Is a Drysuit Always Better Than a Wetsuit For Cold Water Kayaking?

When kayaking in cold water, the thermal gear that you wear can mean the difference between life and death or at the very least the difference between another fun winter day on the water vs a quick ride to the hospital, for even when at 40 to 50 F, an unprepared person can lose consciousness in as little as 30 minutes and can die in as quickly as an hour (Downing, n.d., section "How Long Have I Got?" para. 2 & 3).

For most kayakers who brave the winter water there is no debate between drysuits and wetsuits. They will immediately go to a drysuit for protection, even giving the considerable cost increase to a comparable wetsuit, for not only will the drysuit itself likely cost substantially more than a wetsuit but one also has to buy the appropriate undergarments to keep warm when in cold water. 

But is the decision to always go with a drysuit the right choice? Are there any conditions when a wetsuit is better?

Firstly, let’s get one thing out of the way. A properly functioning drysuit is more capable of sustaining survivability in frigid water than a wetsuit. The reason for this is due to the different methods that the two pieces of gear use to keep the wearer warm. 

“Wetsuits support thermoregulation by creating two layers of insulation: a layer of neoprene, and a layer of trapped water between the skin and the suit, which is then heated by the body” (Wiles et al., 2022, p.1, sec "Introduction" para. 1). This method works well enough but since water causes heat loss at a much faster rate than air (Vrijdag et al., 2013, sec. "Background" para.2), the ability of a wetsuit to keep the user warm for extended periods of time is more limited than a drysuit which works by, you guessed it, keeping the water off the wearer altogether. 

“When Navy SEALs carry out dives in Arctic waters, or when rescue teams are diving under ice-covered rivers or ponds, the survival time even in the best wetsuits is very limited — as little as tens of minutes, and the experience can be extremely painful at best… The only viable cold-water alternatives to wetsuits are dry suits" (Chandler, 2018, para.1).

So Navy Seals may use drysuits when in extremely cold conditions, but does this mean that the Gore-Tex drysuits typically worn by kayakers will offer the same level of protection? 

In a study published by Vrijdag et al, “"Seven male Special Forces divers made (in total) 19 dives… with water at 13°C at a depth of 3 m for… [1 hour], [but they were wearing a] rubber dry suit” (Vrijdag et al., 2013, sec. "Methods" para.1). And those rubber drysuits have gasses pumped into them via a gas tank that the diver brings with them. The gasses are intended to (a) keep the undergarments of the suits from being compressed when in deep water, which would cause them to lose their thermal insulation properties and (b) to provide an additional layer of insulation that keeps the diver warmer. 

Though drysuits for divers use inflation gasses it is typically just air (Vrijdag et al., 2013, sec. "Abstract - Background" para.1), and when a kayaker puts on a drysuit guess what gets trapped in it, air! And sometimes it’s a lot of air.

It is unclear how much of a difference having air pumped into the suit via a tank makes for its ability to insulate vs just naturally trapping air in the suit when you put it on, however it is safe to assume that, for a kayaker, it is not going to make much of a difference since we are not doing any deep dives. We are simply aiming to be protected from being splashed by water and potentially being underwater for a few moments and for only a few feet if the kayak flips over, so when it comes to the differences between a diver’s drysuit’s ability to insulate vs that of a kayaker’s the only likely real difference is the material that the suit is made out of. Though this difference is probably negligible as well, since the suit is keeping the wearer dry either way and it is the undergarments that do the real work of keeping diver or the kayaker warm, so it is safe to assume that a kayaker with a drysuit could do as well as the special forces divers in the above mentioned study when all else is equal, considering stamina of the individual and similar headgear and gloves, ect. 

This is all a very long way of saying that, yes, a drysuit will absolutely keep a kayaker warmer for a longer period of time than a wetsuit. If it’s working properly that is!

If your drysuit is punctured, or the zipper fails, or a gasket tears, then the suit can lose all of its insulating abilities and this can become a life threatening situation (Chandler, 2018, para.13). 

That being said, if you properly maintain the drysuit, inspect it before use, and don’t treat it too roughly when you're on the water then everything should be fine. Gore-Tex is a tough material afterall, but it is not as tough as Neoprene. Neoprene is a durable “ petroleum-based,

synthetic, vulcanized rubber with high tensile strength” (Wiles et al., 2022, p.1, sec "Introduction" para. 1), that wetsuits tend to be made out of. In fact, because of Neoprene’s durability, even in warm water, since “wetsuits offer protection against jellyfish stings and rocky reefs, many swimmers [still] choose to wear them” (Wetsuit, n.d., para. 6). 

So if you're planning on doing some winter kayaking in a rock garden or if you're going out for a day of kayak surfing, then you may want to consider wearing a wetsuit instead of a drysuit. Even if you do not flip over, in these areas you could still get pushed up against a rock by a wave and scrape yourself up against some barnacles. It would be much better to do that while wearing a wetsuit than a drysuit. So when kayaking in an area where durability matters, the wetsuit wins.

