From: ds@doc.ic.ac.uk (David Sands)
Newsgroups: rec.windsurfing
Subject: Cold weather suits (longish)
Date: 12 Oct 1992 16:44:36 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Computing, Imperial College, University of London, UK.
Distribution: rec
NNTP-Posting-Host: achilles.doc.ic.ac.uk
Keywords: rubberware


After much deliberation, I finally bought myself a new winter wetsuit.
For those of you considering such a purchase, I'll offer what advice I
can, and give you an idea what is on the market at the moment. I have
no connections with any brands mentioned, these are just my opinions.
Basically I only looked at suits with horizontal dry zips.

The suit which was recommended to me by a few people on the net is the
O'Neill O'Asis. This is a well-cut suit (for windsurfing that is - if
you surf you probably don't want a cross-the-shoulder dry zip as they
are probably too restrictive for paddling), of mostly smooth-skin 4/3
mil neoprene. It has not changed much over the last few years, and
costs around 300-320 pounds in the UK. I didn't go for this suit
because it did not have as many features (gimmicks?) as many of the
new designs at the moment.

The latest development in materials seems to be in the use of
heat-reflecting linings. Yamamoto (arguably used to make the best
neoprene, but there are lots of good neoprenes these days, so I am
told) are making neoprene with a heat-reflective lining that has
titanium metal incorporated into the nylon weave. Gul and Sola claim
that it is between 20-25% warmer. Gul are using this stuff throughout
in a couple of their suits, and have "consequently" reduced the
thickness. Sola are using it in the lower-back area only, and when I
asked them about why they don't use it all over, they said that it was
less flexible, which might explain why Gul have reduced thickness. The
top of the Gul range is very expensive (360 pounds), so this stuff
probably does not come cheap. I have not seen the new Gul range in the
shops yet.

Typhoon have also got a suit with a new lining material, this time
based on Zirconium Carbide (or some thing like that!). It looks less
"silvery" but is very fleecy. The trouble with this suit is that is
made of an incredibly soft smooth-skin neoprene that looks like it
would get ripped to bits in no time. The dry-zip version is
interesting because the zip crosses very high on the neck, and comes
round in front of the shoulders. It looks like it would be more
comfortable (and reachable) than the usual cross the shoulder ones.

Other suits I checked out included the Marlin range which use
"hypalon", a plastic neoprene alternative which looks tough, but is a
bit less flexible. The cut of the arms on these suits is huge, so
unless you are on arm-wrestling terms with Arnie...  I also considered
the Spartan OTT+ which is a 4/3 mil dry-zip suit which comes with a
1.5 mil inner suit, which sounds like a good idea at around 300 quid.
I also tried the top of the West Wind range (last seasons model) in
Germany, which has an inner suit built in to the top half of the body.
I thought it was a bit over priced (even before the pound crashed)
however.

You can usually get "last seasons" models a fair bit cheaper, so this
can be a good deal. One word of advice is to be wary of suits which
use white neoprene. White neoprene is often used where there are
bright fluorescent colours on the nylon surface material. In a number
of suits these areas seem to age very badly - it seems to dry out and
get crumbly.  This might not be a universal problem, but something to
look out for.

The suit I went for is the top of the new "Sola" range, the "extreme".
These have only been in the shops for about a week, and have some
fairly innovative features. It is a 6/5/4 mil Yamamoto neoprene suit
with a traditional dry zip and a large "titanium" panel (as described
above) in the lower-back area. In addition they are using a neoprene
called "microflex" which has a lining made of a material which can
stretch very easily. This stuff really is amazingly supple. They are
using it in the lining of much of the suit, and on both sides of the
knee and crotch areas which makes the suit very comfortable (but
probably no sufficiently durable if you are up-hauling). This suit
retails at 249 pounds which is surprisingly cheap compared to the
others I looked at. Beware that the cut is rather large. I bought a
(hard to find) tall-medium when I usually fit a medium-large. The only
criticisms I have is that they could have used more smooth-skin in the
lower body, for extra warmth at the expense of durability. Also the
roll-in neck is not particularly tight and can let in a little water
(although I have not tried it with my hood yet). If the titanium
lining really works, then the Gul suits might be warmer, but are a
fair bit more expensive.

Heading North,

Dave.



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