TYPHOON Hendra women’s specific drysuit
I was used to wearing ‘unisex’ (read: man specific) dry suits before this one. Too tight or too bulky at the wrong places. And all the man specific suits are so good looking. So, I was eager to see what TYPHOON have in the pipeline for female paddlers. There are many women in TYPHOON’s development team, which I find an advantage for designing female-specific equipment. I crossed my fingers that they didn’t come up with a completely pink suit… They did not!
The looks
When unboxing the package, I was pleasantly surprised about the suit’s colour combination! Dark blue with black inserts and orange arms! We are always advocating for highly visible equipment for sea kayakers in general. The upper body is mainly covered by your PFD, leaves only the arms for some extra flashy fabric. This is an important detail when paddling during the short and dark winter days. And it looks good and fashionable. Cuffs are with Velcro closures, so no loose fabric when paddling.
Fit
When donning the suit, I immediately felt the difference from what I wore before the HENDRA. I always wear a base layer with a few thin but warm extra layers. I could move comfortably and still had a little extra room to wear an extra layer underneath. And it didn’t look bulky.
The HENDRA has the typical internal braces. There is a buckle on the back that is easily detachable. This is important as the hinge zipper is also the relief zipper. When the buckle is released, one can easily go to the toilet without too much fuss. It does not work too well with a PFD and spray deck, so I still have to remove those to get more comfortable.
The advantage of using the hinge zipper as a relief zipper is its placing. It is not scraping between your body and the seat in your kayak as a female-specific zipper could do. The hinge zipper is neatly tucked away underneath the tunnel of my spray deck, and the HENDRA can be pulled on and off without help from somebody else. Another advantage of the hinge zipper!
Take a look at the video we have made:
Functionality
I probably don’t have to tell you that we spend more time in the water than in our kayaks! The HENDRA delivers, keeping me bone dry even after an extended period in the water. The latex cuffs, covered with sturdy Velcro, and the comfortable neoprene neck seal are doing what they should do: keeping water out! The same counts for the socks and the zipper; nothing gets in when immersed. I felt no restrictions whilst paddling, swimming, and playing in the water.
Another good thing is the reinforcement on the knee and seat areas, and it comes in handy when training a lot on many rescue techniques. The Velcro on the waist skirt is adjustable and keeps everything in place when paddling.
Verdict
The HENDRA is a no-nonsense and affordable dry suit for female paddlers. It is a good and snug all-round suit with a fashionable look and a high-quality finish. The fabric is called TX4 and is used on all other TYPHOON dry suits. The only thing that lacks is a collar and hood.
This is, of course, a personal choice; some paddlers rather have no collar and hood because they use the suit for white water paddling. For surfing, the lack of collar and hood is an advantage. I hope that TYPHOON keeps developing suits for women, maybe making a female-specific version of the already existing dry suits such as the Multisport Sea Kayak.
