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Drysuits have become an indispensable and ubiquitous part of cold water boating. Materials have come a long way since the iconic Kokatat blue and yellow suit hit the market in the late 90s and early 2000s. Cost of a drysuit has come down significantly and quality has increased drastically. If you are interested in learning more about what is out on the market we have a helpful buyer’s guide at the bottom of the page otherwise you can find more info about drysuits below.
These two garments serve two very different purposes. The drysuit is designed to keep water out completely allowing you to layer up with more conventional base layers. Wetsuits conversely use a thin membrane of warm water sandwiched between your skin and layers of neoprene to help insulate you from the cold. Neoprene is also designed to shed water and not transfer cold water through the material. Neoprene in wetsuits is designed as a base layer touching your skin rather than an impermeable outer layer. Thus, layering in these two garments is an entirely different theory.
Drysuits materials are commonly composed of multiple layers of synthetic fabrics. Common fabrics include: Polyester, Nylon.. These materials are typically made of multiple layers of fabric backed by fully taped seams to prevent leakage. These materials are also backed by highly breathable membranes to help prevent sweat buildup. But wait, what about Gore-Tex? We get a lot of questions about “Gore-Tex suits”, but it is important to understand what Gore-Tex is and is not. It is not a face fabric. Gore-Tex is a membrane added to a face fabric such as the two listed above. Each type of face fabric has unique properties that change the recommended uses and situations you would prefer one fabric over another.
This material is hydrophobic, meaning it will not generally not “wet out” on you. Wetting out is when a material’s fibers become saturated with water trapped between the individual fibers. The biggest advantage is that water will bead up and roll off the material. Since water will not get trapped in the material, it tends to stay warmer and drier.
Since fresh cold water splashing you will not soak in the suit by design will reduce the amount of convective heat loss as well as reducing the evaporative cooling effect in your outer layer. The downside to polyester is that it can be weaker than other materials. If you do a lot of bushwhacking or are otherwise hard on your suit, you will find that this material is more prone to rips, punctures, and tears than other materials.
This material is basically the king of damage resistance. Nylon is often stronger and more durable than its counterparts. If you are rough on your drysuit this material might be a go to option for your cold weather outer layer. This suit will wet out eventually, but will stay watertight due to the secondary layers backing the outer shell. This resistance comes at a cost. The material is heavier than its counterparts and people describe the feel of it as more akin to a pair of tough industrial work overalls. The other downside to the material is that it is hydrophilic meaning it has a tendency to attract water into its fibers. This can also contribute to why the suit will feel heavier, but it is not a deal breaker if you prefer the abrasion resistance.
This is the trade name for a patented material developed in 1969 by Bob Gore. The material we know today as Gore-Tex is actually expanded polytetrafluorethylene which is made rapidly stretching the material under certain conditions that remain a trade secret for the company. The first bootie was built in 1982 for water applications and began the first series of full drysuits.
This material is great in terms of breathability and waterproofness and people often hail it for its ability to prevent sweat buildup. The material is naturally hydrophobic and as a membrane it does work extremely well. It is an excellent material overall and generally worth the price, however membranes have also come a long way since the 1970s and 80s and now there are plenty of materials that rival Gore-Tex for our applications.
5,000 mm - The lowest rating to consider a fabric waterproof.
10,000 - 15,000 mm - This material will withstand most rain events, but will only withstand light pressure. A wet bag onto of the fabric will soak through eventually.
20,000 mm - Fabrics rated like this will withstand heavy downpours of high pressure rainfall. The toughest hiking outer layers often hold this rating.
25,000 to 30,000 mm - These fabrics are essentially impermeable and is why dry suits hold this rating range, however the key thing to understand is that as this number increases your suit will be able to last longer before wetting out.
5,000 - 10,000 - The fabric is rated as a little breathable and good for light outdoor activities like camping or urban applications where you won’t be sweating a lot, and will get clammy with moderate exertion. Unfortunately dry suits fit firmly into this range in an effort to seal water out as efficiently as possible.
