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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

bred2shred wrote:
putting on my wetsuit is the last thing I do before hitting the water and the taking it off is the first thing I do when the sesh is over. I hate being in a damp wetsuit for any longer than necessary and they tend to get very chilly when they're wet and you're standing around or de-rigging.

Once I put my wetsuit, harness, and rib armor on, they seldom come off until I'm certain there will be no more wind and daylight or I have reason to believe the wind has shut down for a few hours. It wastes too much sailing time, and it's tough to generate the will power to put all that clammy $#!+ on again once it's off. To stay warm and ready to sail on short notice when on shore, I slip on a big, hooded, windproof, mid-calf-length, fleece-lined coat over everything. If necessary I'll slip my feet into a pair of Bogs boots that reach the coat. If I'm sailing in booties, I'll step into a pair of giant-sized unventilated Crocs I bought just for that purpose (and to protect the booties from shore-side wear). If the wind quits long enough for a warm nap on a cold sunny day, I'll find a place to lie down in the sun and out of the wind and let the black neoprene do its stuff.

Or one could just wear Kokatat Gore-tex suits; they keep you warm and dry on shore.
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amarie



Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 233
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 4:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On the coldest days (which for me are air temps in the 30s) I'm a wetsuit-on person. It's about a 45-minute drive from my winter launch to my home, and I'm quite comfortable driving home in the suit. Other "pull out the big guns" techniques I have are to bring a small cooler filled with warm water to dip my hands in to loosen them up to derig, and before rigging/derigging i also wear warm, dry shoes, socks, hat, scarf, and gloves. While rigging and derigging I wear my ski shell jacket over my wetsuit. Even though the suit is slickskin, the jacket keeps things a little warmer in the windchill. If I must change out of my wetsuit on a cold day at the beach, I bring a gallon of hot water packed before I left home, I keep it packed in towels in the car to retain the heat, and I pour a little down my suit first and then just hurry and take it off in the lee of my car as quickly as possible. I use the rest of the warm water to rinse sand off my hands and feet before putting on socks and gloves. It's all worth it! Winter is my favorite wave conditions.
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boardsurfr



Joined: 23 Aug 2001
Posts: 1266

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
To stay warm and ready to sail on short notice when on shore, I slip on a big, hooded, windproof, mid-calf-length, fleece-lined coat over everything. If necessary I'll slip my feet into a pair of Bogs boots that reach the coat. If I'm sailing in booties, I'll step into a pair of giant-sized unventilated Crocs I bought just for that purpose

This really calls for pictures!
isobars wrote:
Or one could just wear Kokatat Gore-tex suits; they keep you warm and dry on shore.

Just don't buy one because you heard great things about how they handle warranty claims. That seems to be a thing of the past. Now, the warranty is limited to the "useful life" of a suit, and if it leaks, it's past it's useful life. So no warranty replacement, nor will they repair it even if you're willing to pay for the repair. A friend just had that rather unpleasant experience. There's lots of similar reports on the internet. Very different from just a few years ago.
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boardsurfr



Joined: 23 Aug 2001
Posts: 1266

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 5:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

amarie wrote:
On the coldest days (which for me are air temps in the 30s) I'm a wetsuit-on person.

How often do you see air temps in the 30s in Texas? We rarely saw anyone else on the water at BIB when temps were near 50 during the last 2 years, and there were not many days that were this cold. But we were not there in December or the beginning of January - does it get warmer already in mid-January?
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amarie



Joined: 25 Aug 2003
Posts: 233
Location: Corpus Christi, TX

PostPosted: Thu Dec 08, 2016 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

boardsurfr wrote:
amarie wrote:
On the coldest days (which for me are air temps in the 30s) I'm a wetsuit-on person.

How often do you see air temps in the 30s in Texas? We rarely saw anyone else on the water at BIB when temps were near 50 during the last 2 years, and there were not many days that were this cold. But we were not there in December or the beginning of January - does it get warmer already in mid-January?


Not all that often, because our cold is driven by fronts, so the coldest weather here lasts only a few days max, or sometimes a few hours minimum. Of course those few hours are the absolute prime ones for windsurfing, because the fronts usually blow through all night and we catch the best wind at dawn and the few hours after that. These are the only times of year we get side-off wave conditions, the cleanest waves of the year, and we sail at Port Aransas. It depends on the year, but we get 30s air and 40s-50s water maybe a few times a year, and more often 40s or even 50s air temp. (And on the south days in between fronts, sometimes 60s and even 70s air.) Ive even sailed here in snow type pellets a couple times! Because Bird caters more to vacationers and skill development, people here for those purposes don't tend to find it worthwhile to sail in the very coldest weather because they can just wait it out a bit, so it's pretty empty there. They can wait til later in the day or the next day and have a much warmer session. Smile
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Alena



Joined: 04 Jul 2000
Posts: 43

PostPosted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 8:31 pm    Post subject: "Guarrantied to keep you dry" Reply with quote

I use a Kokatat dry suit and lots of layers as the idea of changing clothes on the beach gives me serious shivers.
Kokatat service has been excellent and have periodically repaired it for minimum expense. As the thing got older these repairs stopped working and it is not waterproof anymore.
It came with the Gore Tex Warranty to keep you dry, so I contacted them and it turns out that the Warranty ends when "the useful life" of the item ends. The useful life in their minds ends when it starts leaking and this is not a joke.
I did not expect them to do anything as the suit is old just wanted to see what happens.
It is like a car warranty that ends when the car breaks.
Bellow is a copy of an e mail from them
Alena



What does the GORE-TEX® GUARANTEED TO KEEP YOU DRY® Promise mean?



Just that: No liquid from the outside will get to you on the inside. Water from a driving rain you're caught in, a damp bench that you happen to sit on, or wet grass that you kneel in can't penetrate GORE-TEX® fabric. To be totally waterproof, a fabric must be able to withstand water entry for it’s intended use. If your GORE-TEX® product remains cared for, subject to reasonable wear and tear worn for its intended end use, then you can expect it to remain waterproof, windproof and breathable for its useful life.




Is it a lifetime guarantee?



No: It applies to waterproofness, windproofness and breathability for the useful life of the product.




What does useful life of the product mean?

It depends on you and the choices you make. While the membrane will not deteriorate over time it can be damaged during the intended activity for your product. Likewise other materials utilized in the construction do wear out with continued use over time. Lack of care can often be the cause of a product no longer having useful life, so it’s important to routinely clean your item and always follow the care instructions. Use your best judgment, if the garment, footwear or gloves has: worn soles, rips, tears, punctures, abrasions, it may be time to buy a new one. If it looks worn out then it likely is.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They replaced my Kokatat when their factory leak testing indicated the membrane had worn out beneath the harness. That was many years ago, however; I'm guessing they finally realized that harness pressures overstress the membrane. I wear my replacement suit only when my neoprene drysuit isn't warm enough, so it's still about like new.
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jfeehan



Joined: 27 Jul 1998
Posts: 156

PostPosted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kokatat is just now replacing my suit for the second time
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Alena



Joined: 04 Jul 2000
Posts: 43

PostPosted: Tue Dec 13, 2016 11:59 am    Post subject: Kokatat Reply with quote

How old was it at replacement and what happened to it?
Thanks Alena
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