Mystic Kiteboarding Drysuit

Overview

First, an overview of the drysuit. I landed it in Aus for the sum total of A$400 (thanks Krudd). The mystic is more low end of the market so this was kind of a trial suit for me to test how the drysuit handles the winter and whether its worth getting something more expensive later. If it last 2 seasons, I'm happy and I'll get better one. The suit was shipped in from www.wetsuitoutlet.co.uk and fortunately, because its end of season there, their pricing is cheap and its easy to find decent specials. Price was 200 pounds (A$400) including express shipping and it took about 7 working days to arrive at my door. I would have purchased locally but the cheapest local one would have been about A$700.

The Product

The product seems decent quality. Material is thin and light and the package came with a free fleece under suit included. The material is breathable which is supposed to be a good thing, don't ask me why, but I think it makes you sweat less. The material reminds me a little of the waterproof rain pants you get for motorbiking. The under suit looks like a blue suit a factory worker would wear except its made from a fleecy material to absorb sweat. It might have dual applications for fancy dress parties, I just need to find out for what. The drysuit also comes with built in suspenders which are great. It also has a small pocket on the suspenders to put your car keys if you don't want them to get wet. On the down side, the instructions were a little basic. i.e. it was a tag that included some info on greasing up the zip, not much on how to get into the wetsuit or anything about best practices. I think Mystic may need to improve on this slightly for people who haven't used dry suits because its not the same as a wetsuit. For those who haven't done it before, here is a crash course - the best method of getting the feet and wrist on is to use one hand to stretch it over the part you are putting it on. After putting it on, you generally try get as much air out as possible and then seal it with the zip at the back. sealing it will require help from someone unless you add a string to it. Once sealed, its best to do one final burping off of any additional air by going down on your haunches (helps if you are in the water) and holding the neck open to get rid of air. If the neck/wrists/ankles are too tight, you can trim them down a little to make them looser. Ideally you don't want to rush putting a drysuit on like you do with a wetsuit or you can damage the seals. Seal can be replaced though so its not like it makes it irrepairable. Anyway, I'd say the product itself gets about a 9 out of 10, its in the adequate range and given the price, I feel its good value for money and meets expectations.

Using the drysuit

There are pros and cons to using a drysuit in Melbourne - On the upside, you just don't get cold. I mean you REALLY don't get cold, its not that you get cold slower than with a wetsuit, I've had it out late this afternoon, it felt warm enough for me to sweat while setting up, but once you're on the water it feels fine, not too hot or too cold. This may seem like a bad thing for warmer days but the advantage is you can wear thicker or thinner layers underneath depending on the weather. From a cold comfort perspective, I'd rate it as 10/10. I heard you lose flexibility in a drysuit, but you don't lose much at all, or at least as much as I expected. Its not that you can't bend your elbows, thats actually easier, you are just slower for certain movements because the material is loose and restricts how fast you move. I'd say that you are about 5% less mobile and it won't stop you doing many tricks you are already doing, but I just wouldn't learn nuke grabs in a drysuit. It does feel strange to have a baggy suit on in the water, but you get used to that pretty quickly. I tested the Ocean Rodeo and this definitely feels less baggy and less restrictive, but in all fairness to the Ocean Rodeo, I tested it without the under layer so the inside of the material was sticking to my skin. The weird thing is when you take it off, the inside material is a little wet, not from leakage but from sweat.

I can't vouch for the waterproofing on big falls for now, I was a little underpowered when I rode today because I got down to the beach late due to work, but I provide more feedback on that in a follow up.

For those of you used to taking a quick piss in your wetsuit, those days are over, piss in this and you'll have it sloshing around you for the rest of the day, not exactly an appealing thought, and not likely to win you friends in the odour ranks. NPX have a drysuit for kiting with a piss zip, but its $600 more, you do the maths as to whether that's worthwhile.

Final Verdict

If you are looking to avoid the cold, the drysuits are definitely the go. Your body feels like you're kiting in the tropics with minimal loss of flexibility. The pricing of the Mystic is good value for money, particularly compared to the competition, but I think everything is relative and you do get what you pay for, for example, the more expensive models come with brass zips, but on the other hand you do get breathable material which some of the mid range models don't have. Either way, I'm pretty happy with the purchase and I think I'll be using it often this winter, and i consider the Mystic to be a really good deal.

There are better options for flexibility like the Pyro Surf from Ocean Rodeo but it comes at a $700 premium over the Mystic so value for money suffers. The big question is do you have an extra $700 to spend and does it feel $700 more flexible? Having not tried it I can't comment but it may be something I look at in future when this drysuit dies and goes to cold weather heaven, if I have the cash, otherwise it may just be another one of these.

Here are my ratings:

Warmth 10/10
Quality 9/10
Price 10/10 (A$400 with under suit vs $600 for the cheapest OR and $1000 for the Pyro Surf and the NPX Lucifer - I've heard of guys picking up the Gul's for $400 but I could only find them for $550)
Flexibility 9/10
Overall Rating 9/10

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Thanks for the heads up Saffer

Altho i think i am invincible i do have issues with the cold and the Mystic sounds like the drysuit for me

Bonza

Tried it again today. No issues with falls, no spray up arms or legs.

The undersuit does have a slightly damp feel to it when you get off the water, but that's from sweat. I.e. its over all of the suit rather than just the arms and legs where it would be from leakage.