Peak Custom Drysuit Review

About a month ago I received my new Peak Deluxe Suit and it is AWESOME! New this year and unique to Peak for now, their custom kit range allows you to have some quality personalised kit that makes you stick out from everyone else on the river while at the same time not breaking the bank (in relative terms… around the £500 mark depending on store deals). Not only that, it’s also a really simple process to go through meaning you don’t have to be an artistic genius to be able to use it. 

The Suit

Now there is one very small downside to this option and that is that you’ll have to settle for the older model of drysuit, not that this is a bad thing at all, it’s just that you won’t be able to have any of the new features that Peak have upgraded their new suit with. In my personal opinion, I actually preferred the older suit, as I found the new model to be quite chunky with the upgraded X4 mid-heavy weight nylon. There are a few other features that are missing but none of these affect the performance of the suit too much.

Slight negatives aside, it is a really good piece of kit. It comes with the usual size ranges from small up to extra-large with the really handy medium large option for people like me that have long torsos but short legs. They even take into account some slightly strange measurements before production such as you forearm dimensions but this all results in a really good fit. The seals are really comfy and have yet to cause any rashes like I have experienced with other kit in the past and it comes with the great leg entry design that makes getting into it much easier than the old back entry suits. Having the zip here I find also keeps it inside the boat therefore reducing its exposure to water. This is totally theoretical but I would assume that the zip would be the weak link within the suit so having it on the inside of the boat would reduce the chance of any leaks. It does however lack that handy front zip that the new model now has but the having the leg entry system means that this isn’t as problematic as it could be. It also comes with plenty of foot space within the socks (up to about size 12 ½) with the option of having larger socks fitted.

The design

My design

Now this is the stage that you would think that it would get a little complicated but it really doesn’t. At the moment they only offer three base colours, black, white and yellow. I went for the white base which I though was potentially a bit risky but it is still white so far! Then you can move onto the cool bit. The custom designs are really well made. Your design is actually coloured onto the fabric of the suit meaning that it will last as long as the suit does, no peeling off of washing out.  Peak provided a template to put the design on which is really clear and easy to work with. Once you have the template you can either draw on your own design or line up a pre made design as best as you can. It doesn’t have to be perfect as the guys at Peak are able to tweak the design, albeit at a small cost that doesn’t affect the overall price too much (they do charge per hour so bare this in mind). And that is pretty much it. Peak will add on their logos to the design before production but I found that these were worked really well into my design, not just carelessly placed in a generic place. They will also make sure that you are happy with the changes that they have made before the order is complete so you can have your own say in the matter too.

The finished product

In all, this is a well-made suit from Peak as expected and comes with the added benefit of being made totally unique to your own design.