10,000 - 15,000 - This fabric is good for moderate to high exertion like a long day of skiing or hiking in the rain.
15,000 - 20,000 - This garnet will be ideal for heavy perspiration or warm / tropical travel where sweating is guaranteed.
Drysuits on the market are generally very similar in terms of their basic task, keep you dry and warm. The question though really is what do you prefer? Again this comes back to our 51% rule, what do you boat more than 50% of the time?
If you are on brushy creeks or highly abrasive rock, nylon face fabric might be best for you so your suit hold up longer. If you do long multi days or get cold easily you may appreciate a Polyester face fabric that won’t wet out on long rainy trips and will keep water off of you.
Cut is another important factor. Men’s and women’s suits are cut very differently and manufacturers are becoming more and more sensitive to the particular needs of different boater’s anatomy. Movement, fit and relief options are very different in different suits.
General body size is also a factor here as well. Immersion Research for example builds their 7 figure and arch rival series for a thinner athletic frame, while their Devil’s Club line is designed with more room to accommodate larger body types.
It is important to keep in mind that a drysuit is an incredibly complex garment. As it is essentially a onsie, it needs to fit well over several areas of your body at once. It also has to be a high performance and highly functional piece of equipment at the same time. We reached out to our friends at Immersion Research for their advice on how a drysuit should fit:
“First and foremost, remember that dry suit fit is somewhat subjective. What some people consider to be ‘huge’ others may describe as ‘perfect’. Also be ready to return a suit (or even order 2 suits and send one back) to find the fit you love. Dry suits are expensive, and should last for many years – take the time to get the fit you want.
Dry suits often look gigantic and poorly fitting when worn standing upright. This is because we have to put a lot of extra fabric in a suit to accommodate the range of motion used while paddling.
When you first get your suit, adjust the belt to rest on your hips, then sit on the floor with your knees bent like you’re in a boat. Then tuck forward, extending your arm like you’re going to roll. Most of the extra fabric in the legs and up the back is probably gone- but there should be a little extra.
Next, while sitting upright, bring your elbows together in front of you. They should get within 3 or 4 inches of each other before there is binding. It’s ok if the suit is a little tight across your back when your elbows are touching.
Generally speaking, less room in a drysuit is better – lots of extra space inside a suit is hard to heat and can make for a ‘colder’ suit. You want a little extra room so you’re not stretching the fabric when doing every day paddling maneuvers, but you don’t want the suit to be way too loose.
Also take into consideration the amount of layering you typically wear while using your dry suit – it makes sense to test your fit with this layering on. Remember that IR can do basic tailoring on your suit- this is not that uncommon.
IR can lengthen and shorten arms and legs, as well as swap gaskets and feet sizes as well. Note that while they’d love to do this for free, this tailoring does require a small fee which is listed in on the IR repair and maintenance page.” - Immersion Research
Zipper size and placement is often another concern for paddlers. Entry zippers are typically front entry and rear entry in design with some mid-section zippers gaining popularity.
Front entry designs often start at the shoulder and end at the opposite hip. Kayakers often do not prefer these zippers since they interfere with skirt tunnel placement. For rafters these zippers are not a big deal and don’t interfere with paddling, though some body types can have trouble with it grinding into the hip.
Front Entry Over the Shoulder Drysuit
Rear Entry Drysuit
Rear entry designs are often across the back from the outer end of the shoulder to the outer end of the opposite shoulder. These designs often can offer a greater degree of mobility for paddlers since the fabric is symmetrical on both sides of your body. The downside is that they are difficult to close and open without assistance. Though having a friend check your zippers before entry into the water is a good idea.
Mid-section zipper designs have gained a bit of popularity recently since they serve double duty as both a relief zipper and a means of entry. Typically suits like this will either partially or completely separate at the waist. This is great if you just need a drytop for the day or you want to poo without removing your whole suit. The downside is that the zipper is much longer and often creates a tire around your hips of extra material and zipper since you have to make room in a non-stretching waist for people’s shoulders. Shoulder circumference being much wider than hips forces the opening to be significantly larger to accommodate entry.
