Wearing a vest under a dry suit

I was just wondering if people do this or if you just wear the dry suit only since it will float you.

I wear my vest under the dry suit but have seen many go without. I'd rather have the extra impact protection and know that I'll still float if I blow a seal.

I'm with Walt. Wear at least a comp vest under the drysuit. I burp my drysuit till there really isn't any air at all left and I wouldn't rely on it to float me.

I always wear a vest under my Dry suit for same reasons mentioned above.

I have one or two friends that wear a vest underneath but most of us don't. We haven't had any problems. Do what makes you feel comfortable. I do always wear a vest when I am riding without a drysuit.

wear a vest, I had a shoulder seam come apart and took in water with no vest on, pretty scary moment.Turns into a anchor

Ok, charles that is exactly what i thought would happen. It seems like if it filled with water it would just pull you to the bottom.

You are an idiot to not ride with a lifevest no matter what kind of a suit you have on

Luke, How do you really feel ?

I have never rode without one i was just wondering because i just got a drysuit and havent tried it yet. I was planning to were it under it but i didnt know if other people thought you should.

The water in the suit will not pull you down. It becomes nuetral with the water around it. Wear a vest under it always.

can't you wear the vest over the drysuit??

Yes but it's better if you wear it under because it will stay dry.

Ok thanks

I've never used a vest with a drysuit, I usually wear a longsleeve shirt instead. I don't think you would sink, like mentioned above wouldn't you become neutrally buoyant? That would be a fun test. It would be a real bitch to get out of the water though!

I bruised my ribs last weekend wearing a CGA vest... so if nothing else, it's for the protection.

Big heavy...
I repeat my last statement. You are an idiot to not wear a vest with ANY suit.
The test you mention is ridiculous and would not prove anything.
Neutrally boyant is a crock of sh*t.

A "Fun" test you say? How would you feel if a group of 13 year olds reading this thought it would be fun to try and jumped in the water with a drysuit unzipped, got dragged under by a current an died. How "fun" would that be?

Any current at all will take you under to where it is most powerful. Even seemingly "still lakes" still have an area where there is an overflow pipe to maintain a certain depth which can create its own current.
If you hit your head on your board and lose consiousness you could be sucked down and drift 1/4 mile away before the boat could even return to the sight the thought they last saw you.

When people wakeboarding dont wear life vests, people die.

Of course you can wear the vest on the outside of your drysuit, give me a break. To "keep it dry".... Are you for real?

Just squeeze the air out as you close the seal and throw on the damn vest.
Too many people have died in this sport because of not wearing vests to even be having this assinine discussion.

(Message edited by eastcoastjedi on May 19, 2005)

Exactly what EastCoastJedi said.

Not to mention, you're wearing a drysuit because the water is cold. If you bust a seal you're going to be fighting hypothermia(sp?) while you're trying to stay afloat. How much time do you think you have?


Remeber Cordell, and remember that was summertime...

You can wear your lifejacket either way but why get it soaked for no good reason + it keeps you warmer. Inside all the way and always wear one.

I never planned to not wear one. I just wanted to know what people thought. I dont even like just jumping in off my boat on a hot day without one. Especially in a lake the size of Lake Erie. It is usually 15 to 40 feet deep where i am riding and that is near the shore line.

One other thing I've heard is people diving in head first w/ their drysuit that hasn't had the air "burbed" and the air stays in the legs and makes the person float upside down so they can't get their head above water. Never seen it..but heard about it.....from a competition barefooter back in the day.

yea man barefooters are goin a little faster than wakeboarders. ive never worn a vest with my wetsuit or a drysuit. i will actually ride my wetsuit a little longer in the season than needed jus so i dont have to wear a vest. thats when i learn the majority of my tricks each year. i find that if i let all( or as much as i can) of my air out of my lungs i dont sink with jus a wesuit on.

I was thinking more along the lines of the type of test Collin Wright did a couple years back with life vests. Basically he went into the shallow end of a pool and let all his air out to see which ones will float you & which ones will not. What kind of mad scientist would I be to put people in 200 foot deep water & say "here give her a go"? Obviously you think I'm stupid because I don't wear a vest under a drysuit but the fact of the matter is I know what I'm doing and I like looking like the Michelin man. Hell I float better with the drysuit than I do with my vest.

what tyler0 said..

big heavy,
I dont care if your wear a vest over or under your drysuit, and plenty of people who have drowned have "known what they are doing". Obviously everyone wil do what they want, dont you want to put the safest information out there to help less experienced riders make choices?
Wakeboarding shouldnt be a fashion show when there are proven deadly repercussions.
You cant pick where pockets of air settle or are forced in a drysuit. Even if you burp it.
Levi is exactly right and although it has more likelyhood of happening when barefooting because of the speed it can cetainly happen while wakeboaring.
What happens if a fin or corner slices a hole in your dry suit and there is any kind of a current, Or you knock yourself out and have no control of keeping your head above water.
Coast Guard approved PDF's help flip the user ontp their back or bob them straight up and down by design.

Another factor is visability...What color is your drysuit? Frequently black which is very difficulty to spot on most bodies of water.
I remeber the test Collin did but not specifics. If I remember I will call him up Monday from the office to get details. I know what he is gonna say about wearing a vest though!!
wear a lifevest boys and girls.

On a lighter note:

I find that wearing a vest under the drysuit helps me stay warmer. As the season warms up, I start to wear my vest over the drysuit as I don't need the extra warmth.

EastCoastJedi,
Earlier in this post I stated that I don't wear a vest. Your response was your an idiot if you don't wear one. Be that as it may, I probably won't ever wear one. It was nothing to do with a fashion statement either. You can't even tell if someone has one on under a drysuit. Like I said it is personal preference and do what makes you feel comfortable. I personally don't feel the need for one. I would say that if you are new and don't know how a drysuit works it probably would be a good idea to wear a vest.

Although I do think it is pretty damn stupid not to wear a vest, especially having lost someone close like Corey Kraut, I was more direction ghte idiot comment to the concept of not wearing a lifevest in general.
"I dont feel the need for one" : no one ever does until that last second that they need it and it saves their lives.
Just like in snowboarding where people will duck ropes to get to avy prone areas holding the goods, they think they are "good enough" to not have to pay attention to the posted warnings and proven fatalities that occur.

I was not intending on making a personal attack.

My point is that this is a public message board and the facts are that it is not safe to go out wakeboarding without a lifevest on. People posting behaviors and arguing to the contrary really piss me off.
I have been involved in the Wakeboard industry since I helped to create the Blindside wakeboard brand, at KD watersports back in the day. This subject hits close to home for me and is not something I am willing to mince words about or give up on proving the worth of lifevests.

I dont want to see anyone else die unnecessarily while pursuing their passion for wakeboarding.
Do what you want but say the right thing.

RIP... Corey Kraut....
wear a lifevest.

wear a condom

Kind of like the same thing,don't need one till you get an STD!


I think everybody preaches about safety on the water and not drinking too much etc.


Why would this matter be any different?

It's all fun and games till someonr gets their eye poked out and in this matter....EVEN WORSE!


SAFETY FIRST!!!

It won't kill you to put it on or ruin your fun,but it will kill you if you don't and needless to say,IT STOPS BEING FUN!!

Why are we talking about dry suits this time of year. If you don't already live in california move here. I've been riding in shorts for a month or so.

I believe everyone who rides should put on a vest. A friend of mine got knocked out when he hit his head on a slider and lucky for him the vest righted him so he didnt take in any water until we got to him. Experienced or not, vest are there for a reason.

Lake Erie is still 55 degrees. I will probably be wearing it for another 2-3 weeks.