VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

I just wanted to get some feedback on the suitability of the Ocean Rodeo Pyro suit for windsurfing. Since most of the people who wear this suit are kiters, I'd still welcome any advice regarding this suit from them. I'm tired of freezing my butt off in a wetsuit in Nov-March and am considering buying the Pyro. The Bare Polarheat drysuit fits me weird so it's out of the picture.

Questions:

1. How does the mobility of the suit compare to a wetty (swimming and tweaking and twisting your body) in and out of the water?

2. How is the durability of the seals and outer material?

3. What amount of clothing would you need underneath to stay warm in the kind of weather we've been having lately?

4. Any negatives (outside of nicking or tearing the shell and flooding the suit and drowning ). Any trouble with flushing of the seals on falls?

5. I noticed that the 2006 suit has a front zip now. How does this affect performance or fit?

Thanks for any help!

Chris

hey chris i had one a few years ago...yes the pyro is warm..but i had issues with air in the legs when waterstarting/general bouyancy issues...there is also the ...if ya have to take leak thing....and for me the suspender buckles interfered with my harness..though i'm sure that issue has been resolved...for me, art, john reid, cammie, grant w... i'd look into getting one of the suits we all wear...www.silentsports.com...it's warm easy to get into and out of, full smoothskin and durable, mine is an 02 and still going strong ...bruce may even still have some closeouts in your size for 350 can...yup! the neilpryde 4000 series 5/4 drysuit..... .

Thanks Voodmon! Good link.

The prices for suits are pretty good at Silentsports. No Drysuits in my size, but they have a 5/3 semidry suit in stock. I may go with that one if all else fails. The issue of peeing in my suit is not a big one for me. I tend not to do it .

Can any of you kiters weigh in on how you like your Pyro suit?

Cheers,
Chris

I like the design of the new O.R. pyro..I swore never to get another suit that I couldn't get out of...Windsurfers spend no more time in the water than kiters so I don't think there would be any problem in a pyro... http://www.oceanrodeo.com/pyropro.html

Hey Doc- from my experience with the Bare Polar Dry and my similar considerations of the Pyro I offer the following-

1) Mobility has been good but I get caught on boom/harness lines or even fin or straps sometimes because of the material being baggy and I noted even more space in the Pyro which might be good for mobility but not so good for point mentioned....nicer for waterstarting though but I always wonder if you got slammed hard enough if the "balloon might pop"; also noted much chaffing under pits and sides wearing the stitching raw, I note they addressed this in later year, not sure about pyro but there's not similar arm action along your side I think as in kiting
3) I wear the fleece only and I get too hot as is unless near or sub zero, then I add another rashy or Tshirt but if I am working I sometimes have to remove it again- cloth in PYro same so expect same results
2/4) Seals do let go on occasion (and they deteriorate quickly with us sailing so many days, ya got 2 years b4 another $200 to fix) and also bulky wrist seals get caught on lines again sometimes, tore 4 holes so far, tuck tape I left the zipper open by accident once by 1 inch and almost couldn't waterstart after I took on water, kinda freaky, you'd have to tear another hole just to let the water back out if you tore one up high somewhere. I like the floatation and hug of the neoprene legs and not sure I like canvas down low

I bought a 5/4/3 steamer (ok for 10-11 months for me) and am just now starting to consider the dry again as a spare suit (steamer still wet etc). I focus on hands & head when temps drop even more, not core. I'd go with the silent sports NP, wish I'd seen that add sooner, XLT's hard to find for sure

Hmm. Thanks for the input, guys. Think I'll look into a Neoprene suit again.

Chris

The pyro is great & always toasty. Medium fleece is fine for most temps. The issue that you might have windsurfing is being able to see your harness hook. I know that Whites was workin on a less baggy model, but you would have to ask them about it. You do get wet after a nasty wipe-out, however, you still stay warm. Cold has never been an issue in the Pyro, rather, as Kus said, sometimes you get too hot. The big bonus for windsurfers would be that you do not get cold standing around between run, as there is no evaporation or windchill effect. As for air in the suit, once you zip up, just crouch and pull the neck seal open and let the air out.

Have you looked at the Kokotak suits Winddoc? Lots of the cold-state US windsurfers seem to use them and swear by them. The breathability actually works, apparently, and there is no sweat-induced dampness. Great if you can afford one.

I had to jump in here.
The OR suit is currently marketed around the world to kiters....however,... they also work extemely well for windsurfing, wakeboarding etc.
In Italy we now sell as many suits to windsurfers as kiters,..the Italy champ is now wearing OR Pyros in winter. (several other windsurf "pros" also use them for the cold events)
Both sports offer a similar workout, and "abuse" to the suit.
I will offer a few suits to the local windsurf crowd for a test (N/C for a month)...so you actualy give it a try windsurfing.
Perhpas Markus,....Voodom ? would like to go for dry ride forum test.
If interested call John Zimmerman at OR 544 4969.