Relief zippers are generally in 3 varieties the front zip, the drop seat, and the mid-section zipper.
The front zip is horizontal hip to hip zipper in the front and great for men. In the past manufacturers have not included this to make for an entry level suit, but it is not worth the hassle for often $50, guys just get the relief zipper, you will be much happier.
The drop seat is designed for female paddlers and runs from mid-thigh to mod thigh forming an upside down U shape peaking in the small of the back. Most female paddlers we have talked to hate these since they are not anatomically functional.
The final design we previously mentioned is the mid-section zipper. These excel because of ease of access. These have become popular with female paddlers as often the u shaped relief zipper and pee funnels with the front zipper can be messy.
Drysuit bootie or socks are some of the most easily damaged parts of the suit, and the first to go out on you after the gaskets. The booties come in 2 varieties Latex and fabric. Latex booties are the same thick latex as the gaskets and often wear out more quickly than fabric socks.
The benefit of latex booties is that they are easily replaced. They are also easier to slide in and out of and dry more quickly since they are an impermeable material.
Fabric booties are composed of the same, albeit generally thicker material as the rest of the suit. These socks are a pain to repair or replace since they are sewn together with the rest of the suit. In some cases they cannot be replaced and more creative approaches must be taken if you have to replace them.
In either case you should take measures to protect the socks at all costs. Low top shoes are definitely not recommended as they will allow the upper parts of the sock to be exposed in the ankle between the bottom of the suit and the top of the shoe. This is the cause for the lion’s share of penetrations to booties. High top shoes, booties, or river boots are all recommended footwear.
Gaskets on drysuits are generally found on the wrists and neck, but some suits offer a sockless variety with an ankle gasket, but we wouldn’t recommend this one, since if you are wearing a drysuit it is probably cold and your feet will spend more time in cold water than any other part of you. Gaskets are often covered in an over cuff or drysuit material or neoprene to help protect it.
Stretching gaskets is also not the best idea since it can damage the latex. Several manufacturers recommend cutting the neck gasket to fit, however it is always important to follow manufacturer recommendations on this. Cutting the gaskets to fit cannot be undone so if you do this be sure you cut precisely and cut the minimum amount possible to fit you.
The cut and check method is best, trim a little off then check the fit. If it is still tight you can always trim more. Use caution if you do this though again it is easy to cut too much and have a useless suit until you get a new gasket installed. Again follow manufacturer recommendations at all times.
Care and maintenance is a little more in depth for dry suits than it is in a lot of other river gear. Gaskets are the most likely failure points on your suit since you will be punching through them often.
Latex gaskets will degrade quickly if continuously soaked in sunscreen. Skin oils will also degrade them as will continuous stretching.
It is a good practice to clean the gaskets with mild soap after every use.
Store your drysuit when not in use in a dry airtight container away from light to prevent the gaskets from degrading.
If you have latex booties these are also common failure points in the suit. Be sure to inspect and protect these often with 303. If they begin to leak some duct tape can make a quick field repair.
Fabric booties are also a common failure point since the material is generally not designed to be constantly folded and deformed under pressure inside your shoes. These are a little more of a beast to repair as they do not separate easily from the rest of the suit like latex booties. Typically these will take a more intense patch and is worth sending to the manufacturer for repairs.
Zippers can also require a bit of maintenance as they can get stuck, can be hard to open, or even leak.
Older metal tooth zippers require lubricant to help them seal properly and help the zipper slide. If you have one of these types of zippers you can run some zipper lubricant over the clean teeth and open and close your sipper several times to properly lubricate it.
If you have a TiZip Zipper (2017 and older suits) follow these instructions: TIZIP MasterSeal 10 zippers need to be lubricated on the docking end from time to time. Please use the original TIZIP lubricant. Carefully apply over the docking end surfaces on front, back and inside where they connect to the zipper chain. Repeat before long term storage leaving the slider closed and whenever the area is dry during use.
