RIVER WEAR

Wetsuits, drysuits & tops, paddle jackets & pants, wetsuit boots & gloves, rafting / kayaking helmets, sandals, and other river clothing is in this section. Brands include Palm, MTI, Salamander, Stohlquist, Wenoka / Deep Sea, and Seda. In years past we've had very high rates of returns on paddling clothes; that is, returns for refunds rather than for size exchanges. Clothing is sometimes sent via priority mail through the Post Office, and invoicing, packaging, and particularly driving to the Post Office (and standing in line there) all entail quite a bit of our time. None of the returns had anything to do with defects, but rather with people simply changing their minds or not reading the information provided below. Due to this situation we have little choice but to start charging a 20% restocking fee this year for clothing returned for refunds. We're sorry but our time is worth something, and we also have to eat credit card fees of 2.4 to 3.3% for manually keyed cards. Exchanges for smaller or larger sizes will not incur any charges. We will not accept returns on any special order items. This page was updated May of 2008.

Neoprene Drysuits Separates (including Drytops & Drypants) Jackets Pants Sandals Helmets Etc...

Buying clothing through the mail often entails at best a guess on sizing, particularly with the size variations between different manufacturers. To make it as foolproof as possible, if you are purchasing paddling garments, send us your height, weight, chest size, and for pants, your waist. For boots and sandals, send a tracing of your foot, and for gloves, one of your hands. You may also fax us these tracings at 408-971-7044, but lately we have kept our fax turned off due to high rates of "fax-spam". Shoot us a quick email or phone us and we'll turn it on.

Neoprene

Palm/MTI wetsuits are made of somewhat softer neoprene than the B&A Wetsuits below, and they come in lady's versions. We do not inventory a lot of neoprene so it's best to check stock first if you are in a hurry. We do order very frequently from MTI though so if something is out of stock we can get it fast assuming MTI has stock. Everything below is 3mm thick.

The Palm/MTI Men's Shortie ( $75, left) has 4-needle flat-stitching, a high back for extra warmth during swims, urethane seat reinforcing, and a two way zipper. It is available in small thru xxl sizes.

The Ladies Shortie has a very stretchy sculpted Dinaflex "bodice" upper for a perfect fit. All other features are the same as the Men's Shortie. These are actually teal colored where the photo to the right shows blue. These have been discontinued but we still have some inventory in Small and Large sizes at $65/per.

We have sold B&A Farmer Johns, $75 (left), for over ten years. B & A is now retired as a business but we still have decent stock on most sizes. This is not a fancy or pretty wetsuit but it was made for commercial use. It does not have ankle zippers, which makes it a pain to get on and especially off, but the zippers are always the first thing to fail so B&A designed their John without them. The second livery grade feature is that the butt & knee reinforcing on these is a second layer of nylon-2-side neoprene, not some odd thin material with a funny name. Another thing we like about this wetsuit is that the material, though perhaps not the most stretchy, is the most rugged 3mm neoprene we have found at any price. We have the B&A's in small, medium, large and XL. Double-XL's and XS are no longer available. In dark blue or red depending on size. Blonde not included.

If you want something softer and more conforming than the B&A John's, with ankle zippers, the standard Palm/MTI Farmer John (at right) comes in both Men's and Lady's styles in the same sizes with the same features as the MTI Shorties above, with reinforced knees. The ladie's "John" is lilac on the upper part instead of teal or blue. $99

Note: Long sleeved "Action Suit" versions of the MTI John's & Jane's above are available by special order for $125.

We also have a few small size Z-Style Farmer Johns left at only $49 if you happen to be between 5'4 & 5'7" and very skinny, with front & ankle zippers and reinforced knees. What's the catch?  There are several raised seams (not flat-lock stitched) on the inside of the Z-Style so we only recommend these if you wear something of at least moderate thickness underneath. If not, the seams will dig into your skin. In red/grey two-tone.

