I need to get a dry suit for competitive dinghy sailing. I am contemplating a kokatat front zip. It's ridiculous how they won't offer you the dry suit with the socks if you don't get the drop seat also. I feel like the drop seat would be uncomfortable since in sailing sitting is required. For those out there that own one:
Enlighten me of your experience with the drop seat.
2009-09-02T18:41:15Z
They don't post the cost of the drysuits on the Kokatat website. How muchs is the Front Zip +drop seat? the Meridian +drop seat?
c_kayak_fun2009-09-03T06:40:18Z
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You can get a lot of great feedback from the user reviews on these two major sea kayakers' websites:
http://www.paddling.net http://www.kayakusa.org
Actually, if you post your question at either one you will be likely to get dozens more responses than you would get here (it's free and quick to sign up on the sites so you can post questions or answers, but anyone can read the forums or reviews). Kayakers sit the whole time they are paddling so they're going to have strong opinions about the drop-seat design.
For pricing, just Google "kokatat" and the models you are looking at and check the price shopper pages that come up. REI and most of the kayaking outfitters stock them -- Sierra Trading Post occasionally has deals on discontinued models and Kayak Academy usually has used suits for sale at about half the price of new. They show up on Ebay a lot as well. I understand some of the older models came with the integral booties and front relief zip but no drop seat.
I've heard that Kokatat offers excellent direct customer service so you might have some success calling them directly for advice on your needs.