If you have a YKK Zipper (2018 and newer suits) follow these instructions, YKK Aquaseal Zipper Maintenance. Be sure not to confuse this with Aquaseal repair adhesive or you may end up with some highly undesirable results.
Drysuits can also accumulate a lot of moisture and sweat. over time this can cause a lot of river funk to appear in your suit and create some…interesting smells. Here are some best practices when cleaning and storing dry suits:
After use in saltwater, your dry wear should be rinsed in fresh water.
After each use: hang dry wear inside out to dry, when dry, lightly brush inside of suit to remove sand and other debris. After the inside of the garment is dry turn right side out and let the outside of the suit dry and lightly brush the outside of the suit to remove sand and dirt.
After the garment is completely dry store loosely folded in an airtight bag to reduce exposure to ozone; the main contributor of latex gasket failure.
Dry suit zippers should be closed for storage.
Dry wear should be stored in a temperature and humidity controlled environment like a closet.
Do NOT hang for long term storage. Hangers can damage the neck gasket causing premature gasket failure.
Do not store dry wear wet or damp.
Wash your dry wear seasonally (or when soiled) with a cleaning product designed specifically for use with waterproof/breathable fabric such as Gear Aid ReviveX Pro Cleaner.
Pinholes are another common problem for dry suits. It can be tricky to figure out it the problem is excessive moisture from sweat, or if the suit is actually leaking. Naturally sending in the suit of inspection and repair is the best way to make sure your suit is air tight, but it often happens that the suit is watertight and the maintenance team ends up having to explain that you are wet for other reasons. Our friends at immersion research offered this advice for testing before you send it in:
One thing you can do yourself before you send a suit back to us to check for leaks is to let your suit dry completely, put it on, and then walk into a pool of water up to your shoulders while holding your hands out of the water. Nothing should get inside the suit. If it does, you will not only know beyond a doubt that it is leaking, but you’ll also most likely know exactly where. You can then send the suit back to us with any information you gathered during this test.
The best drysuit is the one that keeps you warm, fits well and doesn’t choke you on the water. The best advice is to swing by your local paddling shop and try one on. Many shops have rental programs where you can try a suit on the water for a day and see if you like it. Do this a few times to get a feel for the cut and style of each suit and manufacturer. Drysuits are not cheap so you want to make sure you have the right suit for your body type and overall comfort on the river. At the time of writing this, immersion research offers a 30 day money back guarantee, so if the suit doesn’t work for you, you can return it for a new size. Below are some of the top dry suit recommendations out there. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line and we can help point you in the right direction.
Unlike many other adventure sports you will always be wearing your outer layer and generally you should always wear your lightweight layer (to avoid chafing). The question is how many more layers should you wear? If you want to learn more about what to wear under your suit, check out our layering article.
MSRP $ 1099.00
An alpine inspired fit provides more freedom while eliminating excess fabric. Heavy duty double front pants and heavy duty seat help for added durability. One piece super sticky neoprene tunnel for improved dryness and less bulk around your mid section. Constructed with polyester face fabric made 100% from recycled water bottles. Our unique shell fabric won’t absorb water so your suit stays lighter, breathes better, dries faster, and avoids condensation to keep you feeling dry.
3-layer waterproof/breathable shell with 100% PCW recycled polyester face fabric treated with C6 DWR (durable water repellent) finish
Latex neck and wrist gaskets with neoprene over cuffs to aid in dryness and gasket preservation
One piece super sticky neoprene tunnel with adjustable webbing belt to keep your suit snuggly on your hips
Rear YKK® AquaSeal® entry zipper & Front YKK® AquaSeal® relief zipper
Size variations available to fit paddlers of all shapes and sizes (S-XXL)
Fabric Weight: 215g/m²
Waterproofness (mm h₂o): 30,000
Breathability (g/m²/24h): 4000
Weight: 1.9lbs (30.4oz)
MSRP $ 790.00
Superlight full body protection during extended exposure to cold and wet environment. Entry through waterproof TIZIP® on running across the shoulders on the back panel. Flyer for easy relief is also equipped with a TIZIP®. Double-Pull adjustment system in the waist allows even distribution of tension in a single motion.
