new winter wetsuit input

New here , so far impressed with the info. I'm getting back into the water after being away from the surf for more then 10 years. Just what you all want to hear another over hill Longboarded in the Water!. Don't worry I won't bore you to tears with stories of Surfing back in the Day. I talked to a guy in surf shop in Santa Cruz,. He said a 3/2 suit would be to cold for the Central Coast Winter water temps. Of course I'm sure he makes a commission on sales and the 4/3 are more expensive by the way this was at the Oneill shop.
Now my question is this while looking around on Line i came across some Body Glove suits at Sierra Trading Company. They seem to be a discontinued line Prices were pretty good some 3/2 suits and some 4/3 suits. One I was looking was a pro II ? anybody know anything about those wetsuits?

I personally hate the restrictivness of a neoprene once you get over 4mm. It restricts your movement and your breathing (if it fits right) and it makes you tire more quickly.

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I have an Oztek Diveskin thermal... its polartec synthetic insulation with lycra on the outside.

For wet use, the lycra prevents abrasion and reduces water flowthru by probably 95% and the polartech insulates though wet and also reduces flow.

The lycra makes putting on additional protection very easy and the polartec works as insulation whether you are using a wetsuit or a drysuit.

I have an O'Niell 3/2 shorty for warm water.

For cold water I use the following drysuits:
http://www.trelleborg.com/protective...ro1000_red.jpg
Viking Pro 1000 - vulcanized rubber drysuit capable of diving in hazmat contaminated water

for non-diving cold water stuff I use an O'Neill Oasis 4/3 neoprene drysuit.
http://detourgeneration.net/pics/oneill.jpg

I just bought one of these:
http://www.lifesupportintl.com/images/cwu-74p.jpg
It's a kevlar/nomex Goretex drysuit. Breathability + relief zipper *w00t* I just hope it works out.

Winters in Santa Cruz? A 4/3 w/some booties. Summer 3/2. Warm summer day longboarding? Boardshorts. I've never seen anyone surf in a drysuit - expensive and not necessary if you spend 95% of your time above the surface.

There's at least one guy in Maine who surfs all winter in his drysuit. Yes, it's expensive, and I'd think you'd get wax gumming your chest zipper (don't use drysuit with scratchy traction pads, I figure), but it must be nice to zip out and be dry when it's 8 deg F and windy. He does get funny looks from the few of us funny-rubber guys though.

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Originally Posted by Artz

New here , so far impressed with the info. I'm getting back into the water after being away from the surf for more then 10 years. Just what you all want to hear another over hill Longboarded in the Water!. Don't worry I won't bore you to tears with stories of Surfing back in the Day. I talked to a guy in surf shop in Santa Cruz,. He said a 3/2 suit would be to cold for the Central Coast Winter water temps. Of course I'm sure he makes a commission on sales and the 4/3 are more expensive by the way this was at the Oneill shop.
Now my question is this while looking around on Line i came across some Body Glove suits at Sierra Trading Company. They seem to be a discontinued line Prices were pretty good some 3/2 suits and some 4/3 suits. One I was looking was a pro II ? anybody know anything about those wetsuits?

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As stated previously, it is all about the fit. Buying blind you'll have to make sure you're ok with sending it back to try another size out or order a few sizes. The O'neils fit me best, so that is what I bought. Also, it seems that in the last 5 years materials have changed quite a bit, so if they are really old, you may want to look elsewhere. Right now most shop have all of the full suites on sale, and you could pick one up for under $100. Now these are the most basic and may not be sealed and stretchy, but I thought I'd toss that out there..... fit is everything.

Buy on fit.

I'm finding wetsuits are like ski boots in that each manufacturer fits a certain body type best.

Oneill and Rip Curls have treated me well over the years.

A friend of mine wants to know, who has a good fit for a short balding old guy with a gut?

Me:

Short? Yes. (5'8)
Balding? Umm, yes a little more than I'd like to admit.
Gut? A little.

The Xcel medium fits me perfectly, as does RipCurl.

me: 5'10"
balding: no
gut: solid as a rock
overall build: sleek and sexy

xcel M was the only thing that fit me... everything else was way too baggy around the midsection.

i just got a 5/4/3 body glove fusion and it works good. it seems really warm esp when the sun comes out (not very often). i think the water is cold in kodiak...

you might want to put billabong on your list. they're trying to work their way into the market by selling suits for minimal profit, funded by their ginormous clothing revenue. so right now, you can get alot of suit for very little. I grabbed a 3/2 from them, + dug it so much I got one of their spring suits as well.

The new rip curl f bomb 6/4 zip is kick ass,super stretchy shoulders back chest and the water repellancy so far is awesome. great suit for my 5'9 mountain runner build. I have an old 5/3 that's great too but needed to wear fleece underneath in winter.
Montannamike kodiak water actually benefits from some warm water currents and not just the ones from kidney juice.:biggrin:

make sure to try before you buy. everyone fits a bit differently.