VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Can anyone give me feedback on there winter windsurfing experience with the new OR Pyro Surf? Durability, comfort, warmth, etc.

Thanks.

Hi Mike,

Since no one has chimed in yet, I'll let you know what I've heard from owners of the Pyro Surf suit. I own the Pyro Pro, but have not sailed in the Surf. So far the consensus (3 sailors) is that the suit is warm, but it may take a session or two to figure out the best amount of layering for you personally for a given set of conditions and temperature. The suit is much easier to swim in than the baggy Pro suit, but it is not as bomb proof. It may be a bit early to say whether or not the Pyro Surf is durable or not, as local sailors have not had even a full season in the suit. I've been looking for wear issues on the suit and talking to owners of the suit and none seem to have had any issues in this regard. Comfort wise the report is that the suit is very comfy and unrestrictive. The Pro suit is like wearing rain gear over jammies (in a good way). I suspect the Surf will feel like lycra over jammies, allowing even better freedom of movement. One of the key aspects of the suit is that you can swim without the same drag you'd get from a baggier drysuit (ask Kus!), which could mean the difference between catching your gear in the surf zone or taking a long, tiring beating (or worse).

So, most of this response is all hearsay until an owner of the suit drops into this thread!

I used the surf suit for demo (thx to OR for the trial ) at CB a couple of times and once at Kook. Superhero looks! I found it didn't leak much at all, if at all, which is a switch from my PolarHeat Bare Swimming was a bit easier but the lycra has some inherent friction too. The trouble that I had which may have been resolved with a larger size was with the seals. Especially the ankle seals were an amazing bitch. I worked myself into a frenzy just getting dressed and since I do the naked dance in the parking lot usually, I had the goods hanging out for a half hour just trying to get the damn thing on and off very annoying and my polar heat definitely had the edge on THAT, two seconds flat. I am told tho that both Dave and Ralph in Nanaimo have no such issues so it may have been the sizing and may try another one someday. Warmth wise it wasn't as warm as I thought it would be with the nice fleecy that comes with it and I had to add a longsleeve cotton layer to the fleece. The seals were as said very snug cutting off circulation and the suit itself seemed to fatigue me, not sure if I was just having a geriatric day or not or it was working the lycra.
Overall, if the thing fits properly I think it has a leg up on the older Pyros for drag reasons and zipper location for sure, much easier in the front but really never an issue for me personally, I know others struggle with this tho. The wear and tear on the lycra I can see being an issue over time, not sure how sun will affect it either, time will tell I guess. My Polarheat is still going strong (however zipper seems to be leaking now) with over 6 seasons on it, one neck/wrist seal replacement done. I think after the JR thing I am going to the new NeilPryde Elite suit next but I could see kiters prefering these OR surfdry suits

I bought the surf dry suit last summer. Works great. The seals are very tight and you stay dry. They loosen up a bit so don't make them too big. Original size turned my head blue so I figured cutting the hole a little bigger would prolong my sessions and my life. It does take some time figuring out how to get in and out of it but that is ok now. Probably easier due to the seals being looser. Seems to work fine surfing, but I am not much of a surfer. It is very warm even on the coldest days. It does take some time to figure out how heavy a fleece you need to use depending on conditions. It is holding up fine. I also like the front zipper so I can get in and out of it without tying myself to a tree.