Neck and wrist latex seals are protected with neoprene. The torso of the suit is made out of 4 layer highly breathable fabric - Airfour light for maximum comfort while the pants remain from more durable Airfour fabric. Exposed areas of elbows, knees, sitting area and the outsoles of the socks are reinforced with abrasion resistant Cordura.
Torso made of 4O2 fabric: 4 layers / extremely breathable / pliable fabric
Legs made of 4 layer Japanese fabric: breathable / extremely durable
Latex neck seal protected by neoprene collar
Double Pull system in the waist / single motion tightening
Cordura reinforced elbows and forearms
MSRP $ 1425.00
The NRS Men's Jakl Dry Suit is a beefed-up dry suit for extreme whitewater expedition kayakers. Combining GORE-TEX® Pro construction with Cordura® reinforcements throughout, the Jakl provides superior warmth and waterproofness while handling the most committed hike-ins, sketchy portages and dodgy scrambles.
Constructed with 3-Layer GORE-TEX Pro for best-in-class durable, waterproof-windproof-breathable performance.
To reduce its environmental footprint, GORE-TEX Pro uses 100% recycled nylon face fabric, lower-impact DWR, and backer material that is dope dyed to reduce water usage, pollution and energy use.
Cordura® reinforced in all key areas to handle rugged hike-ins and sketchy scouts.
Back-entry YKK® Aquaseal™ zipper enhances flexibility and reduces bulk across the chest.
Tough latex neck and wrist gaskets protected with GlideSkin™ neoprene volcano-style overcuffs.
Purposely designed to keep paddlers drier in high volume waters, the volcano-style overcuffs on the wrists cover more surface area from the wrist to the hand to reduce water contact with the gaskets underneath.
Durable, yet supple, mesh holes under the wrists and neck, drain any water captured between the latex gasket and the neoprene over cuffs.
5" wide neoprene waist overskirt with double-pull hook-and-loop closure fits over your sprayskirt tunnel for a watertight seal.
Fully reinforced ankle design features an elastic band to fit snug over booties. Silicone dots keep the ankle from riding up.
Features one splashproof zippered chest pocket, relief zipper and GORE-TEX Pro fabric socks.
MSRP $ 1359.00
The Women's Aphrodite Dry Suit is a high-performance women's specific dry suit that features an articulated fit that doesn't compromise mobility or function. The strategically placed clamshell zipper is user friendly and works as both an entry and relief zipper, while sitting conveniently out of the way of seats, back bands, etc.
The lightweight bluesign® certified polyester shell is breathable and naturally hydrophobic, meaning the fabric won't absorb water over the course of a long day on the water.
3-layer waterproof/breathable shell with 100% PCW recycled polyester face fabric treated with C6 DWR (durable water repellent) finish
Booties, seat, knees and ankle cuffs reinforced with abrasion-resistant Devil's Club 3-layer 240g/m² nylon Taslan face fabric
Clam-shell YKK® AquaSeal® entry zipper & relief opening
Latex neck and wrist gaskets are designed to be easily trimmed to size allowing a custom, personalized fit
Bandless, neoprene neck over cuff stretches easily, while offering protection for latex neck gasket
Volcano neoprene wrist cuffs protect conical latex gaskets, increase dryness and make for easy ‘banana peel’ slip off
Adjustable webbing belt secures the suit at the hip
Size variations available to fit people of most shapes and sizes (S-XL)
Waterproofness (mm h₂o): 30,000
Breathability (g/m²/24h): 4,000
Weight: 3.5 lbs (56 oz)