There is one more area where wetsuits typically outshine drysuits, mobility! “wetsuits typically allow much more diver flexibility” (Chandler, 2018, para.18). Since even if you are not pumping air into your drysuit with a tank, drysuits will get air trapped in them just from putting them on, so swimming while wearing one can be a bit awkward. Air pockets will form while your swimming which makes it feel different than it normally does. You can try to remove the air after putting the suit on by burping the air out of the neck gaskets but you’ll never get all of it. 

So rougher conditions and the ability to swim better are a couple reasons why surfers choose to wear wetsuits and why a kayaker should to.

But swimming is typically not an issue for kayakers though, albeit unlikely to happen, if you capsized and lost the kayak to the current for instance, then it would be a bit more difficult to swim back to shore when wearing a drysuit.

And even though wetsuits are more comfortable to swim in, drysuits are more comfortable to wear when sitting in the kayak or when standing on shore. When not directly in the water, wearing a drysuit doesn’t feel a whole lot different than wearing normal clothes other than the fact that the neck gasket makes the suit feel like the tightest turtleneck sweater that you’ve ever worn. So if you do not plan on going for a swim then drysuits win the comfort battel. 

One more thing is worth mentioning. In the opening of this blog we mentioned the considerable cost difference between drysuits and wetsuits. Drysuits cost more money, but it’s not quite as simple as that. With drysuits one suit when paired with the proper undergarments will offer the proper level of insulation for all conditions. If it is a warm day then you can wear the drysuit without any undergarments for instance, or if it is extremely cold then you can layer up with many. So one drysuit can work from spring time all the way through the dead of winter, whereas with a wetsuit you will need to buy several suits to give the proper level of protection for all conditions. A 5 mm wetsuit may offer great protection for the winter water but would likely be too hot to wear in spring time so you may have to buy a 3 mm suit for spring conditions. Since when wearing wetsuits you will likely have to buy at least 2 suits to span the water temperature range of your area it is possible that wetsuits, in the end, can cost more than a single drysuit. 

Well there you have it. In summary, drysuits offer better protection from the cold water, are more comfortable to wear when not directly in the water and allow the user to pick the proper level of insulation to match the current conditions. Wetsuits are more comfortable to swim in, and offer better protection when paddling in rough conditions such as when surfing or kayaking near rocks. 

More often than not the drysuit will be the better choice for a kayaker, but as we’ve seen it is not always the case.

When looking into purchasing wetsuits there are many brands to choose from. My 5 mm wetsuit is made by O’neill. O’neill has been making wetsuits since the 1950’s and is a very well known and respected brand. It’s tough to go wrong when choosing an O’neill wetsuit. 

O’neill Hyperfreak Hooded Fullsuit

This wetsuit is the sort that I wear for cold water in New England. Be sure that it is the proper suit for the water temperatures in your area before purchasing.

As for drysuits, few brands are more well respected than Kokatat. Kokatat not only manufactures outstanding drysuits but their customer service is in a league of its own. They will often bend over backwards for customers in ways that other companies would never consider. 

Kokatat Men's Odyssey Gore-TEX Pro Dry Suit

This is the top of the line drysuit from Kokatat. it offers a hood which give great protection from the wind and dry socks which keep your feet dry

References 

Chandler, D. (2018, June 19). “Artificial blubber” protects divers in frigid water [Review of “Artificial blubber” protects divers in frigid water]. MIT News ; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) . https://news.mit.edu/2018/artificial-blubber-protects-divers-frigid-water-0619

Downing, J. (n.d.). Hypothermia: Understanding and Prevention [Review of Hypothermia: Understanding and Prevention]. University of Minnesota Duluth; University of Minnesota Duluth. Retrieved February 17, 2024, from https://seagrant.umn.edu/programs/recreation-and-water-safety-program/hypothermia

Wetsuit, (n.d.). [Review of Wetsuit]. National Geographic; National Geographic . Retrieved February 17, 2024, from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/wetsuit/

Wiles, T., Simmons, M., Gomez, D., Schubert, M., Newcomer, S., & Nessler, J. (2022, March 1). Foamed neoprene versus thermoplastic elastomer as a wetsuit material: a comparison of skin temperature, biomechanical, and physiological variables [Review of Foamed neoprene versus thermoplastic elastomer as a wetsuit material: a comparison of skin temperature, biomechanical, and physiological variables]. California State University San Marcos; California State University San Marcos. California State University San Marcos

Vrijdag, X., Jan AM van Ooij, P., & van Hulst, R. (2013, June 3). Argon used as dry suit insulation gas for cold-water diving [Review of Argon used as dry suit insulation gas for cold-water diving]. National Library of Medicine; Extrem Physiol Med. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710141/