that day were around 50 air and under 40 water, and I just had a semi-drytop (not a latex neck), neo shirt, neo lined boardshorts, semi-drypants (all neo gaskets), NRS Hydroskin socks, NRS Mystery gloves, and some mesh watershoes and didn't really get cold. I also got an IR Union Suit for Christmas, and wore it to a football game with just shorts and rainpants for my legs and an Under Armour Coldgear shirt, t-shirt, softshell jacket, and rainjacket, and never got cold.

Well i definetly want a full drysuit due to people finding water is coming in.

My reason for getting a drysuit is because Ireland has just had its coldest winter that i can remember and the water has been at 0.5 degrees celcius over the christmas holidays!

I looked at the inversion suit on i-canoe but didn't like the fact that it doesn't have a spraydeck tunnel.

The kokatat tropos meridian suit has been said to be the most breathable non gortex suit on the market and has alot of good reviews.

I've heard a lot of people saying that they don't like the Tropos on some of the southeast US forums. Our water has probably been colder; some of our rivers are literally frozen solid where there are river-wide ice pieces that make huge undercuts.

Water will almost always get in any dry gear, but if you have the right layers underneath you will be fine 99% of the time (only if you are being V-lowered to get a boat unpinned would you possibly get cold).

I dont own a drysuit but i im just going to agree with jack.

Wetsuit outlet are great. ive had nothing but good service from them. A couple of club members have bought drysuits from them(dont know which ones, sorry) and they say the same. good service and nice people

Good luck with the search

Matt

I agree with everyone on the wetsuit outlet front. i have ordered stuff there before and its been great but as some of you may have heard the recession is pretty bad in ireland at this stage and i would prefer to support my local paddling shops as they do alot for our paddling community and are always willing ti help.

Cjcc : Have you heard any reasons why people did not like the tropos or do you have a link to the forums you are talking about so i can have a look myself please?

My main question still remains comments on the suits mentioned beforehand and anything on the breathability.

The heat factor doesn't really bother me. I can alternate layers etc i just mainly concerned that i wont get damp and sweaty.

thanks for all the comments so far though,
Sarah

I do not own a dry suit, but will add my 1 US$ cent anyway

I've got a Kokatat Rogue dry top and am ultra happy with it. Best top I've owned. I've not experienced their T3 material so cannot comment.

I assume the Gore-Tex Meridian is a lot more expensive...? The Rogue is Gore-Tex and it's the bomb. Dry and breathable Ahhhhh... Good luck, and stay warm.

if uv got the money id get gor tex or similar but an important thing to remember is no material even gortex is breathable when wet. o yer and although i have nothing bad to say about wetsuit outlet i meant that typhoon have excellent customer service my drysuit came witha 3 year watertight ( and they mean watertight that thing is dry as a bone) guarantee wich for 275 is pretty good

Can anyone say defibetky out of these three which one I should get? They are all the same price just don't know which is best. My options are: typhoon multisport, kokatat tropos meridian or nrs inversion. The kokatat will not be in stock for two weeks, the inversion will be in stock next week and the typhoon is in stock. I've heard the most good things about kokatat but none bad about tfe others either. I know advice had been given already buy when spending so much on one buy of gear it needs to be a good investment. Thanks for the replies so far.

Ok it's not on your list but the Stohlquist suit is really good. I've used mine for almost 2 seasons now and it works really well. Good form and materiall. Otherwise I know the NRS to be at least as good as the Kokatat, though some 'must have' the last one... Roughly with 'normal' use they're almost the same from what I see around me up here...

have fun!

go for the warantee wich one has the longest i know the multisport has a 3 year watertight guarantee

Any idea what the warranty on the nrs is? I can't seem to find it any where . I've narrowed the search down to the nrs inversion and the kokatat tropos meridian due to the fact that they both have models designed specifically for woman which always makes life easier!

It's a lifetime warranty against defects. However, if you tell them what the problem with it is, and they believe it is an acceptable reason, they will back it up. They have some of the best customer service that I have seen, right with IR (you get to actually talk to their "CEO" if you want and he is also a paddler) and Cascade Designs (I bought a used tent with a bad rainfly, and they sent me a new free rain fly after I returned it, and it was the newer model). If you have any questions on NRS products, email them. They will usually reply within 30 minutes or so.

Hello, I just wanted to tell you that i have The Palm Element suits for sale at a really good price. I can sell you the suit and ship it to the U.K. cheaper than 400 Euros. You can check out the suits at my Ebay store, my user name is Riverjets and the store name is Wiegel On the Water.

[mail address protected from spambots with javascript]

By the way, Palm has a lifetime warrantee to the original purchaser against defects, workmanship issues and watertightness.

Ryan Wiegel
www.wiegelonthewater.com