Why does dry suit cost soo much???

I have been doing some research on dry suit and it seem unreachable for the
prices they are all asking for. Is it just me being cheap or does anybody feel
the same? It is almost buying another kayak and then some. I just want to be
nice and warm come sturgeon season at the same time being shield from the
water splash. Can anyone recommend a dry suit without breaking the bank?

Thanks folks,
Jedmo

If you can't afford a drysuit a wader/drytop combo is the next best thing IMO. If you get a good drytop that seals well at the waist, wrists, and neck it can be incredibly dry. I've dumped in the surf and only got a few drops. I use a Cabelas wader w/ a Extrasport drytop. Can't go wrong w/ a Kokatat drytop either. SBD tested and developed some nice yakfish models coming in spring '09.

Z

The simple answer is a lot of expensive materials and a TON of labor.  The are insane on the water...there is no real substitute.  That said, the new Tempest two piece combo is still ridiculously dry, very comfortable, more versatile, and more affordable.

Where is Kitt when you need him???

Thanks for the tips Z and SBD. I will look more into it.

Jedmo

Hey Jedmo,
Kit from Kokatat here.  Good responses from other repliers - Mainly that well-designed two piece systems can be nearly as dry as a full drysuit and are more versatile for other seasons/uses as well. It won't help you right now, but Kokatat's Tempest Pant and Jacket will be available after Jan 15 and are a great combo.

As a kayak angler, your intention is NOT to be immersed in the water.  Drysuits are really designed for users that DO intend to be immersed in cold water - like a white water kayaker, or for situations where the consequences of immersion are extreme - like a sea kayaker in cold water far from shore.  But as an angler, if you dump in the surf or fall in fishing, with a two-piece system, AND good insulative underclothes, you might get a little wet, but it's not going to be a big deal.  Good fleece underclothes maintain lots of warmth even when really wet, so you could probably keep fishing.  And if not, you could (reluctantly) head for home.

To answer your question though, SBD is only part right.  It's as much the materials that make them cost so much - which is why those from China (and that's all of them except Kokatat's - made right here on the Northcoast) aren't significantly less expensive.  You start with several yards of premium quality fabric, add waterproof zippers (way expensive) and 5 latex gaskets, plus yards and yards of seam sealing tape that makes it all waterproof.  Then, as SBD points out, that all gets put together by your highest skill operators with specialty sewing and seam sealing machines, gluing and welding technologies, etc etc, and in the end, (at least, and I believe only, in Kokatat's case), you do a complete water-fill leak test on every single one of them before they leave the plant ... well, you get the point.  It's not a knock off Columbia jacket from China.

So my advice is wait for the Kokatat Tempest series and you'll have the best of both worlds without breaking the bank.

Tight Lines!

Kit Mann
Kokatat

Thank you so much Kit. You have just help me tremendously by helping me
narrow my choices and explaining the drysuit feature. I will wait for the Tempest
and hopefully will be within my price range.

Thanks again,
Jed

i laid out some coin for a kokatat dry top with a hood last year and i love it. it was money well spent.

I know whats on my birthday wish list.  Thanks for the details Kit.

Kit... got any approximate price points on that new gear?  Looking forward to the pants...

EK

There isn't really much of an economy of scale for them either. 

what is an economy of scale?  sounds like an excuse the pot dealer gives the customer when prices go up

If you're making 1000/year, you have to use hand labor.  If you're making 1,000,000/year, you can build specialized machines to do most of the work at higher speed, greater reproducibility  and lower cost because the cost of the robots and all are divided by 1,000,000 instead of 1000.  Also suppliers will reduce prices when you buy huge quantities of materials.  If you get big enough you can buy a supplier company and have a vertical monopoly - which reduces costs more...  Or, if you're a really big account, you can tell your supplier that they can knock half their margin off the price or piss off.   All of that is economies of scale.

I think your pot dealer meant to say that demand was growing faster than supply.  Could be he got big enough to get first dibs on the quality product, that *would* be economies of scale, and you'd probably be getting your money's worth.    OTOH, if you wanted 1/8 at the lb rate, economies of scale would be a perfectly reasonable excuse - as in you don't have it.

Pretty much everyone will cut you a deal on a big order.    Depending on demand elasticity (how many more sell at some lower price) and competition, one may or may not pass those savings on to consumers and make more money at the same time.  I imagine drysuits are at least somewhat elastic in demand considering there are a LOT of people that could use them but balk at the price.

P sparks response reminded me of this story:

Man arrested in Santa Cruz with beer keg, harmonica, wet suit, hallucinogenic mushrooms
Sentinel Staff Report
Article Launched: 10/29/2008 10:12:08 AM PDT


SANTA CRUZ - A transient claiming to be a covert military operative from Australia was arrested Monday on the Westside because he was drinking from a full-size beer keg and trying to sell the booze to passersby, police reported.

Marshall Cartwright, 33, was sitting on the ground drinking from the partially full keg when officers went to the Bethany Greenbelt Park, near Delaware Avenue and Bethany Curve, around 11:45 a.m. Monday, police said.

Someone had called 911 after reportedly seeing Cartwright drinking beer from a Mason jar and urinating in the bushes, according to police Capt. Steve Clark. He had a second Mason jar he used to sell the beer, which he had purchased along with a tap at a Pacific Avenue liquor store.

Cartwright got hostile when officers tried to interview him and told them he was a military operative, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of being drunk in public.

Police said they searched his belongings and found about 20 grams of psilocybin mushrooms and a Camelbak bladder with more beer in it. He also had a harmonica and a wetsuit with him, both of which police suspect were stolen.

Cartwright was booked into County Jail on the public intoxication charge and also on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance, police reported.

What happens in Santa Cruz...  Stays in San Quinton!