Let's Talk wetsuits and drysuits

[scklandl]

A breathable dry suit is an oxymoron. In order to "breath" the differential between internal and external moisture has to be dramatic, given that . it only works in sunny and relatively warm conditions and for riders who miraculously stay dry.

If Im wrong Evan, post the specs on that "miracle" breathable material, give us the differential for internal vs external moisture levels in order for it start working and optimal working gradients.

thats aside Im glad to see your suit is still an OK price

heres what I really want though: stretachable bag suits (and not 4mm like ions)

[RideLow]

breathable drysuits is just a hype..

If its dry.. its not breathing..
That goes for winterclothes aswell.. breathable is not 100% waterproof..

[bluerocketboy]

the guy above knows nothing about high performance fabrics that are WATERPROOF and breathable. check this info on goretex out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gore-Tex
i know it works because i've put my hand in water so its wet, then into some goretex membrane and imersed this in water. then after about 1 min i've taken my hand out and its perfectly dry, so not only was the fabric 100% waterproof but it also Breaths when underwater.

think u need to brush up on your physics son

[ladomi]

kitkat - Unfortunately years ago, I went cheap and I have experienced the problem with my breathable drysuit (not Goretex) in that moisture seems to condense inside. However, when doing my research in windsurf forums, I read many posts about the incredible performance of Goretex Kokatats, but there many posts that allude to Evan's concerns about the relative short length of that performance (in one case under 2 seasons and this was a gorge sailor who was not in saltwater). Maybe there have been improvements since then.

Uride2 - How long have you been using your Kokatat and have you noticed any decrease in the breathablity? I also agree that integrated socks would be great. Not dealing with ankle seals and having dry feet would be worth the extra cost for me.

Evan - Have you considered integrated socks? Maybe as an option at extra cost? This would put your predator surf at the top of my list but I also have one concern. The new dry core material has 3 years of testing but I'm not sure how it can breathe if it has .5mm of neoprene over it? Also this sentence from website puzzled me "With Dry Core just shake the dry suit a few times and put on a set of fresh fleece." Why do you need to shake it if it's dry? I do have to however say that all your products make me drool (especially the Mako King!). I guess there's no risk in pulling the trigger with your money back guarantee.

[JoshNoe]

Wow, this long of a thread, and it hasn't really been mentioned - can't pee in a drysuit. Well you can, but it'd be pretty nasty.

And don't pretend like that's not important.

The NPX Lucifer has a crotch zipper, so at least once you're on the beach you can take a leak without taking off your whole suit.

A lot of talk about breathable drysuit materials here also. Since the Lucifer is such a different drysuit with different features, it's often overlooked that the material used is very breathable and soft. A lot of people tell me they're suprised how the Lucifer doesn't feel "plasticy". It's not shown on the NPX website, so here's what the Lucifer is made of for any tech-heads:

Three layers:
Outer: Polyester Twill
Middle: PU (Polyurethane) Membrane
Inner: Nylon Tricot