New drysuit water-soak?

Hi, guys!

Tried the new drysuit today on a 3-hour paddle in a sea kayak, where I tried to do my best in leg drive and torso rotation - so a lot of friction in the seat. There was some water in the cockpit and the seat was more or less under water. As the water here is about 1*C, I felt quite cold at times and after arrival inspected the drysuit and saw that the material covering the paddlers behind was visibly wet compared to everything else (one the photo you can see the wet spots on the right and the larger area in the middle). The baselayer pants I was wearing were completely wet. I am 90% confident that it was not simply from sweating.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Thanks

IMHO ... it should not be "wet". A wet bucket and 3h paddling in it in my drysuit leaves me a damp/moist suit in the butt area ... same for feet, but not wet. Is it an older model? Contact the manufacturer.

Thanks for the answer

This is a new ca 800 euros drysuit by an established company, the model was introduced 3 years ago and is quite popular.

Today we were cleaning the river from fallen trees and debris and I had a chance to test the suit further, by walking in the current and also swimming a little. All worked fine, only the socks were wet in the end, but I walked in the current for more than an hour, so I'd give it to that. Still, the problem with sitting in the wet seat bothers me a bit and before turning to the manufacturer, I'd like to get more opinions on the issue from people who sit in wet buckets for hours at a time - what better specialists for this than surf ski paddlers

Yeah, spent a few hours in the bucket, but, never worn/needed a dry suit - Give you guys a lot of credit! Watching those videos
gives me the shivers.
Good luck solving the mystery. Brrrrrrrrrrr!

Your dry suit is fine. Water only beads on goretex or similar waterproof breathable fabrics if there is a water repellant coating. This is applied at the factory. It wears off first in high friction areas. Congratulations you must have been rotating nicely. The goretex membrane is still waterproof even though the water no longer beads on it. However, because the outer fabric can now be saturated with water, it feels cold from the inside, and in fact is cold when exposed to the air thanks to evaporative cooling. Condensation inside the dry suit will form with physical activity as there is a limit to how much water vapor can pass through the membrane. Condensation collects the most in the but because it is cold, because it is against the wet seat and can't breathe, and because gravity causes it to trickle down there.

There are many products out there to rejuvenate the waterproof finish, but i suspect none will last long under the butt.

I'd agree with zach regarding why it collects at the but inside and sooks in the layers. Water steam can't evaporate out at those areas, that are under water. However I don't have it really soaked wet and I do sweat. I paddle in a wet "naked PE bucket". (note: I got a V7 for familly/friends use in summer and as a winter ski for the choppy windy days in winter for its insane stability, super easy remountability and material reg. ice on the lakes. Ironically ignored that in such conditions a V7 is a very wet ride). The winter before, I paddled in my Hawx which is a completely dry ride, due to the higher sidewalls, but for me harder to remount in waves with my dry suit on after some hours of paddling.

My suit is three years old. A 500 Euro, no big name suit. But maybe it's made differently in the butt area, different layers? I'll check later on and post.
Edit: nope.

Are you wearing functional breathable and vapor transporting underwear/layers below the drysuit?

You said you paddled in a sea kayak with water in it... with spray skirt would mean that after some time your lower body was enclosed in a humid chamber. In my surfski, I have that lower body/legs exposed to the wind, so although my butt is in a wet seat, evaporation happens over a much larger surface for 3h? So it might be really sweat in your case?

I wear wool underneath my dry suit; it stays warmer when you're wet, and I tend to come back pretty soaked from sweat & condensation when I'm paddling in a dry suit.

Thanks for Your opinions, guys!!

I had some extensive testing on the river for a couple of days straight. There are no leaks or other problems of that sort. Although sitting in the boat with water in it creates this same result, which is a combination of sweat and some material soaking. Strangely enough, it's not at all the same as simply being submerged for 10 minutes or so, it's much worse with the seat contact

I am wearing a sports base layer and a warm layer, which came with the suit and they work well. But when I sit in a kayak with water in it, I feel the water in the suit.. I am not going to turn to the manufacturer yet and will wait and see. I thank You all for input!!