C-Forum

Good Morning,

I posted up a few months back looking for input on bringing a new type of dry suit to the market. The response was overwhelming. I have been pursuing the idea and the dry suit is progressing from idea to reality. As always, I am still interested in hearing peoples ideas on the project, whether positive or negative.

A update on the project can be found at Swim Left.

Thanks again for your support.

Sincerely,

Eric Harvey
swimleft@gmail.com
President | Swim Left Products

Odd question in the survey about how often we buy a drysuit. I skipped it because there was no choice for "every 5 years." Many of us expect to get about 7 to 10 years out of one. The longest choice in the survey was every 2 years!

Love the snap-in neck gasket idea. Not so much the neoprene booties. I would not purchase a dry suit that did not keep my feet dry.

Neoprene Booties would keep your feet dry if they are made right.... That is what I have on my fishing waders, and my feet are dry even after 6+hours of fishing...

As for the questions, indeed some of them where a bit, well a little to specific. I agree that not every body change dry suits every two years...

But excited to see a new product that wants to be perfect and made in North America!!

Cheers
David

VTBoater wrote:Love the snap-in neck gasket idea. Not so much the neoprene booties. I would not purchase a dry suit that did not keep my feet dry.

Neoprene booties would be perfectly dry... Cheaper drysuits for diving are made from it.

So, I botched that question. I have no idea what I was thinking when limiting the answer to 2 years. What I actually care about is whether people would pay for a difference between a 5 and 10 year life expectancy on the suits.

But hey, it is my first attempt at a survey, so live and learn I figure.

As far as neoprene, it would offer some serious advantages in terms of durability over latex or Gore-tex booties. I think the tradeoff will be how the bootie fits in one's paddling shoes. Testing will tell.

One problem with neoprene is its propensity for bacteria growth. I launder and treat my neoprene gear much differently and more frequently than my drysuit. Neoprene gets either the sun treatment to kill the smell or Sink the Stink. My drysuit I wash perhaps after 15 to 20 outings.

As for paying more for 5 more years, I would think that's a hard one to guarantee or prove. Sun and wear and tear have their effect on any fabric. One drysuit I had worn out on the shoulder where I always carry my boat. I was lucky on that one though. The rest of the suit was leaking because of failure of the Gore-Tex layer and the manufacturer replaced the suit--even though I had only sent it in for repair, not warranty.

I have a suggestion.

A lot of diving dry suits come with built in rigid boots. This allows for good air circulation and warmth. This could be great for cold water OC1 paddling. I know of at least one person that had these added to his Kokatat suit in place of the socks. This would be much warmer than the layers of socks crammed into an oversized shoe or booty. I'm sure we have all noticed that winter boots with some air space are MUCH warmer than tight winter boots... Same concept.

Much of my paddling season is pretty much winter paddling. A couple times this year I couldn't get my gear off until I got in the shower at home because it was so frozen. Paddling an open boat my feet are usually in contact with water the entire time that I am paddling. If I feel my feet longer than the first hour, it is a good day.

I think that an option for integrated rigid(ish) boots with space for air circulation, big socks etc would be awesome. I have never tried something like this before though so I really don't know if it is that much better?

This however probably wouldn't work for C1 paddlers... Most paddlers I know don't want any kind of rigid footwear crammed in the boat cockpit. Maybe there could be an option for interchangeable footwear. Not sure what having some kind of seam would do for comfort though...

Just something to think about.

Dave

My new set up this year is as follow, Smart Wool line socks inside dry suit, drysuit(goretex socks/booties) Neoprene socks on top and 5 Ten Water Tennie size 14 US( I'm a size 13 normally) and it works great, really warm feet and the water up here is really cold even in the warmest part of summer!!

So as long as the neoprene bootie on the dry suit isn't crazy thick, I think it would work great!!

No built in booties for me please. Depending on boat type (Squirt boat on one end, raft on the other) as well as terrain (creeking in canyons to play paddling in developed areas), I wear vastly different footwear, anything from a thin lightweight bootie to something like a 5-10 boot. My experience is also that while a good drysuit lasts me about 3 years of heavy professional use, I seem to go through at least 1-2 pairs of booties or boots a year.
What I would appreciate however was if someone made drysuit socks out of a heavier duty material. Goretex and other breathable materials don't really work well there anyway when stuffed into a boot or shoe, and with sand and all the pressure and movement they wear through very quickly. My suggestion would be to use a really sturdy fabric with a good non breathable coating, they seem to be more wear resistant than breathable fabrics and more puncture resistant than latex socks.

TGG!

With the technology of this drysuit, why not have the same snap gasket down at the bottom of the legs where you could have different boot options or even an ankle gasket that snaps in place. If you are worried about it pulling apart at an inopportune time, how about having a heavy velcro flap that covers the gasket to prevent it from pulling apart under tension?

First off, it is good to hear from canoeists (is that even what you guys refer to yourselves as?). Even though our needs are similar, there are likely to be some differences.

As far as the booties, I totally agree with what everyone has said. A few points:

- The durability is not there with current booties, I am going to find a way to do something about this. The manufacturer I am hoping to work with has a few options. In the next few weeks I will probably do a blog post specifically covering sock options. There will be tradeoffs between thickness, durability, insulation and cost.

- The snap in gasket technology is expensive. I could do it at every gasket, but it would cost way too much.

-Eric