dry suit vs wet suit

I have only ever used farmer john style wetsuits while kayaking. Never tried on a drysuit. I get that they are warmer than wetsuits, but are they too warm? I run warm as it is, I am nervous that if I wear a drysuit, Ill just be sweating the whole time and drain my energy. What do you think?

I've used FJ wetsuits in the past, but now I'm firmly in the drysuit camp. It does take some practice to get the inner layering figured out, but once you do, there is no comparison, comfort-wise (at least for the Kokatat Gore-Tex drysuits that I've had).

Btw, there is a difference between a drysuit and a semi-drysuit, although people often lump them together. The biggest difference is that the semi-drysuit has a more comfortable neoprene collar, while a drysuit has a latex neck gasket, but there are other, less obvious differences. I've actually got one of each, and if I could only have one, it would not be the semi-drysuit...

https://youtu.be/5l72iorG3AY?si=Dtjr9GXfzJn0Dggo

Use the search box. This is an.old topic.

I got a semi-drysuit a year ago and have not worn any wetsuits since then.   In the Fort Bragg area, I love the drysuit; the temperature never gets hot.
Also, I love being completely dry after a long day of fishing.

Paul

I'll stand for the opposition, haha. I prefer a wetsuit over drysuits for a few reasons:
1. Drysuits lock in all the sweat and steamy-ness, wetsuits don't
2. Drysuits start at 3-4x the price of a decent wetsuit
3. Wetsuits are less maintenance overall
4. Wetsuits are easier to modify/repair
5. I actually like the compression fit around my legs - no extra material to get hung up on anything.
6. If I get too warm, I just splash myself. Not nearly as effective with a drysuit.
7. I layer warm options over the wetsuit, and can peel them off very easily if I get too warm. A drysuit requires you to layer under, leaving you roasting or awkwardly removing layers on the water.

Now, most of this assumes that we are talking about NorCal weather/water conditions. If we were talking about WA, AK, or anywhere actually cold, the dynamic is different and this would be a different conversation.

I feel like I’m most likely to go over when I’m kneeling over the Hobie hole to relieve myself, and there is wind chop or swell, and Mabel is in the back moving from side to side. If went to over in a dry suit with the fly open, it would not function. Wetsuit doesn’t matter.

I'll stand for the opposition, haha. I prefer a wetsuit over drysuits for a few reasons:
1. Drysuits lock in all the sweat and steamy-ness, wetsuits don't

I suspect that this depends heavily on the material, as some cheaper drysuit material is going to be a lot less breathable.

I'll stand for the opposition, haha. I prefer a wetsuit over drysuits for a few reasons:
1. Drysuits lock in all the sweat and steamy-ness, wetsuits don't

I suspect that this depends heavily on the material, as some cheaper drysuit material is going to be a lot less breathable.

There are cheap drysuits? I only have experience with Kokatat suits with latex seals - and they definitely seal it all in there. Granted, it's been a while, and maybe better suits exist now, but it's gotta be colder than NorCal can get for me to use a drysuit again.

I'll stand for the opposition, haha. I prefer a wetsuit over drysuits for a few reasons:
1. Drysuits lock in all the sweat and steamy-ness, wetsuits don't

I suspect that this depends heavily on the material, as some cheaper drysuit material is going to be a lot less breathable.

There are cheap drysuits? I only have experience with Kokatat suits with latex seals - and they definitely seal it all in there. Granted, it's been a while, and maybe better suits exist now, but it's gotta be colder than NorCal can get for me to use a drysuit again.

Cheaper, not cheap. It's all relative...

Kokatat currently sells suits made of "Hydrus 3.0" or "Gore-Tex Pro":

https://kokatat.com/mens/

It looks like those made of Hydrus 3.0 cost about 35% less than those made of Gore-Tex Pro. I've never tried a suit made of Hydrus 3.0, but the Gore-Tex suits seem to me to be incredibly breathable. I can't say that I've never stripped off any of my under-drysuit-garments, but it rarely happens. Ironically, strippage seems to happen even less often when I use my full drysuit, which is much heavier than my semi-drysuit. I don't have an explanation for that...

I'll stand for the opposition, haha. I prefer a wetsuit over drysuits for a few reasons:
1. Drysuits lock in all the sweat and steamy-ness, wetsuits don't

I suspect that this depends heavily on the material, as some cheaper drysuit material is going to be a lot less breathable.

There are cheap drysuits? I only have experience with Kokatat suits with latex seals - and they definitely seal it all in there. Granted, it's been a while, and maybe better suits exist now, but it's gotta be colder than NorCal can get for me to use a drysuit again.

Cheaper, not cheap. It's all relative...

Kokatat currently sells suits made of "Hydrus 3.0" or "Gore-Tex Pro":

https://kokatat.com/mens/

It looks like those made of Hydrus 3.0 cost about 35% less than those made of Gore-Tex Pro. I've never tried a suit made of Hydrus 3.0, but the Gore-Tex suits seem to me to be incredibly breathable. I can't say that I've never stripped off any of my under-drysuit-garments, but it rarely happens. Ironically, strippage seems to happen even less often when I use my full drysuit, which is much heavier than my semi-drysuit. I don't have an explanation for that...

I think Goretex must be improved since the suits of 20 years ago.  I remember lots of days of being completely drenched in sweat every time I wore that thing. Granted, I was working, not kayaking, but still... Not an experience I'd want on my day off, haha. It might be a mental block thing too - if you work in an ice cream shop, maybe the ice cream doesn't taste as good anymore? 

I have both, actually three different wetsuits and a nice drysuit I bought recently. I still prefer the wetsuit 90% of the time due to being able to control body temperature.  Layering under a drysuit is really tricky, if you don't wear enough your cold and too much your hot.

If it's really unpleasant, cold and wet, wind and a lot of wave splash......perhaps overcast and raining  I really like my new dry suit. Peeing in rough weather seems fine.

So negatives are hard to control body temperature and around ten times the price, positives are it keeps you dry and comfortable if you have the right undergarments and conditions don't change.