Bought an xcel 4/3 steamer for winter. Used it yesterday for the first time and found I had to stop kiting 4 times in 1hr to let a LOT of water out of each leg....soo much in fact that it had filled up both legs completely and was making kiting quite difficult. Has anyone had this problem?? Any advice to avoid this??
Cheers.

um, possibly it's too big for you. wetsuits require a tricky balance between water-excluding snugness and movement-preventing tightness.

that's just one of the reasons why one-size-fits-all kitepants are so rad. hot and cool at the same time, and just quietly i've heard that some kitepant manufacturers are researching a kite-top for the extra cold days. don't be fooled, to the untrained eye this may look like a kmart tracksuit, but do they come in one-size-fits-all? no they don't, therefore kitepants and top are something entirely different: kiting-specific performance wear.

just my 2c, kitepants aren't for everyone, good luck resolving your water retention.

dojo

Hi Wazza,

Just put either velcro or insulation tape around the ankles, problem solved! It's probably a surfing suit, they don't have the issue of water spraying up the leg from the board so don't have any need to rectify the issue.

Kiteboarding specific wetties have this sorted.

Good winds,

It's caused by the water jetting up your leg and the cuff turning inwards making a seal. Modern soft, super stretchy suits are easily pushed around by the water.

You can fix it by using tape or a velcro band around your ankles. That can be a pain at the end of a session. There's nothing worse than having your wettie down around your ankles and finding you've forgotten to remove the tape.

The best solution in winter is to wear booties with your wettie legs tucked into the boots. You stay nice and warm and don't get water up your leg.

You can reduce the effect by rolling the leg of your suit up a little on the outside of the leg. That allows the water to drain out but it will eventually unroll and you'll be back to square one. You still get water jetting up your leg and that will make you cold.

I've read about guys running a bead of polyurethane glue around the ankle leaving a gap at the back of 30-50mm. The idea is that it stiffens the ankle but it will still stretch to get your foot in. I've never tried it. I just wear booties in winter.

Gorgo said...

I've read about guys running a bead of polyurethane glue around the ankle leaving a gap at the back of 30-50mm. The idea is that it stiffens the ankle but it will still stretch to get your foot in. I've never tried it. I just wear booties in winter.

I wouldn't recommend running glue around your ankle if you have hairy legs. It would be a bugger to remove

hey you could always get some kite pants instead

but it begs the question, how does the ion wetty look with board shorts over the top?

I had exactly the same problem.

Was a bit scared to cut my new wettie, but i cut a small hole (3mm diameter) with scissors about 1 inch up from the bottom of each leg. Water just drains out the holes.

Works perfect.

Pissing in a sealed seam winter wetsuit is definitely not recommended. They don't flush through so you'll end up bathing in a stinking pool of cold piss.

I think you are right Saffer ...I just checked and I paid $380 for mine in december 07 .

Sorry for the misleading prices folks