Drysuit?

[sspecke]

Saw this drysuit on ebay and was wondering if its worth the time or money? If the link doesnt work its a "Marine Stikine Dry Suit" item# 220686810556 for $346. Looks like a Palm drysuit to me.

Thanks for any thoughts!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Marine-Stikine-Dry- ... 3361f57dbc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[turboturtle]

I can't believe two weeks have gone by without a response. Well I don't have an answer for you either.
I have always, and will only use OS Systems.
That's my $0.02

aka Bob

[knu2xs]

Sorry, I no longer regularly monitor the board. After a lot of research, this is the drysuit I went with when my old one wore out. Looking around at the Green Race last weekend, there were a lot of these. They are very well made and thought out. I especially like the elbow reinforcement as I use this for quite a bit of creeking with the Watauga just over two hours, Wilson's about an hour and a half and the Green about the same
In the other direction.

[Jim E]

Not sure how hard the zipper would be to zip and un-zip by yourself. It is placed on the back going from shoulder to shoulder. May work great, just have never seen one placed there.

[knu2xs]

Regarding the zipper, how often do you paddle alone? The placement I much prefer over the sash design. It is completely out of the way.

[Cowper]

I've been a pretty outspoken fan of saving up and going for what I believe is the "gold standard", the Kokatot goretex line. But they've gotten sky high on prices, so this certainly catches my attention.

The degree of breathability makes a huge difference for all-day wearing comfort.

So, I propose you do two things:
1) Google it a bit, check boater talk, etc, and see what users thing about breathability, and
2) Buy one, wear it a time or two, and then "swap" suits with a similar-size buddy who has the Kokatot a time or two. Then give us your first-hand user reports.

QUESTION for knu2xs: DId you buy this suit, from this supplier, or are you saying you bought a Palm suit, believed to be the same thing?

The reason I'm asking is that reading through the "questions and answers" comments on the e-Bay website was kind of scary. The person responding said things like "Hi Jimmy, I will answer your questions, 1, orange and blue materials are the same material, the palm you said I do not know, there are many guests have said the similar problems, but I do not know PALM actually, these products have the protection of intellectual property in China . 2, our product's descriptions is not accurate , the actual material is better than the introduced one, but my English is not good, some technical terms I can not express clearly. 3, the material's specification is 75 * 160D, 4, socks must be in the cordura fabric, because it can resist from wear...."

This could be either the best-kept secret bargain-buy we've ever seen .... or, a risky purchase with no real "after the sale" service if things don't work out right or are not what they said they are. This 'ole dog is a even a little suspicious of the 100% customer satistifaction rating shown by 139 customer responses. And that included "communication", when the seller is opening admitting their English is not good... I mean, the very best businesses still run into the occassional customer where something goes wrong and they just can't make him/her happy.

[knu2xs]

I've got a Palm Stikine 2010 purchased from a shop in the Pacific Northwest doing a sideline of Internet sales.

[ARzach]

I've got the Palm Stikine from 2006 or 2007 (Can't remember exactly when I bought it). The drysuit above is not the same suit as what I wear.

The orange material (the one I had) is an older version of Palm's top of the line suit. The red is the new version (Where's FarPastGone in this discussion? He has one). Personally I have LOVED my Stikine. The XP200 Fabric has been very breathable, although I've not actually worn the Kokatat suit. I have worn Kokatat's drytops and found the Palm Drysuit to be comparable as far as breathability. I've pretty well beat the heck out of my suit and it is still going strong, although I think I ripped a hole in the bootie last weekend fly-fishing. The new version of the Stikine (maybe Matt will comment here now that he's used it for a year) looked REALLY sweet, had a couple of nice new features (shoulder straps inside to hold the top up when you're hiking), and a couple of other additions that I was lusting after. As for the zipper across the shoulders, real pain in the a$$ if you've got to poop in a hurry in the woods and your buddies are all shooting video below (won't say how I know) but as long as you've got a buddy or two close by, its usually pretty easy to get someone to zip it for you. If you did a bunch of solo paddling it would be a pain.

I'm with Cooper, the seller on that site seems sketch-ball...

