RbGar

I had the Pyro ‘Classic’ prior to purchasing my ‘Surf’. It served me well. However I prefer the closer fit of the surf suit to the roomier feel of the other suit which is the same style as the Pro. I’m also quite slim so the surf suit is better for me as the lycra outer shell pushes all the excess air out from the dry inner core.

Things to bear in mind: The Pro has harder wearing material on the butt and the knees. It has breathable panels and is probably easier to get into, though with practice the surf suit is just as easy to enter and exit. Whatever choice you make you will not be disappointed!

I’d thoroughly recommend the heater under garments made by the company too.

Hope this helps?

andy

I have 2 seasons on my Pyro Surf. I use it kiteboarding in Alaska. The only thing that I would change is to have the dry liner made out of breathable material. After a couple hours in my suit I am very wet from perspiration. Other than that my drysuit has been flawless. If I could have my Pyro Surf rebuilt with the new liner that is in the Predator, that would be my ideal setup.

I surf mainly here in RI as well and am looking at this suit for an alternative to my 6/5/4. We get some really big surf here in the winter and the water is close to mid 30’s with air temps in the teens or lower with the wind chill. I had a regular drysuit in the past and it did not keep my feet warm at all. I had to cut the feet off and use seals like the same type as you have on you Pyro Surf suit, I still got lots of flushing, and one time my whole leg was soaked,  that ended me using a drysuit. 

How about a good toss around by a wave? I have concerns of zippers on the legs and getting water flushed. I know some had mentioned duck diving, but how about turtling with a longboard when the waves are head high or bigger…

Any input would be great ...

Thanks

Josh

A few shots showing the surf dry-suit in our local “normal” conditions. The suit was developed on the West Coast of Vancouver Island (Canada). Certainly the suit has seen much bigger conditions than in the photo’s.
We have varied conditions ranging for rock reef to sandy beach breaks. Depending on the bulk of your thermal layer, and how much air you have in your suit, the flotation in cold water is similar to a 5 / 4 wetsuit. 
Ankle zips, back zip are held secure with Velcro closures, however one must remember these zips are on the outer layer. Under this layer is the Drycore. The outer skin zips have no effect (opened or closed) on the dryness of the inner core.

Thanks Rich, for the photos and input. Looks like this might be my investment this year. Have a find a dealer close to RI and try one on….

Emailed a dealer close in Mass and they do not carry the SurfDry.

I am an advance windsurfer and purchased the predator late last year. Have used it a few times in CT in 20F or less and this suit is amazing. I don’t see it in the windsurfing community and that is too bad because the range of motion, the feel, the weight are all awesome for windsurfing. The suit was worth the wait and I would recommend to any surfer, kiteboarder and especially any windsurfer!!

Pyro surf if you are anywhere near waves. It could end up being a life saver as it allows you to comfortably swim in if the proverbial shit hts the fan. As an added bonus, it is great for surfing as well.

Been out 4 times in it now and pretty stoked.  Once over the mental hurdle of dealing with two suits, its leagues better than my experiences with winter wetsuits and a Pyro Pro.  Wetsuits just aren’t as warm, especially factoring in windchill and the getting in/out of em wet in cold conditions.  The Pyro Pro is plenty warm, but the general bulk of it was always a downer, though I gladly put up with it for the comfy transitions from dressed to riding and back!  My Pyro took water up the legs when not in booties and I sweat a lot in it, forgivable when your a toasty inferno, but not desirable. The Pyro is also nice and robust.  Thats were I thought I would lose out the most when buying the Surf Dry.  Nice surprise to be wrong!

Big time plusses of the Surf Dry:

- First and foremost its the mobility.  Pretty much complete range of motion.

- Warmth, inferno and tailored to the day..  Thin, thick or layered insulating layer that you already own plenty off! Definitely better breathability than my Pyro.  Haven’t sweat myself wet yet, but have really just begun to use the thing.

- Seamless fit with booties and gloves.  Who doesn’t hate those things?  But eventually there isn’t much choice.  They fit this suit like an airlock, and its quick and simple to get it all seated… I hate them less with this suit!  All geared up, your pretty much a climate proof ninja.

The other plusses are all the familiar plusses of both warm wetsuits and the Pyro;  The comfort of a warm dry clothed entry/exit in cold windy conditions.  That one just can’t be overstated.  Kills the wetsuit concept right there, but now you don’t give up the swimabality and range of motion.  This suit has easier mobility than even my 4/3!  The robustness was a nice surprise.  The Pyro is bomber and who doesn’t like bomber?  A good wetsuit is pretty bomber too and that is exactly what you get with the Surf Dry.  The wetsuit doesn’t need tapped and blind stitched seams for skin comfort, or thick wooly linings for warmth.  They go full on with the seams and double sided nylon so what you get is a bomber little suit thats designed to be quick and easy to pull on and off.  The drycore layer is plenty robust too. Lastly the Comfort of fleece.  I know I mentioned that we all have plenty of base layer clothing, but you’re cheating yourself if you don’t get the purpose designed fleece onzie OR have.  I never did for my pyro and I clearly see what I’ve been missing!  Hell, those are a standalone product well worth owning.  One just doesn’t seem enough!

