We recently received a couple of requests for a product we had never made before, and after some consideration, we thought it was actually a pretty cool idea: a drysuit with a skirt sewn right into the outer tunnel. A drydeck meets drysuit. Our own Jon Harmon modeled the suit before we sent it out. If you are interested in a product like this, let us know.
 The skirt attaches to the outer tunnel |
 The drysuit-deck |
Great idea for dry convenience, but be sure to warn people against loggy creeking in drydecks- I'd have one less kayaking buddy right now if he were wearing a drydeck when he pinned under a log on Ravens. Thanks for all you guys do!
Harjes
Same thoughts here. Was pinned vertically by my skirt on a log. Could reach the grabloop but couldn't pull it hard enough to un-pin from the log. Started getting exhausted from legs being pinned and pressed against the boat against the log. Eventually a buddy got a rope around my stern grabloop and pulled me enough enough to crawl out through the tunnel of the skirt.
The dry deck is nice but think it's more of a risk when it comes down to it. Sure there's tons of people who would dig it but after that pin I won't buy anything where I'm connected to the skirt and boat.
we recommend that you don't creek in a drydeck
If one needs different sprayskirt sizes for different boats, the drydeck (and drysuit+deck) approach can become expensive quickly. How about designing a system wherein the skirt attaches to the drytop or drysuit by some method, say, zipper or ziplock seal. Then, you would need only one drytop or drysuit, as it could be mated with skirts of various sizes. Also, being able to detach the skirt might be have a safety benefit, as touched on in previous comments. It might even be safer than a separate skirt, if it were easier to detach it than to try to slip through a separate skirt, especially a tight fitting one.
Ahh, the elusive "circular dry closure". Its an idea that we have discussed pretty much since the start of IR, as I am sure every other gear maker as well. The idea is intriguing, but every way we have looked at doing it is very expensive- even if it did work. I am assuming that everyone else who has looked at this idea has come up with the same conclusion. Part if the problem is that it would be very technically challenging to make- regardless of the cost. The other problem is that such a piece of gear would be very exclusive, and bought (mostly on pro deal) by about 50 or 60 people, and the shared cost of tooling would far exceed the cost of the drysuit itself. Maybe if we had another 5-6 million people kayaking…
And I thought I had an original idea… Roger L. just forwarded me this link when I inquired about the drysuit/deck. Good stuff. Here are my thoughts:
It would be very comfy and practical for those of us that live in cold climes, Seattle in my case. For most river runs or play boating session it would be ideal and reasonably safe.
Although it would be tempting to use it for creeking, I agree with the other comments that there is added hazard potential. Of course, a regular spray skirt when snagged is only escapable by removing it from your lower extremities. I can't imagine slipping it over ones head, especially with a dry top and pfd in the way. Therefore a regular spray skirt is just as deadly unless your head end is downstream and you can use the force of the water to pull you out of the spray skirt or you have someone in position and strong enough to pull you up and out of your spray skirt (as in Pauls scenario above).
That said, I will still opt for a regular skirt when creeking or on loggy rivers. When I get enough spare cash though, I just might get the drusuit/deck combo for the many days I just paddle class III with friends.
"circular dry closure" it has a name! I came up with a zipper system that, in theory, "snap" together and seal pretty tight. I agree with John though, when I looked at going any further with it, manufacturing something like that was way to complicated and costly…was way easier to draw!