It is a good point to consider nonetheless.

I had a conversation with a fellow (former) kayaker who almost died in cold water.  He made a few mistakes that nearly cost him his life. 

1. Fished alone in the ocean. 
2. Went out on a fairly windy day with some significant swells.
3. Wore a dry suit that eventually filled with water after he went over and was in the water for 5 hours.
4. Never did a test to make sure he could get back on his yak... (he couldn't)

I'll always remember that conversation with him...

Yikes, that's terrifying.  Did he eventually self-rescue or did someone find him and assist?

A sightseer from the shore spotted him and called the coast guard.  They came and rescued him... to the bottom of the cliffs, then had to air lift him to the hospital for severe hypothermia of which he was in for a week.

I figure drysuits must have improved a lot especially ones designed for sport use They just don’t suit me no pun intended

I used the drysuit I bought in the 70s for a lot of hours in icy cold water and was always cooked which was one reason I ditched it (still have it) My wetsuit at the time was also too hot if I wore all three pieces which I never did

Sounds like that guy’s drysuit either leaked from damage or just didn’t fit right He made other mistakes but that’s another thing

Typically I spend 2-6 hours swimming in the ocean in a pretty good wetsuit (it’s still inferior to my old custom suits) and I get chilled but not really hypothermic

That story about one guy wouldn’t rule out drysuits for me I have my own reasons for preferring wetsuits But it does show there’s a little more to it than just wearing a drysuit

The thread is about realistic immersion gear Whatever you wear you should put to the test before something happens you didn’t expect So you have a feel for how it is to swim and if it keeps you warm Especially in winter

Somebody here mentioned free diving in a drysuit which I could see, but you have to remember if you’re kayaking you’re not wearing fins which give you a big advantage in the water

I worked in both and one of the reasons I prefer wetsuits is you move different than in a drysuit, with or without fins

Waders are like a recipe for drowning and should’ve been dc’ed decades ago

Hawaiian board shorts and a tshirt would be better

Lots of very valuable wisdom being shared in this thread.  Testing your gear is crucial, and having a diver's perspective is a big advantage, for sure.

I had a conversation with a fellow (former) kayaker who almost died in cold water.  He made a few mistakes that nearly cost him his life. 

1. Fished alone in the ocean. 
2. Went out on a fairly windy day with some significant swells.
3. Wore a dry suit that eventually filled with water after he went over and was in the water for 5 hours.
4. Never did a test to make sure he could get back on his yak... (he couldn't)

I'll always remember that conversation with him...

I snorkel and speargun for pike in Montana in a dry suit, typically spending 4-6 hours in the water, and the clothing I was wearing under the dry suit will be dry enough to wear on the drive home.  So it would be interesting to know why that former kayaker's dry suit got water in it.  One possibility is that he was wearing a semi-dry suit with neoprene gaskets rather than a real dry suit with latex gaskets.  A second possibility is that he failed to close a zipper all the way.  A third possibility is that the dry suit had been damaged and had leaks, such as from fish spines or teeth.  Whatever the reason he got water in his dry suit, the water would make it harder for him to climb back into his kayak.

But failing to become proficient at climbing back into his kayak ("self rescue") was a major error in judgment.  I almost did that when I bought a 12' Pro Angler 360, and assumed that I could climb back into it as easily as I can climb back into my other kayaks.  I can right my 13' Revolution and climb back onto it in about 20 seconds.  I snorkel and speargun from a 13' Ocean Kayak Trident, and climb back into it many times a day wearing 13-16 pounds of weights on my body and about 2.5 pounds on each ankle.  I bought a 12' Pro Angler 360 last November, and assumed that that I would be able to climb back into it as easily as I could climb back into my other kayaks.  But when the weather and water finally warmed up enough in the early summer that I felt like practicing self rescue in the Pro Angler, I was shocked to discover that it was much harder for me to climb back into the Pro Angler than it is for me to climb back into my other kayaks.  I'm getting old and feeble, and it took all my strength to climb back into the Pro Angler.  Sometimes I would hang up part of the way in.  I was concerned that in big waves and wind, which is the kind of conditions in which I might flip the pretty stable Pro Angler, I might pull the kayak over on top of myself while trying to re-enter it.  If that happened a couple of times in cold air and water conditions, I might become too tired to successfully climb back into the Pro Angler.  I experimented with various techniques and with rope ladders, but wasn't confident that I was certain to be able to climb back into the kayak in bad conditions.  So I installed a telescoping boat ladder on the bow of the Pro Angler, which makes it real easy for me to climb back into the kayak.  See my video:

So much great information and experience in this thread. 

I've been reading, researching, and watching videos on YT.
Came across this one: Man OVERBOARD! (ME)
He goes over the incident in detail.

Oh, well not really a bad situation just a bad move while underway to re-adjust his seat.  The kayak looked so stable as he fell off, yep it's not always a flip that will put you into the water.

All these videos are showing up in my YT feed now.
Sorry if this is posted in another thread, but it's something relevant to this particular thread.
Death Awaited in Cold Water Kayak Flip - Sickening to Watch
Death Awaited in Cold Water Kayak Flip - Sickening to Watch