In 2013 we first released the Arch Rival garments and the idea was simple- a basic, heavy duty breathable product that was affordable and could stand up to the horrible abuses suffered by whitewater drywear for many, many seasons.

We love the laminate that we developed for these garments- we called it “WhiteOut”- and we’re still using it today across our entire drywear line. Its breathable, seemingly impervious to damage caused by the sweaty, twisting, flexing bacteria-filled environment inside a paddler’s drysuit or dry top, and it sticks to a wide variety of shell fabrics like gum on a shag carpet.

The shell fabric we chose for the original Arch Rivals was a 200 denier nylon oxford that was inexpensive, strong and bonded really well with laminates. So why change it? Well, oxford fabric has a stiff hand when new, and some customers like a supple hand feel on their garments. We get it- we like that too- so we introduced the 2015 Arch Rival- the same jackets but with a softer nylon shell that is just as strong, just a bit more expensive. But still, we love the oxford. It breaks in like a leather jacket, absorbs very little water, and it looks like you mean business. Best of all, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better value in paddlesports. The result? We kept it on board with the moniker “OX”. A great jacket for anyone tough on gear or looking for a great value, or both.

It has the same basic feature set as the 2015 Arch Rival jackets:

• Latex neck and wrists. All of our latex gaskets are glued in ’cause it’s old school and way better than sewing and taping.
• All cross seams are hot pressed to be super dry.
• No 4-way seams in the entire garment because 4 ways seams are hard to tape, and we care about that kind of thing.
• Waterproof breathable inner tunnel
• Neoprene neck over gasket and neoprene/ velcro wrist closures.
• The Arch Rival OX series is perhaps the best value in paddlesports- affordable, super durable and simple.