Ocean Rodeo Pyro for windsurfing

akmonroe · Post by **akmonroe** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 12:05 pm

Hey all,

I am wanting to extend my windsurfing season this year. So, I am looking into Drysuits. It seems like the Pyro is the way to go from what I have read. However, it seems like they are used mostly for kiting. I want to learn how to kite someday, but for now I am doing the windsurfing thing. Has anyone used the pyro for windsurfing? How does it compare to, say, a Bare dry/semidry suit?

Thanks

Alex

RobH · Post by **RobH** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:06 pm

I have to say the Bare with the extra padding on the knees is nice for windsurfing if you ever have to crawl up on the board.

steveb · Post by **steveb** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:42 pm

The pyros are not that good for windsurfing. The biggest issue is the suit wrinkles when it's in the water. I should rephrase this and say all baggie suits wrinkle in the water. The wrinkles create drag and if you have to swim to catch your board ( the dreaded board separation in high wind ) the suit really slows you down. Really !!!!!! slows you.
Kiters are alway attached to our power source, so we use the wind to get us through the water, no swimming required.
What I'm sayings based on experience when I got separated by 20 ft from my board, I didn't think I was ever going to catch the board again, kind of scary.
So The suits like the bares with the smooth legs are much faster in the water and require less effort.

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 5:24 pm

About 4 years ago, I switched to a full baggy -- for windurfing.

I really like the full baggy. You can put thick or thin layers (I like poly pro) under the baggy.

And it's easy to get on and off.

I get tossed all the time and I make it back to my rig -- no problem. Maybe the wind blows me the same rate/direction as the rig.

If you are in big water and you get you get a huge tear and you get seperated from your rig, the baggy could fill with water and you could have a problem. That's the the one advantage I can see with the neoprene (tight) bottom with the baggy top -- if you get a tear in the bottom half, it doesn't fill with water.

steveb · Post by **steveb** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 9:24 am

The baggy filling with water and becoming a problem is a bit of an old wives tale. Water when in a body of water carries no weight. So swimming with a full suits no biggy as long as you don't try to get above the top of the water. Getting out of the water and going on land, now you have to deal with the weight.

akmonroe · Post by **akmonroe** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 10:08 am

Thanks for all the Feedback. Being relatively new to the windsurfing/kiting community I am still amazed by how friendly and helpful everyone is.

I am young my knees can handle getting on the board evey once in a while, and I always dress for the swim/drift home and wear a PFD. So, I think I will try the bag type. I can always use it for kiting.... Once I learn... I love the water

Windandwater · Post by **Windandwater** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:52 am

I agree with Rob and Steve.

I have had the full bag and the Bare half bag/ half neoprene.

I remember swimming in the bag suit for 10 minutes just one foot behind my rig, the sail catching enough air to stay just out of reach. I also have replaced the gaskets in the Bare several times and found that to be a chore. My choice is all neoprene if you can get a fit or if you don't mind paying for a custom suit made to your dimensions.

Good Luck!

davec · Post by **davec** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 3:48 pm

I've been using the Ocean Rodeo baggy for 4 or 5 yrs now and I love it. I using it for both windsurfing and kiting. It is a little harder to swim in but its never been a problem for me. I actually get less tired then if I was swimming in a full neopren suit because of all the floation I get from it. The best part about the baggys is having the ability to wear as much or as little underneath as you need. In my experience with going out riding with friends who are in full neoprene suits I'll come in complaining about being to hot and they come in absolutely frozen. But obvisouly not all suits are created the same so I'm sure theres good full neoprene ones to.

RobH · Post by **RobH** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:03 pm

The interesting combination between the two is the new OR Pyro surf suit. The traditional bag suit with the outer covering that elilmiates the bag. It looks like a interesting suit with the downfall of applying one more layer - but on the upside maybe the both of best worlds - anyone try one ?

Scuba Center · Post by **Scuba Center** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 1:09 pm

Alex
As with Dave I also use the Ocean Rodeo Pyro for Windsurfing. Its a great suit, extremely durable, in fact I have been using mine for 4 seasons now. Being in the Scuba/Windsurfing/kiting business I have had a chance to test a lot of dry suits and would have to say this is one of the most versitle suits I personally have tried.By simply making a change in the thickness of whatever you choose to wear underneath you can extend the season for this suit and get a lot of use out of it. I have the original Pyro with the zipper in the back but if I were to replace it I would probably go with the Pro simply because the zipper in the front could make entry go a little smoother. If you are intrested I am an Ocean Rodeo dealer and I would be happy to discuss pricing with you. At the moment I have a shipment that is scheduled to be sent next week. If you have made your decision and know the model and the size I could include your suit and possiby save you some money. Give me a call at 612-925-4818 if I can be of assistance.
Larry

ice_kmauve · Post by **ice_kmauve** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:39 pm

Steve -- while it's true that if a tear or rip in the drysuit will not result in you sinking (water's neutrally buoyant) what it could do is make you too heavy, in the suit, to be able to mount the board and get back to land. If one were in very cold water, like 35 degree, then you could presumably freeze to death before being able to body drag back in. For this reason, they recommend a knife carried with the dry suit, so that in this unlikely, but probably fatal situation, a person could cut a hole in the bottom of the drysuit, so that the water would drain out, thus allowing them to ride back to the launch and get warm. Having said all that, I've found that in cold weather situations, I've tended to only kite in on-shore or side-on situations, within 1/2 mile of land, thus I would be able to body drag in regardless of weighing 400 pounds from taking on a lot of ice-cold water. I guess one could imagine a scenario where you lose the kite, have a ripped dry suit allowing 33 degree water to fill the suit, and are kiting alone. If this happens, I would say make a hail mary sign and prepare to meet your maker, and be glad you didn't die slowly of ball cancer. Besides, it is about as likely to happen as being struck by lightning while playing chess.

LAKAWA

Ocean Rodeo Pyro for windsurfing

Ocean Rodeo Pyro for windsurfing

bare

windsurfing suit

the surf suit

Ocean Rodeo