NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE
Guy Cotten has made foul weather gear (a.k.a. “rain gear”) and high-quality marine clothing since 1964 in their factory in Brittany, France. Guy Cotten offers both recreational and commercial fishing foul weather rain gear, yachting wear, fleece clothing and safety equipment for the high seas. Over the years, Guy Cotten has revolutionized the docks with their continual development of specialized protective clothing dedicated to the commercial fishing industry as well as the recreational fishing and boating industries. A great number of commercial fishermen from all over the world have and continue to choose Guy Cotten’s quality and comfort.
One of the latest items to be introduced to coastal anglers from the good folks at Guy Cotten is their Surfcasting Dry Top. Guy Cotten Surfcasting Dry Tops are waterproof, breathable, lightweight and very comfortable. With their sleek, high performance and functional design, these Dry Tops are great for a variety of marine uses including surfcasting, kayaking, sailing, boating as well as recreation and commercial fishing. Guy Cotten Dry Tops are made from a performance technical high grade waterproof and breathable three-layer Dremtech+ (90% Polyamide and 10% Polyurethane) fabric which provides maximum flexibility and user comfort. For strength and durability, the seams are heat sealed with a special tape on the inside to reinforce stress points and insure waterproof seams.
These pullover Surfcasting Dry Tops feature "seals" at the neck, waist and wrists to keep water out. The neck seals with a soft, adjustable neoprene collar with Velcro chin flap and inside neck gusset for ease of donning and venting. The waist seals with a wide and fully adjustable neoprene waist band with a waist gusset and double Velcro closure. The adjustable closures can be worn open/loose for extra air flow in warm situations or if conditions call for it, the Velcro straps can be tightened down to seal out water. These surf tops also feature Guy Cotten’s adjustable "Magic Hood," which easily stows into the collar. It doesn’t restrict your movement and with its adjustable drawstring, it doesn’t obstruct your vision.
TWO CHOICES
The Guy Cotten Surf 800 series Surfcasting Dry Top is a stealthy all-black pullover surf top. It features double cuff closures at the wrists. There is a Velcro adjustable inner neoprene cuff with a Velcro adjustable outer cuff. This fully adjustable double cuff keeps water out. This dry top also has a small kangaroo pouch with a storm flap Velcro closure. The pouch is very handy to store small items like a pair of gloves or a small plastic terminal tackle box.
The Guy Cotten Surf 1200 series Surfcasting Dry Top features the same lightweight, waterproof, breathable Dremtech+ material as the Guy Cotten Surf 800 Series gear. However, there are a few minor differences. The Guy Cotton Surf 1200 series pullover top has a green chest and shoulder area. I have also seen a limited run of these pullover tops with a navy blue upper. The Guy Cotten 1200 series offers an even better wrist seal to resist water intrusion and keep you dry. Under the outer adjustable wrist cuff, the Surf 1200 features latex wrist gaskets (instead of neoprene like on the 800 Series) which are found on dry suits. The latex cuffs are tight-fitting to keep water out yet are very comfortable when moving around. The latex cuffs can be cut back to fit large-diameter wrists and can also be replaced when they are worn out (or if they rip) at any quality dive shop.
When I contacted Guy Cotten USA’s New Bedford, MA office to get some more background info for this product review, Sales Manager Patrick Jaquet told me that the pullover Surf Top was designed to answer the need of surfcasters who were complaining that current market competitive products were not totally satisfactory for keeping out salt and spray from inner layers of clothing. The Guy Cotten Surf Top is now considered one of the best surf tops on the market, and it will continue to stay 100% waterproof even after several years of intense use. Why? Because of the high quality of the fabric, the expertise that Guy Cotten fabricators have when manufacturing heat taped seams and because they do it in their own plants, versus some competitors who subcontract them overseas.
Offered in sizes from medium to 4XL, I have seen these offered for sale at online retailers for $248 for the 800 series tops (M, L, XL; $271 for XXL and $286 for XXXL) and $252 for the 1200 series pullovers (M, L, XL; $278 for XXL and $292 for XXXL).
