No surprises, He's loving it.
See what he has to say below:
So
for the last 6 months I have been using the very well tried and tested Kokatat
Meridian GoreTex dry suit. Before this suit I used a range of dry suits from the
likes of Palm and Level 6.
The
fabric: Now I have to say the first thing that you notice with this suit is when you get off the water you are dry. Not a little damp from sweat, but bone
dry like I have never been before. The suit is just simply superb at keeping you
dry and getting rid of all the sweat that built up inside, wicking it away
out of the fabric.
The
Cut: Before I got this suit I had only worn suits with zips along the
back and so was a little sceptical whether I would get on with the over the
shoulder zip but no such problem. I don’t even know it is there, If anything it is less intrusive than the back zip on my last suit. This also gives
the up side of being able to get in and out of the suit on your own making
changing a whole lot better. The rest of the cut offers you a full range of
movement with very little to no restriction, the suit feels light and supple.
The
features: Compared to some of the suits on the market this dry suit may look a
bit old school and simple, but in my eyes it does what it needs to very well
and no more, I like this kind of simplicity. Why have loads of things that
you don’t need? There is one small pocket on the chest this is the perfect size
for a car key, then there are simple neoprene neck and wrist cuffs with
no tags and Velcro to catch, the Velcro flaps on the waist and ankles are
simple flaps with big patches to grip to and to finish it off with a relief
zip.
The
durability: I have only been wearing the suit for 6 months but I can say that it
has been put through its paces and still looks like new, so ok its not beading up
any more but the quality is outstanding. With having been in the rafting
industry for the last 5 years I've seen loads of gear come and go but for the whole of that time Kokatat have been making this suit and it is still the leading suit for
quality on the market. One final thing to keep in mind: One of my work colleagues
sent his suit back in to Kokatat this winter for a service and this suit has
seen 5 years of hard rafting abuse and they pressure tested it then patched the
suit for him replacing the seals and socks. A few days ago we're there out on the
water he said to me it is just like having a brand new dry suit again. Now if
that's not service I don’t know what is.
To
sum up I don’t think I can come up with anything bad about this suit, I think
tried and tested and now trusted sums it up best.
You can follow Nicks progress raft guiding in Norway this summer (his adopted home) by checking out his blog: http://nickpearcekayakingblog.wordpress.com/
