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BEST DRY SUIT The Gore-Tex Front Entry from Kokatat  For cold-weather, cold-water paddling, I find it hard to beat a breathable dry suit. For the last six years or so, I’ve been using a Dura dry suit, the predecessor of the Gore-Tex Front Entry (GFE), our readers choice dry suit.My suit has held up in great shape in spite of all the hard use it’s had. The mango top isn’t quite as bright as it used to be, and I’m on my second set of latex seals, but the outer fabric shows no signs of wear, and the entry and relief zippers still work perfectly. I had the ankle gaskets replaced with Gore-Tex socks (a feature introduced in 1999), an option that I’d highly recommend. After four or five years of use and all the reentry practices I’ve done on various kayaks, I’m impressed that the body of the suit is undamaged. I’ve worn the suit in air temperatures from 80˚F to sub-freezing and have floated comfortably among icebergs. The breathable fabric makes the dry suit much more comfortable to wear when the air warms up. There are times when the Gore-Tex can’t keep up with the perspiration, but it will eventually draw the moisture out of my insulating layers. Kokatat has been producing dry suits since 1990 and has made some changes between the Dura and the GFE. They’ve altered the cut of the suit and put a lighter fabric on the exterior face of the Gore-Tex. The switch from a 4.4-ounce to a 3.21-ounce weight makes the suit a little less stiff and gives it a softer feel. Yes, a dry suit like this is expensive (bite the bullet and don’t scrimp on the relief zip and socks), but it’ll make you happy every time you use it. If you ever wind up swimming among the bergy bits, you’ll know it’s money well spent. Gore-Tex Front Entry Dry Suit, $670 Kokatat 800-225-9749 kokatat@kokatat.com www.kokatat.com BEST FOOTWEAR The QuickLace Mukluk from Chota  The idea of knee-high kayak boots is nothing new. The Greenlanders used sealskin versions called kamiks to keep their feet dry when stepping in and out of their kayaks. Stepping from the water into a floating kayak rinsed the grit off the kamiks and spared the hull from inside and out.Modern kayakers usually settled for one of three options: wearing ordinary rubber boots in spite of the difficulties they could create after a wet exit; getting aboard on the beach and leaving their kayak’s gel coat, by degrees, behind them; or putting up with wet feet. In 1999, Chota introduced the Paddler’s Mukluk. It had fleece-lined neoprene uppers and a ridged wrap-around sole. They did a good job of keeping feet dry and warm during normal launchings and landings and weren’t too difficult to swim in. They offered adequate but not great footing while ashore, especially if they took on some water and got loose and slippery around the feet. In 2000, Frank Bryant, Chota’s designer, developed the QuickLace Mukluk, adding rubber panels and an elastic lacing system to support the ankle and a trimmer outer sole that offered better protection from sharp rocks. The modifications made the updated mukluk much better suited to the fancy footwork often required after landing on a rocky shore. After a swim, the QuickLace Mukluks take on less water and stay much snugger against the feet than their predecessors did. The QuickLace Mukluk is the best-selling of Chota’s paddlesports offerings. MK200 QuickLace Mukluk $95 Chota Outdoor Gear 865-690-1814 info@ chotaoutdoorgear.com www.chotaoutdoorgear.com |
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