A new item that we really should have been stocking ten years ago are the titanium lined Hot Socks, which run $19 and come in sm, med. lg, xl, and xxl. Hot Socks are super stretchy 1.5mm socks intended to be worn with sandals or inside those worn out old tennis shoes. At 1.5mm they will not provide the same level of warmth as the booties below, but if the rivers, lakes, or saltwater you paddle tend to be above the low fifty degree mark, they will be fine. Sorry the photo (at right) isn't very good.

Wenoka's 5mm Zippered Boots ($42), offer ease of entry, and the 6mm Non-Zippered Wenoka boots ($36, no photo but they look the same) are even warmer since water can't get in. The plush pile lining and vertex panels over your feet mean all inside seams are covered, and your doggies will be comfy with or without socks underneath.

The DXT ($49, closeout) boot was one of our most popular, but we are now down to Men's size 9/10 only. With most boots, every time you step on even a pea-sized pebble it feels like someone is driving a nail into your doggies but not with the thick-soled DXT's. They feature a tread pattern made to cling to slippery surfaces and wind surf boards, and a full-length zipper. These were discontinued by Wenoka/ Deep Sea a while back so we won't be getting any more. Zippered, with a black nylon exterior and plush interior lining.

The HydraSole's are another closeout boot, and we still have good stock on men's sizes 9 through 12, and a couple pairs of size 5 (women's 6/7). These boots combine a rigid sole that is a little thinner than the DXT's, but with the big advantage over the DXT's being a gusset behind the zipper. This gusset is glued to both sides, so unlike most zippered boots the Hydra's won't let a drop of water in. On some of these the white part of the rubber soles have yellowed a bit, but it does not affect their durability at all. $55, no returns except for size exchange.

The top-end boots we stock are Salamander's Das Boot, which come in sizes XS through XXL. Rather than trying to give equivalent shoe sizes, again it will be easier to mail or fax us a tracing of your foot. Like the HydraSoles, these also have a gusseted zipper to prevent any water entering, but they also have a lace-up ankle and a top cinch strap for perfect, snug fits on a variety of foot & ankle sizes. In black/violet. $65

1/8" thick Paddler's Gloves are warm enough for almost all conditions and are a decent value at $25. They have precurved and rubberized palms for better grip, a velcro wrist cinch (not visible in photo), and come in either solid black or blue/black

.

For the coldest, windiest, winter days, nothing keeps your hands defrosted like the full-gauntlet Sea Style gloves ($38). These come way up on the sleeves of a wet- or drysuit, and are 4mm thick. Very high quality with curved grips, taped seams, and a velcro strap around the wrist for a tight mate to your sleeves. The grip and dexterity is not comparable to a thinner glove, but if you have a hard time keeping your hands warm, Sea Styles are tough to beat. The biggest problem with these is that for many paddlers they tend to cut off circulation in your fingers because they are so thick. In navy blue with grey palms. Send a tracing of your hand for sizing.

Drysuits

On longer, shadier rivers or overcast days on the ocean, wetsuits tend to chill through their thickness, especially if you have not eaten enough food to keep the ol' carbo-oven burning. Drysuits will not chill through since you rely on dry clothing underneath for your warmth. Many folks question the sanity of those who boat in the dead of winter, but with a drysuit, beanie, booties, and neoprene gloves you can easily stay 100% toasty. Drysuit neck cuffs are not at all comfortable but they can be trimmed to alleviate some of the "latex neck tourniquet" effect, and the new Silver drysuit below doesn't even use latex on the neck. Since there's no limit to how much clothing you can wear underneath, you can also adjust for a wide variety of conditions - unlike with a wetsuit.

