drysuit madness

[happy happy happy]

Has anyone out there tried to sew - make a drysuit

[Roger]

Why would you want to? Nice troll!

[happy happy happy]

For the adventure,challenge,ect!

[Cowper]

I'm sure there are a number of folks who have the talent to make some of their own paddling gear; for example, I would think you could sew your own fleece for any underlayers. Some paddlers and outdoors people have started their own companies doing this.

I've seen over the years that what would be just one simple step in the building a drysuit is best left to those who have done it before: installing new latex gaskets. If you've never done it, your "first one" won't be near as good as your later ones, as you go through a learning curve. And even your later ones may not leak, but they won't be quite as neat looking as ones installed at the factory where they have special forms designed for that purpose. Finally, you won't save much money due to the cost of the gaskets; the main reason I would do this now is if on an expedition where repair was required and sending it to the factory was not an option.

Multiply that complexity about a dozen times to get all the different shapes and seams involved in a full suit. Add that strength of each seam must be full-on, you can't afford weak spots that "blow out" when you bend or take your first swim. Some will be constantly challenged, like the one that attaches the zipper.

And then there is one more challenge; I'll call it the "car parts conundrum". Take a $20,000 car. Start checking the parts prices, add up the price of all the parts needed to assemble the car yourself. It should be less than 20k, right, since you are getting the parts only and cutting out the labor cost of assembly? Not true, every body knows the individual parts costs will add up to way more than 20k. I think you would find the same thing if you tried to buy the "parts" needed to make a drysuit; gaskets, lots of goretex, neoprene and velcro for overcuffs, waterproof zippers, and maybe pre-fabricated booties. And of course, increase that if there is some waste or a part you have to start over and redo.

I agree - it would be quite a challenge, and maybe an expensive one as compared to finding a lightly-used suit or one on end-of-season sale. (You're unlikely to find "sale" prices on sub-components like zippers)

Can it be done, just for the challenge? Probably. I suggest you search Russian whitewater videos; you'll find some of those guys make a lot of their own equipment. They are ingenious, resourceful, and either very brave, very crazy, or some combination of both when it comes to what they run and what they run it in!

[okieboater]

Cowper,

I think you are right on with your comments about Russian Boaters. If my experience is typical, these guys are real outdoors men.

I had the pleasure of being on a Grand Canyon trip with a Russian class 5 boater. Rafts or kayaks, no difference to him.

All around good guy and I hope we never have to fight the Russians if he is typical. He did not have a bad day during the entire trip.

Every one knows the water temp in the GC is just below ice cube level.

This guy put on his bathing suit and took an extended swim every night at camp. He did a lot of boating in the Russian Northern rivers and said compared to them the GC was warm. The rest of us were taking hot baths from our solar powered showers on a tripod in the bank side low water area.

[Shep]

I have thought about trying to make a drysuit from scratch, and I believe that it probably could be done much cheaper than buying one, but there is a reason they cost up to $1100. After having replaced all of the gaskets in my well, well-used Kokatat, I would do any of them again except for the neck gasket. The other sticking point would be sourcing dry-suit zippers.

If you have installed a neck gasket, and it doesn't annoy you, go for it. Then, open a business. You'll have lots of customers.

Shep

[happy happy happy]

Thanks for the info.I know some Russians !