My New Drysuit Is In

New drysuit on the Hunt River

I was getting dressed for a Tville run a couple of weeks ago and I ripped a hole in the latex bootie of my drysuit. To be honest, I’ve put on a few pounds and added a few inches around the waist over the past couple of years, so my old drysuit was getting tight anyway. I took this as an opportunity to buy a drysuit that is the next size up - more baggy than tight.

In the past I have always bought the NRS Extreme, but they only had the fire department rescue version in my size, so I decided to spend a couple of extra bucks and go for the Kokatat Legacy instead. Everyone always raves about Kokatat quality, so we’ll see. I forgot how tight the gaskets are when they are new. I can deal with it around my neck, but I had a hard time getting off over my head, so I decided to trim it.

I used a razor blade on a 4" can of ice tea. I found the more I stretched the gasket the harder it was to see the rings. Maybe just my bad eyes, but the 4" can worked fine - just tight enough that it stayed in place. I took one ring off to start - it was still really tight, rolled over on top of itself, and I still had a hard time getting back over my head. So I took off a second ring an it seemed just about right - tight enough to allow for some stretching with use but it lies flat and I can get it back over my head without too much of a struggle. 

Its funny that NRS seems to be the only manufacturer/retailer that says not to trim. I’ve always had NRS drysuits and I never had to trim them. Don’t remember them being particularly tight when they were new. This Kokatat had to be trimmed - I couldn’t have worn it the way it was. To quote Spirtboat on P-net - trim fearlessly! I have since fixed the bootie in my NRS Extreme, so I now have a sprare.