Now with attached socks! Palm has the best reviewed, most rugged & functional drysuits you can purchase. These products are actually made in China, however. The breathable Palm Silver is very, very easily the best value in a drysuit that you will find anywhere at only $469, however we won't have them until sometime in August. Just in time for the Summer heat..... This is a new product though and they are still being built as we update this page in May.
The really cool thing about this new suit - when it becomes available - is that instead of using a latex gasket around the neck, it uses a very stretchy 2 mil wetsuit neoprene funnel instead. In a violent swim, because neoprene won't conform to the shape of your neck as perfectly as latex, you will find a few drops of water passing through. But we're talking swimming Lava falls or the like, not a short dunk on your neighborhood steep creek. This is not a new variation of gasket. MTI and Palm have been using this neck piece for almost four years now on some of their drytops and it works great, and is well proven in the field. By far the biggest plus of using neoprene for the most vulnerable gasket is that you can fix tears with Aquaseal instead of doing a difficult full replacement of a latex gasket. With 2-part Aquaseal (which includes an accelerator) you can do an on-river repair in one hour. Try to do that with a latex neck gasket!
The general rule of thumb with fixing gaskets is that the bigger in diameter they are the harder they are to replace. Waist gaskets (found on most separate drytops and drypants) are the worst, and neck gaskets are also quite tricky to re-adhere without wrinkles. Being the smallest, wrists are the easiest to fix, and the Silver drysuit uses conventional latex for those. The ankles are waterproof bootie socks.
The first step of repairing a wrist gasket is stuffing a full 2 liter soda bottle up the arm of the drysuit to spread it out, and everyone can find a soda bottle. Neck gaskets however require an object of much bigger diameter and it's often hard to find just the right widget to fix one.
Another great thing with Palm is that they were the first to offer breathable material on all of their drysuits, not just the high-end ones. You needn't pay a big upcharge like you would with Kokatat because Palm's are made of a breathable tri-laminate hybrid fabric called XP100 with an excellent rip-stop characteristics.
This full featured suit has velcroed neoprene outer covers over the latex wrist gaskets, heavy duty XP200 socks, a front zipper, an elastic waist cord to take up slack, and cordura reinforced knees, elbows, shins, and butt, seamless underarms & crotch, pre-bent knees, and a small water resistant chest pocket. One other odd detail is if you look close at the photo above, it appears there is a fly zipper. We doubt there will be on a suit of this price range since it's predecessor didn't have one. The one in the photo is probably a prototype that did have one. If it turns out that they do have fly zippers when we get our Silvers in later this Summer, we will let you know.
Silver's come in a "moss" tan color in five sizes (S, M, L, XL, and XXL), though we rarely ever stock the Small's. Palm's warranty covers both this model and the two below for the life of the drysuit, but this warranty does not include normal wear, broken zipper teeth, or blown gaskets. It covers seams (sealing and stitiching), neoprene attachments, and workmanship. We recommend the Zippercare and Zipperease products shown below for trouble-free dryzipper operation.

These now come with attached socks, not the gaskets shown. For decked hardshell boaters looking for the ultimate in drysuits, the rear-entry Palm Stikine is made of extra heavy duty four layer breathable XP200 (a beefier version of the XP100 material described above), and comes standard with a sprayskirt waist tunnel that has a very grippy elastic inner seal for flawless mating to your boat's sprayskirt. It also comes with a relief zipper at no upcharge, all the reinforcing of the Silver above, plus a chest pocket made of mesh and upgraded coated brass zippers front and rear. The color is slightly darker orange than shown, more of a rust orange actually. Stikine's have all the other features of the Silver above except that the main zipper in in the back, which is considered to be the least likely location to leak for hardshellers setting up a roll. Most folks will need a second person to help close this zipper, though you more gymnastic-types might not.
If you are not a hardshell boater or someone who makes a career out of thrashing through blackberrys and brambles, our feeling is the Silver above will work for 99% of inflatable enthusiasts. Understand that the extra thickness of this suit over the Silver above or the Torrent below means it is somewhat less flexible, and that is the trade-off for the extra beef.
At $849 including the relief zipper and sprayskirt tunnel, the Stikine has every other competing breathable suit beat for value, though the Torrent below really offers the best deal for most hardshellers.