[Regud]

The ebay link appears to be a Chinese knockoff of the Palm

[bmartin]

Can't say anything about this supplier or specific suit. Might ask what fabric is: Palms have an XP150 Xp200 XP250, and maybe an XP100 and the breathability goes up with the numbers. I have a XP150 that has 2-3 years worth of use without any failures.

I agree with Cowper, you would be rolling the dice with this particular seller which may be a home run bargain or money down the drain if anything goes south. Let us know if you rolled the dice and bought one.

[troutdad]

Here is some feedback I gathered from buyers from this ebay supplier. They all bought their dry suits within the last year.

Buyer from Sweden: Mar-11-11 Marine Dry Suit/Drysuits/one piece/Orange/M "No, I can not say i recommend it. It starts to leek water after a while in the seems down on the feets and round the legs when you have it in constant watercontact."

Buyer from US: Jan-11-11 Marine Dry Suit/Drysuits/one piece/Orange/All sizes "I have had no problem with this dry suit. Although I have only used it a couple of times out in the kayak it performed as expected. Sorry I cannot give you an in depth analysis but hope this will help a bit."

Buyer from US: Feb-06-11 Marine Dry Suit/Drysuits/one piece/Orange/L "This dry suit is heavy and doesn't breathe. I spent almost two months sea kayaking in cold waters (alaska, PWS). I used the suit only for long crossings, mostly because it was so darn hot that is was almost unbearable. The dry suit functions well enough, as far as a water barrier. I would not recommend long submersions in it. I took it dip-netting (standing in sea water with a net for hours at a time), and water seeped in slowly through the waist zipper (pee-hole). I would not recommend this dry suit. I am currently trying to get rid of mine so that I can buy different one. "

[okieboater]

Buying off Ebay is always a gamble.

Some times good

Some times bad

I would rather pay a bit more and get a product from some one with a enforceable return policy.

[troutdad]

More feedback I gathered from buyers from an ebay supplier that handles these dry suits.

Buyer from US: Feb-01-11 Marine Dry Suit/Drysuits/one piece/Orange/All sizes "Ordered it for a buddy of mine. He said the quality is good , But it smells like its been in storage. Lol don't know if that helps, He told me to mention the smell."

Buyer from US: Feb-15-11 Marine Dry Suit/Drysuits/one piece/Orange/S "Unfortuantely it's not good news my suit leaked quite badly and a friend of mine who bought one had an even worse problem. Discussing with other Ebayers there was a lot of this problem although they did sort the problem. I think it's unfortuantely a bunch of people who do not know how to make a decent dry suit.
Sorry for the bad news."

[troutdad]

Buyer from US: Feb-11-11 Marine Dry Suit/Drysuits/one piece/Orange: "it did what i needed and for the money i thought it was good"

Buyer from US: Apr-01-11 Marine Dry Suit/Drysuits/one piece/Orange: "I have been happy with the suit, but I've used it only a few times for early spring and late fall sailing in gusty conditions that put me into the water many times.  It has kept me warm and dry.  I heard from one other user, a whitewater kayaker I believe, who said the suit abraded easily and had developed leaks. After his feedback, I started doing like my sailing friends do, I.e., wearing a pair of denim shorts over the suit to minimize wear and tear. The suit seems equivalent to much more expensive suits. Make sure you adjust it for good comfort, for example, I am a little short for my weight, 5-9 and 185, but can get a good fit because I can hitch up the pants with the "inner waistband, the pull the top down with the "outer waistband"
Hope this helps, and sorry for the daly in responding, I've been out of email's reach recently."

Buyer from US: Dec-21-11 2011 Shakoo Dry suit, Kayak dry suits,kayak dry suit: "I am very happy with the dry suit but my right foot is leaking a bit but you can get that with any drysuit. I could of sent it back but I did'nt as i would have to sent it back to china. the company make drysuits for PALM so cant be that bad. me and my mate have both bought one, mine zips at the front and my mates zips at the back. if you are thinking of getting one go for the zip at the back there is no difference but a lot easier."

[sarnian_rog]

I bought 2 Shakoo drysuits in March 2013. The feet in both of them leak badly. The material is porous - there is no way these can be described as drysuits! The after-sales service from Shakoo is useless. Fast delivery via Ebay, but once they have your money, they suddenly stop responding to emails.