As far as minuses, I’m having a hard time really finding much.  You can’t pee in it!  The two suit bit is strange, but the drycore is easier to get on than my Pryo was.  It’s not tailored for shape and is lighter material so its probably as easy as a drysuit can get.  I like the zipper and its position better than the Pyro, and you don’t fight with cuffs to get at the seals.  The wetsuit is not what I’d call simple. Unique maybe!  Has those weird suspenders.  Works well though, and easy on/off once you figure it out!  The hood is great, warm with easy neck motion. 

Overall I’m really happy with it.  Gonna log a ton of sessions in it.

April 12th Ste-Anne de Beaupré Quebec, 1st ride out kitesurfing on the st-Laurence river…snow still on the ground…30+ knts

I must say my new predator surf dry is AWSOME

-Super comfort,  amazing range of mouvement, felt much lighter than my 5/3 wet suit
-Nice and snug great for surfkiting

-Great protection due to the outer layer preventing damage and pearcing ( important in icy waters, kiters are often far from shore, this dry suit is much safer in my opinion )

-Stay warm when suiting up, Remain warm when taking it off, Very Easy to put on and very easy to get out ( all by myself)

* depending on water and air temp I’ll be better at figuring out the correct under layering (legs and core)

Amazing product I must say…after 2 1/2 hours of kiting and a few “body drags” retrieving my board in some big cold swell I never felt a drop of water trickle in.

Merci !

Derek Podorieszach

Great to hear Derek! Very stoked to have you on the Crew and using the Surf Dry!

Just a reminder to the Crew that the suit remains on special as we work to get it in as many new customer’s hands as possible!

Hi There,

Been surfing for 5 years and recently moved to Canada.  Love surfing but not used to the cold waters.  Been cold too many times so was looking for an alternative.  Could have gone with a super thick wettie but was concerned about the loss of mobility as rubber increases.  Also hate donning a wet wettie.  Enter the predator surf dry.  Turns out it was on sale and was comparable in price to the wettie I was looking at so I decided to give it a punt. 

Will be hitting the surf in a couple weeks and will post user review then.  For now these are my initial fit impressions:

-Mobility is much better than my 4/3 chest zip.  Feels somewhere between 2-3mm wetsuit equivalent. Although mobility is better it does have the ‘garbage bag under the wetsuit feeling’ but after you start moving around you forget about it.

-Donning is a pain.  Putting on the Drycore is super easy, however the skin is brutal.  Donning the skin overtop of the drycore takes time and patience.  Also still trying to figure out how to prevent snagging the back zip on the drycore.  I think tucking the tether away is essential and also is a pain.  The reason being it could get caught up in your feet while surfing.  On traditional backzip wetties the tether is much higher up so it’s not a problem.

-Doffing is super easy. i anticipate that this will be way easier than doffing my wet 4/3mm.  I think the multi layers are an advantage because with the thicker wetties are a challenge to get out of especially around your wrists and ankles.

-Neck seal is pretty tight and uncomfortable.  Relaxing the rubber as we speak and will likely trim to get it dialed in. 

-Hood design is average.  IMHO there could be less seams for mobility and a better chin fit.

In summary, I purchased the drysuit because I was looking for warmth without sacrifcing mobility.  The pricepoint was right for me so time will tell if this outperforms my wetsuit.  The feel is definitely different froma traditional wetsuit and takes a little getting used to.  At the end of the day if my surfing is not inhibited and I can go longer then I can live with the longer donning times.

If anyone has suggestions regarding donning/doffing I’m all ears.

Thanks for the review on the Surf Dry.
We have a video in the support section of the site explaining the donning process….lots of tricks to make peeling the suit off and on easier.

http://oceanrodeo.com/kiting/support/ocean_rodeo_manuals/

Wow - thanks for the detailed post LandLocked! Welcome to the Crew too, we are stoked to have you as a customer.

In terms of your feedback, I really appreciate seeing this. Obviously we are always looking to improve the products we make.

You can see a donning video for the suit here (ignore the dorky voice over!):

In it you will see the steps but - crucial to your comments - you will see what Richard does when zipping the back of the skin up @ 3:30. Notice that he a) burps the air out of the suit and then b) pulls the skin multiple times to make sure there is not a billowy section of the core sticking out before zipping up the skin.

Let us know if there are any other questions!

John and Richard thanks for the tips. 

Have watched the vid many times.  Also been practicing donning the surf dry on a few more times and got it down to about 5 minutes without gloves and booties.  Could probably go faster but I want to be extra careful with the seals.  Now that I have had it on a few times I am pretty comfortable with the exception of the neck.  I’m highly annoyed after five minutes so not sure how I could go for 2 hours.  I feel there are two issues:
1. It’s too tight
2. My range of motion looking side to side is worse than a traditional wettie with hood.

Have been relaxing the neck seal for last three days on a medium sized cooking pot but I think I will have to trim the seals.  I’m hoping that post trim both issues will go away but am worried if it doesn’t.

Have read the pdf on trimming seals and was wondering if any guys out there have a guideline as to how many strips to be trimmed versus neck size?  Would be good if there was a chart that had neck size vs. # of strips to trim as a guidleine.

These are the stupid things you do to entertain yourself when you are landlocked.  Can’t wait to get out and surf!