Drysuits

Well, a year down the line from purchase my £500 drysuit (albeit £200 in the sale) has started to give up the ghost in a big way.  I won't name and shame as the manufacturer has been very good and agreed to give me a full refund, it's much appreciated, thank you.

But what are people's thoughts on drysuits?  It seems that people only ever get a few months on them before they start to expire around the seams...trapeze harnesses seem to make things worse and replacing seals can be costly and time consuming.  Has anyone got one that genuinly does not leak at all after a year or two's use?

I'm starting to think about either going down the steamer route or the Magic Marine thermo dry route.  These have been out for a few years now, does anyone have any thoughts on these?  Are they lasting?  Do the seals leak much or not?  Are they warm enough and do your feet get cold?

I know some people sail in conventional wetsuits all year, sorry, tried that, just not for me...I want to stay warm and dry!

 

Go for a surfing steamer, they are made for bobbing about in the water just like cherubing.

A drysuit is just not damage tollerent for me, one small hole and you are freezing

I bought my Typhoon drysuit back in January 1999, and only replaced it last November!
During its time, I got though two neck seals, three feet and two wrist seals. Although I obviously got wet when the seals broke, the first time it really let me down through leaking seams was just before I replaced it after a particularly cold windy Sunday.
I never really had the slowly increasing dampness which some people seem to get from drysuits. I think a lot of drysuits starting to leak (a small leak, not like what it sounds has happened to Ian C's!) is people not looking after them. Salts from sweat work their way under the taped seams, and if not rinsed out every time, these slowly degrade the adhesive on the seams and they then fall off and make the suit leak. Even during an event, I will often rinse the inside of the drysuit on a Saturday night and leave it hanging inside out to dry. It's seemed to work for me - I'll report back in 8 years time whether it's worked for my new drysuit as well!!

I have a Crewsaver which I used for about 3 years, had to replace the neck seal when I split it from top to bottom but other than that it was pretty good. Stopped using it when I poached my dad's Typhoon and that's been going for about 3 or 4 years with no seals replaced, though I've not been using it as regularly as my Crewsaver, I have to admit though I'm not a fan of wearing a drysuit in twin wire boats, just feel far too clumsy!

As a relative newcomer to dinghy sailing, I bought my first dry-suit in Autumn 2005  - it seemed a horrendously expensive purchase to me at the time, however, it's been brilliant. Whilst mine probably doesn't get the same level of abuse/use as some of yours, my Gul Infra (£189 from Nucleus Watersports) is both comfy and dry and shows little signs of wear so far. I was told that the Crewsaver, Gul and Gill suits all come out of the same far Eastern factory.....perhaps I've just been lucky, but considering the price, my Gul dry-suit has been excellent,

Nigel