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Need to rent a watersports drysuit? Kayak Academy rents men's and women's GoreTex dry suits for rafting, kayaking, canoeing, and sailing, and we ship them anywhere in the 48 contiguous states. Our rental dry suits have Gore-Tex dry socks and a pee system (either a Men's "Front Relief Zipper" or a Women's "Drop-Seat Zipper"). NOTE: Our rental drysuits are for paddle sports and sailing ONLY. If you wish to rent a suit for SCUBA diving contact a dive shop.
To start the reservation process, please read through the information provided here and fill out the fields requested at the bottom of this page. You may then add this "rental" to your cart and proceed to check out. No payment will be required for this request. THIS IS NOT A RESERVATION, THIS IS A REQUEST FOR A RENTAL - THE FIRST STEP. YOU DO NOT HAVE A RENTAL SUIT RESERVED FOR YOU JUST BY COMPLETING THIS FORM. READ ON FOR MORE INFO. When you check out and we process your request (allow two business days), we will email you an estimate with the rental details. Once you get this estimate and confirm that all the information is correct (check shipping address and dates), call us with your credit card information to complete the rental reservation. If you have any questions about this process or wish to check on the status of a previous request, please give us a call or send us an email.
K.A. has the world's largest fleet of rental GoreTex dry suits, and we have the widest selection of men's and women's sizes (we have rental drysuits from youth sizes to custom XXL-Tall's for men up to 6' 8"). We have decades of experience sizing folks for dry suits so give us your honest dimensions and our staff can choose the right size suit for you. If you reserve a dry suit in advance and ask to have it shipped to your home, we'll ship your suit early so you'll have time to try it on and confirm the fit before you leave for your trip.
Our rental dry suits are made in the USA by Kokatat -- the leading brand in the water-sports drysuit industry. Our rental dry suits are less than 2 years old, but more importantly we inspect the gaskets for wear and leak test our rental dry suits before and after each rental. So you can be assured that your rental suit has no leaks and the gaskets are in good shape. After your trip we will test the suit again for leaks and assess any damage to the suit (read our Rental Tips to help you prevent damage).
We are based near Seattle in Issaquah, WA. Local renters may pick up suits at our shop and save on shipping. You may rent Long-Term Rental (10 to 30 days for a flat fee of $295.00). We require a $200.00 damage deposit to be held on all dry suit rentals until the suit is returned and tested for damage. Local renters may pick up dry suits a couple days in advance and returned up to two days after your trip with no extra charge. If you need us to ship your rental, we only charge for the days of use and the cost of shipping - no fee for the time in transit (However, a non-refundable three-day minimum rental is required for all rentals that are shipped whether you use the suit or not). For example, if you are rafting the Grand Canyon for 25 days but you need the suit to arrive a few days before the trip and can't return it till you get home a few days after the trip, we still only charge you the flat rate rental fee of $295.00 (plus shipping and damage dep.).
You must wear wetsuit booties or other full coverage boots over the dry socks on our rental dry suits - dry socks are not for walking without the protection of booties over them. If you wear sandals or Crocks over the dry socks, the sides and heels of the socks will be exposed to abrasion from brush and rocks which can wear out the socks in one trip. Replacing dry socks will cost you $237.00 We offer comfortable rental wetsuit booties and you can rent them for $6/day or a $25 flat fee for up to 30 days. Booties need to be a size larger than what you wear barefoot to accommodate the drysocks and your liner socks. So even if you own booties you may need to rent bigger ones.
Note: If you decide to buy a new drysuit from us before the end of the year (Dec. 31), you may use up to $150.00 of your suit's rental fee as credit toward purchasing a new drysuit from us (Credit is not transferable to other people and may not be combined with any other discounts or special offers. You may not combine the rental fees from more than one suit toward the purchase of one suit.)
Dry Suit Rental Fees:
The following prices do not include taxes (no tax if shipped outside Washington state)
Wet Suit Bootie (Neoprene) Rental Fees:
Note: to reserve a rental dry suit, you must prepay the amount on the estimate we email you. If you haven't paid, you do not have a reservation. Except for members of a nuclear family, each renter must pay separately - no group rentals.
We ship our rental dry suits to the 48 US contiguous states via UPS ground.