Thanks!
Richard
Ocean Rodeo/Whites

PS From our experience Goretex membrane (teflon) breaks down in salt water, and will wet out after a short time (water will seep through the fabric under pressure). We've made many dry suits for the military in Gortex and other Teflon breathables, and they are considered "disposable" for this reason (one use beach assalt suits). The only way to solve this problem is to go with a very thick Teflon membrane,...this however limits the breathablity. If your kiting/windsurfing in fresh water Gortex will work well.

Post from another forum, this guy sails a lot, he seems to have good experience with goretex. You might contact him, see if he still thinks the same.

sailquik (Roger Jackson)
Dec 4 2004, 12:20 pm show options

Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
From: "sailquik (Roger Jackson)" <> - Find messages by this author
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 2004 20:20:13 GMT
Local: Sat, Dec 4 2004 12:20 pm
Subject: Re: To GoreTex or not? - Trying to figure out drysuit
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Hi guys,
If you had a Kokatat Goretex Front Entry suit, you'd have nice warm wool socks under the Goretex socks. Then you could simply take off your wet booties, slip into some old tennis shoes or slippers, and drive home. Normally (unless it's sub 38 deg.) the Kokatat dries off completely as I am de rigging my gear, and I can just get in the truck and drive home.
No seat protection needed, but the nice Hawaiian floral print seat covers are available in "water proof" so if you get a set of those, you really wouldn't need to worry anyway.
As to the ongoing "what's the best glove" issue here one thing not mentioned is that Kokatat and similar dry suits have "low pressure" wrist and collar seals. So, you can wear gloves or mitts (I like the DaKine Cold Water mitts the best) over the seals, but under the Goretex/nylon outer and your hands stay quite warm and very dry. The low pressure seals allow much better blood flow to from your hands and completely eliminate the forearm fatigue from "tight sleeve syndrome".
With the low pressure seals, and mitts that allow your fingers to stay completely dry, you can sail all day with warm hands, warm feet, and with a good wool hood, your head stays nice and toasty also.
With the Kokatat you can regulate how warm you are by what you layer under it. Regular thermal undergarments, expedition weight undergarments, light Merino wool socks or heavy weight Merino wool socks.
What originally sold me on the Kokatat was a guy I used to sail with at lunchtime at work in chilly Southern Maryland. He would come from his office in his work attire (jeans, slacks, shirt/ sweater, etc, take off his shoes, put the Kokatat on over what he was wearing, and come out sailing. After sailing he would simply take off the Kokatat and put on his shoes and go back to work in his office. I did the same. No worries about getting wet at all.
Worst thing that happens to me know is my feet perspire and my socks get slightly wet. Beyond that everything I wear under the Kokatat is as dry after sailing as it was when I put it on before sailing.
Hope this helps.
Roger
P.S. If anyone is looking for a great place to get "dry suit seals" replaced I've found a great one here in NC. Amigo's Drysuit Repairs just did my suit. Fantastic job, choice of low pressure or industrial strength (used by the Coast Guard on their Goretex Survival suits for the rescue swimmers and small boat crews) wrist and neck seals, and just plain good service.
They are also an authorized Kokatat Repair Facility.
Check them out @:
http://www.drysuit-repair.com/
No commercial interest here, they just did a very superb job, communicated with me via email each time a decision was needed and
did the repairs on time and for a good price. Much better than sending the suit across the country to the Kokatat Factory with a fairly long lead time.

Richard: Thanks for your support & Happy 40th. I'm tempted to call John as a w-surfer !!!

Richard, John- nice offer, wow especially considering my polar dry seals are sieved but ....since I have two (semi) working suits and poor Winddoc is cold maybe he should do the test ...he's the writer/tester/magazine and suit-seeking guy afterall and also started the thread

windoctor it is,..just give us a call and we'll get you set up.

Richard,

I will definately take you up on that offer! How can I refuse? I'll call John on Tuesday. Thanks so much!

Chris

Yep, I'd agree, a great offer and nice to see a local company doing well - luckily you said you never peed in suits, Winddoc, or the offer probably wouldn't have been made!

I'm interested in learning more about the Goretex issue - I've read quite a few really positive testimonials from people who seemed to like it in drysuits (personally I bought an early 80s Goretex jacket, it leaked, and I've never bought anything with it again, figured it was hype like 4x4 for city dwellers). I guess some stuff works well. Don't think anyone who works in the bush uses it yet (forest engineers etc). But don't the S&R rescue swimmers wear Goretex suits? They train a lot, presumably these aren't single-use suits.

I tried an early drysuit at Elk Lake many years ago - tight seals, especially around my neck, almost choked me! Didn't like it at all, but the new seals look way more comfortable. It is great the way they dry so fast, no evaporation cooling, and I was envious of Molson Dave the day of the big storm being able to go into the coffee shop in his, unzipped the top a bit.