Palms Torrent Drysuit: This suit runs $230 less than the Stikine above, but has pretty much the same features including the sprayskirt tunnel, so it's a great choice for decked boaters. These have been a bit hard to come by the last 12 months though, and our stock is low on Torrents.
The differences between it and the Stikine are as follows:
The fly and rear zippers on this model are the same "super seal" Ti-Zip's used on the Silver rather than a metal tooth zipper. These are somewhat harder open and close than the ones on the Stikine because they have an outer rubber slit cover over the actual zipper teeth, which adds to the friction. The XP150 three layer material used on the Torrent is in between the Stikine and Sidewinder in weight, and like the other two materials it is breathable. Instead of the one bigger chest pocket found on the Stikine, the Torrent has two smaller chest pockets that open by the armpit areas, and it comes in a Cobalt / light blue two tone. The price is $619 with attached XP200 socks. We try to stock all sizes except the smalls, but again we've had trouble getting this suit for quite a while now. Email us with your size when you are ready and we'll check stock.

Replacement Gaskets are also available. Call for price and availability.

Two new little items from the Aquaseal people are Mirazyme wetsuit shampoo ($8 for 8 oz, top center in photo above) and ZipperCare ($5 for a 2 ounce bruch bottle, just to the left of the gaskets above). Mirazyme is product you can use in the shower if you take your wetsuit in with you, or in a wash basin. It kills off the river-foo bacteria that like to grow in wetsuits. ZipperCare is an important item for people who own drysuits. It cleans and lubricates the zipper teeth, be they or nylon. Metal zippers since a single misaligned tooth can quickly cause the whole zipper to fail.

Another absolutely vital maintainence product for the latex gaskets on drysuits, tops, & pants is 303 protectant, (shown above) which can be found under our repair section.

Separates (including Drytops & Drypants)

-We'll be re-vamping the separates below pretty soon, but as of May we still will be carrying most of what follows.
Another way to stay reasonably warm on the water is with paddle jackets and pants, which are made of waterproof material (though they are not completely watertight at the waist or ankles like a drysuit), or with separate drytops & drypants. Simply layer clothing underneath them like you would a drysuit, or wear a jacket with a Farmer John for inexpensive warmth.

If you only want something for lakes or calm seas, our Econo Tops & Bottoms ($17 each, no photos) will keep out spray. They have elastic waists and cuffs and are made from coated 200-denier nylon. These are not very watertight around the elastic so they should never be used on rivers. They're also pretty clammy so you'll need to wear something underneath that wicks. In blue only.

Jackets

The MTI Ultrasplash is a thin, breathable top with lycra neck and wrist cuffs (with velcro tabs), a large double-entry chest pocket, and a hand warming area behind the pocket. The waist closure is a single shockcord drawstring system, so this jacket is not intended for whitewater hardshell use, and it would probably take in a lot of water in a swim from a raft too. In a pretty teal color, or blue, or mango. $75, in small, med, large, xl, and xxl.
If you don't need a breathable top, we also have some other stock on Stohlquist and oddball MTI paddle jackets in the $55 price range so just ask us to check in your size and we'll be happy to see what's here.

The MTI Premier Jacket ($109) is another model made from breathable teflon-protected Barrel GP nylon. The photo at right shows front mesh pockets, but these were replaced with regular ones, so we need to shoot a newer photo. These come in red, mango, and blue in sizes small through XXL. You can call us with the color and size you want and we'll see what we have. It would be helpful to have your chest size and height. The Premier has a 2-1/2" wide tacky neoprene waist band that the closure line runs through, and it mates with an excellent grip to any pants or farmer john.
This is a beefy jacket and a superb value compared to most of the competition.

The breathable SemiDry Top, ($149) from MTI, formerly known as the "Smoothie", uses long funnel shaped neoprene wrists and neck openings rather than latex gaskets to keep water out. These are the type of gaskets used on the very expensive divers' neoprene drysuits. Actually, this jacket is quite dry, very functional, and has the substantial plus that using neoprene funnels precludes the tearing that often occurs with delicate latex gaskets. If you are a hardsheller the SemiDry has a corded double-closure neoprene waist to mate with your sprayskirt. If not it still ensures very little water can get in around your waist. The wrist "funnels" and neck funnels can both be trimmed to a larger opening. The SemiDry also has a center pocket and reinforced elbows. This is a well thought out, durable product at a remarkable price. A good example of where inexpensive doesn't mean cheap! In grey only and grey & blue two tones depending on size, small thru xxl.
This top is being phased out, and a new Palm (MTI's other half) product called the Apex SemiDry Top ($189) will replace it. We're not bothering to post a photo yet because neother we nor MTI/Palm have any inventory, so when we get them we'll update the site again.