Faster shipping (3-day UPS, 2-day UPS, UPS Next Day Air, etc.) is available for an added fee, but overnight shipping for a dry suit and booties is typically over $240 so plan ahead. We can make a pre-paid UPS Return Shipping Label for you to use at the end of your trip (just drop it off at any office supply store or mailbox business that offers UPS shipping services).
UPS ground shipping fees (no free shipping on rentals):
Please reserve your rental dry suit as far in advance as possible to allow for shipping time and ease our scheduling.
If you’ve never worn a dry suit before, your first impression will likely be that the neck gasket is too tight. But gaskets need to be snug or the suit will leak. Generally, people forget all about the gaskets once they get on the water and start having fun (or see the big hole they are about to drop into). However, if you try on a new dry suit at a store, the gaskets are probably tighter than necessary. We customize the fit of the gaskets on our rental suits in proportion to the neck and wrist sizes of the average person likely to wear each size dry suit. When you order we will ask you to measure your neck. If you have an unusually large neck or wrist and/or a medical sensitivity that makes a tight gasket cause a real health problem (i.e. if you’ve had lymph nodes removed or you are truly concerned about your circulation), tell us in advance and/or ask someone in your group with experience wearing a dry suit to check the gasket fit. The only way to significantly loosen a gasket is to trim it, you may need to do this, however, if you trim a gasket we will have to replace it so the suit won’t leak for the next renter - therefore you will be billed for the cost of replacing the gasket ($95.00 neck and $55.00 each wrist).
Our goal is to give every renter a full refund of their damage deposit, and we've written some "Tips for Drysuit Renters" which we include with long-term rentals to help you avoid damage to your rental suit. We don't expect our suits to come back in as good a condition as they left our shop, but after a month-long trip, there are obvious differences between a conscientious renter and a careless one. Our rental dry suits are the most rugged and tough waterproof breathable paddle sports dry suits made, but no dry suit can withstand carelessness. If your suit cleans up with normal machine washing and has no leaks, we'll refund your damage deposit in full. However, if gaskets have been trimmed to loosen them, the cost for parts and labor to replace the gaskets will be deducted from your damage deposit ($55.00 per wrist, $95.00 for neck). Any holes or rips over an inch long will be charged $10/inch to cover the cost of repair and depreciation. If we find more than three small pinhole leaks, we will deduct $5.00 each from your damage deposit for the additional leaks (fourth, fifth, etc. up to $50.00). Broken zippers and worn out dry socks require factory repair/replacement - if we have to send the suit to the manufacturer for repairs, the retail cost of these factory repairs plus shipping to and from the factory will be deducted from your damage deposit (the minimum cost for this is $50 plus shipping).
Tip: Don't toss your dry suit over a bush to air it out. Mesquite and other bushes poke holes in dry suits.
Note: It typically takes 3-4 weeks after we receive your rental suit for us to clean, dry, test, dry, and sometimes retest after patching before we can process any credit for your damage deposit. The dirtier the suit and the more you abuse it, the longer it takes for our inspection service and/or sending suits back to the factory for repairs. You wouldn't want to rent a leaky suit, and we wouldn't want the next person who rents your suit to have it leak either. It takes a lot of labor and love to keep these rental suits in good working condition. We take pride in our dry suit rentals so we don't take shortcuts in inspecting them. That's why people rent and buy from us - they trust our gear to work. Be patient about getting your deposit credit and remember, the better you take care of your rental suit the faster we can return your credit, and the less you will be charged for damage. Read and the "Renter's Guide" we send with the suit and follow this advice. About half of our long-term renters are good renters, and good renters get their full $200.00 damage deposit back. So please be a good renter and everyone will be happier.
"I would like to thank your staff for the rental of the dry suit. It worked perfectly. The professional help and courtesy extended was greatly appreciated." SL
"Thank you for renting the dry suits to Amy and I, they were comfortable and effective. When I asked the booking staff at Quark Expeditions for recommendations of where I could rent a dry suit they had none. I found you through a web search. Most of the Kayakers on our Antarctic trip reported having a very hard time finding places to rent dry suits, so I gave out your web site and suggested the staff add you to the trip prep documentation. Regards, Geoff"
"I could not have been more pleased with your service, and the quality of the rental suit was excellent!", B.H., FL
