NRS Men's Axiom Drysuit

‚  

So in full transparency, NRS gave me the Men's Axiom drysuit to try out, but in no way are they paying me to do this review. This is all me. These are my first thoughts after using the drysuit for a couple weeks.

I've had the drysuit now for a couple of weeks. I've used it in a little bit of creekboating and a whole bunch of teaching.

NRS Men's Axiom Drysuit Fit

I'm 5'9, 165 - 170lbs, and the medium couldn't be a better fit.

I have big legs and a big butt, to be perfectly honest. So I have to wiggle to get the drysuit over my hips, but once it's on, it feels as though it's tailored for me. It's pretty much a perfect fit and the best fitting drysuit that I've ever put on.

NRS Men's Axiom Drysuit Features

Gaskets

The neck and wrist gaskets fit me perfectly out of the box. They're not choking me out and don't feel like they're gonna loosen up too quickly. So I'm really stoked about that.

Zipper

It's got a nylon YKK zipper, like most drysuits now, and a flap to cover it. This cover helps protect the zipper. What I've found is that there's not a lot of bunching where the zipper is, even though the Axiom is made of out the same GORE-TEX Pro material as other whitewater drysuits.

The zipper feels quite supple. The design and the tailoring of it, for me, feels really good underneath a PFD. So that's another win for sure.

Spray Skirt Tunnel

So one other feature that's super important for whitewater drysuits is the spray skirt tunnel. The NRS Axiom drysuit tunnel is not that much different from others that we've seen.

It has velcro closures on the outside and sticky rubber on the inside so that it prevents the tunnel from riding up when you're in whitewater and with all the dynamic movements we make there.

The one thing I am interested to see is how well the velcro stays stuck to the tabs. I feel as though the way it's built, there may be some potential for de-lamination there, but I guess only time will tell. There's no reason for that, other than just maybe a little gut feeling.

Relief Zipper

‚  As with most men's drysuits, it has a relief zipper. It actually seems kind of high to me, and in a strange spot. Maybe it's just the fit of the drysuit, but it's a relief zipper and it does the trick.  

Ankle Cuffs

Another piece that I really do like are the elasticated ankle cuffs. Many drysuits have velcro cuffs, which are fine. These ones are just elasticated and it just seems really simple and they seem to fit really well.

Whitewater Usage

I've been creeking in it a couple of times; I've been teaching in it a bunch. I've been standing in the water, teaching people to roll and everything else paddling related.

As you would expect with a Gore-Tex drysuit after about 10 or 11 uses, it's still completely dry and still has the DWR on it and the water still beads off.  

So it still feels real rockstar when you've been in the water and then you can still put a dry drysuit back in your gear bag. It's pretty awesome, we all know that that will eventually go away, but I still get stoked about little things like that.

NRS Men's Axiom Drysuit Review Summary

The proof will be in the pudding with this drysuit. It's gonna take some time to see how well it stands up to teaching 50 - 60 days a season and creeking / playboating and all that kind of thing.

But my first thoughts are that it's a great fitting, really well built drysuit. You can't really go wrong with GORE-TEX Pro. GORE-TEX warranty's their material and NRS has a great warranty / backup program if there's any manufacturing defects too.

So far, so good. Really happy well done NRS. I'll check in again later in the season or early next season with an update, but for now it gets two thumbs up and seems like a really great GORE-TEX drysuit option.

If you have any questions about this, or any other drysuit, feel free to contact us or visit us in store!