Pants

Premier Pants $109 appear to have been discontinued by MTI though we still have some stock. These breathable pants are a companion to the Premier Jacket above and are probably the best deal for the bucks. They have sort of been replaced by a lighter duty garment called the Ultrasplash pants, which we aren't presently carrying, and by some of the more pricey Palm pants (Plam and MTI are all the same company now)
Again, they are made with breathable Entrant material, which some of you may recognize as a fabric common in ski gloves. Premeir Pants have a second layer of cordura in the knees and seat, along with a zippered front pocket. Both the wide neoprene waist and ankles have velcro closures to help keep out water during swims. These are made in grey and black, in sizes small thru xxl, and should not be considered true "drypants" since they use velcro - neoprene closures at both the waist and ankles. .

New! Amaris Drypants ($159) have attached XP200 socks like the three Palm drysuits above, and feature a snug double closure for mating to a drytop at the waist. They also have the same reinforced cordura knee/shin and butt area as the Palm drysuits, and pre-bent knees. The color is "plum" purple and they do not have a pocket, though most paddle jackets do. The main body material is XP150, the same fabric used on the Torrent drysuit above. Sizes small through XXL.

(see also Econo Pants above paddle jackets)

Note- if you wear a paddle jacket or drytop with a farmer john, we would humbly suggest that you will stay drier if you put on your top and then pull up the wetsuit. With tops and pants do just the opposite to prevent "fisherman's death" - like when waders get filled with water - pull your top down over the pants.

Sandals

Tractor Tread Sandal's ($25) shown at left, come in mens sizes 8 through 13, on closeout (no refunds but we will exchange sizes). These really grip slimy river rocks well compared to most soles, and they have fancy colored strapping too! We have seen one or two pairs where the toe strap pulled out of the base but we've sold quite a few, so it doesn't seem to be a common occurance.

Helmets Etc...

The Hitek Helmet ($27) comes in a one-size-fits-all harness style with foam ear padding. This helmet is more or less a knock-off of the Perception/Protec helmet at a much better price. Having seen Protecs actually break, it would be hard to make a case for them over the Hiteks.

Our higher grade helmet is the WRSI Current ($69). This universal size model comes with multiple foam liners so you can achieve a proper fit to your noggin. It is designed to not roll around on your head at all once the foam and harness is adjusted correctly. The webbing of the harness runs all through the shell to ensure this; in fact, the WRSI was engineered in the aftermath of a fatal river accident. A kayaker died due to head injuries suffered when a lower quality helmet roled back on his head, exposing his temples and forehead to underwater rocks. It may be the only helmet on the market to run through the gauntlet of both an engineering school and extensive field testing. The Lexan blend shell is also the strongest body we've seen since Seda quit making their fiberglass models. Thee come in yellow, black, blue, and red, and there are also a couple new colors we aren't stocking yet. This helmet is probably overkill for inflatable kayakers, but we will leave that for you to decide. For hardshellers who endeavor to keep moving up through the river difficulty scale, this small investment is well worth it. There are a number of import helmets on the market that run way over $100 that are not nearly as good in any way.

We also have a few Seda Fiberglass helmets left in the small size only, mostly in white. This is a very strong helmet, but Seda's sizing was always a bit overstated, so this small should almost be called an extra-small. If you want something for a larger kid, or you just have a very petite cranium, we're closing these out for $50. Tricot lined closed cell foam, full coverage, nylon webbing, motorcycle quality.

If you want to keep the sun or rain out of your eyes, and paddle with a helmet, the Salamander Beak ($17) is always a nice addition.  Beak Visors mount directly to any helmet with a powerful velcro tape (included), and no, they don't come off in swims. These have been tested in some very nasty hydraulics. In polyester two-sided neoprene, with your choice of red, olive, blue, & black.