Full disclosure: I am a kayaker, but I have canoed Cataract Canyon in a Discovery, does that give me standing to post here?
My name is Eric Harvey and I am involved with a startup called SwimLeft Products. We are working to bring a revolutionary two-piece drysuit to the market and want to see what other boaters think about what we are doing.
My buddies and I looked at the flaws in current drysuit designs: zippers that break or are hard to reach, replacing gaskets, and an expensive piece of gear going unused in warm weather. After looking at all the options available, we started doing some development. We now believe we have developed the pieces necessary to produce a drysuit that will render these flaws obsolete.
We launched a website that gives a quick overview of our drysuit. If you would like more information or if you would like to see our drysuit available at your local kayak store, please show your support by joining our email list. In return, the first 30 people to show their support will have a chance to purchase a SwimLeft drysuit at cost in the fall.
Look like a good idea... As long as they are as good as Kokatat in terms of dryness, and made in the USA, with as great a warranty as Kokatat, you will do great!! But if the dryness is marginal like other drysuit, made over seas, that will be a waist in my opinion.... Good luck, it does look like a great product!!
Cheers
David
P.s. please don't do all your marketing using only kayaking pictures and words... We Canoeist use dry suit to( up here all summer long!!)
I agree that canoeist's are people too. That's why I posted here! We will do our best to produce a high quality product because there is only one chance get a first impression. With the support we have seen we are going to move quickly on producing a fully featured prototype. We will then take the time to work out any bugs in our approach.
well that is a sweet idea for gasket replacement. however, unless the pieces are designed to be worn separately, what's the point. all you've eliminated is a zipper. I've never had a kokatat zipper break, they're bombproof. i would think zipper would be way easier to seal than a seam around your waist.
(admitted team kokatat open boater)
paul
The more innovation the better- Kudos. This is a long tough road in a crowded marketplace. My advice would be to ensure you broaden your horizons, (unless you've already done so) to sea kayaking, sailboarding, kiteboarding, SUP, etc. WW conoeing and kayaking is just the tippy top of the iceberg.
On a selfish level, I'd personally like to see a super cheap suit for kids and a suit which eliminates gaskets altogether. There are people in my realm that lose out on 2 seasons of paddling because they feel claustrophobic with the neck and wrist gaskets. If someone could invent a gasket that can be manually 'cinched' to a desired tightness then wow- they'd be on to something.
Hey- good luck! I'd be in the market if I hadn't just bought an NRS drysuit 3 weeks ago.
If you make an affordable KIDS drysuit that kids will wear and parents can afford you will hit a home run. Kokatat makes a kids one but not too durable. But it made a world of difference for my kids. Best money I ever spent.
Get kids hooked on a drysuit means you have a better chance of getting them hooked on paddling. Get them in your brand in the beginning and keep them happy you will have a customer for life-If they are a fanatic that could be between 4-10 drysuits in their lifetime....
Look at what Jackson kayak has done for kids kayaking.
Look at what Ford,GMC, Coke, Macdonalds, etc have done to keep their customers for a LONG time
I like the sanp-in gasket idea! I like it a lot, but it may take me a while to actually trust it, I probably wouldn't be the first guy to jump in, not until I could demo it or see enough reliable, objective reviews.
I also have not had problems with zippers, but have had with 2-piece suits, so it would take a while again to win my trust on a 2-piece idea. However, if the drysuit top is usable on it's own as a drytop - that is something I'd consider a huge selling point!
The most important thing (aside from the design features and materials working and keeping you dry) will be durability and warranty (customer service).
I'm also interested in suits for kids. Myself, I have a brand new suit waiting for its first use, so, with the little amount of easy stuff that I paddle, I expect to be good for 10 years. This is my 3rd suit, and yes, all with same brand (Stohlquist), because I feel they've treated me right.
Best of luck, Pat.
Last edited by yarnellboat on Fri Apr 26, 2013 4:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thanks for all the support. No doubt, we will have to have a great product to win people over. That is the fun of inventing and startups, trying to do something new.
As far as fabric, we are not that far alone. Right not we are just working on getting all the feature to work as we want/know they can.
A good opportunity in this might really be the gasket idea. Patent it, trademark a name, like the 'Put-in' gasket, and sell it to the other manufacturers...
"Kokatat, now available with Put-in (TM) technology for replacable neck gaskets!"
If you are interested in patenting the ideas, hopefully you have already made a patent application in at least one country. If not, your public disclosure may have limited your options.
I'd be pretty concerned about the big potential for failure between the bottom and top halves of the suit and don't really see much advantage to it. Myself I trust Kokatat zippers over Watershed-like seals, plus find the zippers easier to deal with. I do see a big advantage to the neck gasket being detachable. I have to replace neck gastkets at least once a year.
I would be apprehensive about buying a two-piece drysuit. It seems harder to put on. And the seal between top and bottom is a concern. I'm really curious how they would attach.
The advantages of a two-piece drysuit would not really apply to me. For example, I don't feel the need to own a dry top in addition to a drysuit. Getting constantly splashed in an open boat, I wear my drysuit till late in the year. Up to wetsuit season. (I know some kayakers will get by in a dry top in cool weather, hoping not to swim. I'm not sure if this is for comfort or economy).
