Wetsuits

Given I'm from southern Vicco, my advice might be completely irrelevant , but I have 3 - a shorty for summer (yes even in summer we need some rubber), a unsealed Peak 3/2 steamer for spring/autumn and the full 4/3 sealed quicksilver steamer with boities for winter

Having two is useful if you make a sunset session, then a sunrise session. Or on a trip without a way to properly make the wetsuit dry.

The other solution is to by a quick drying one, like Rip Curl F Series (with the water repellant inside fleece layer). They are a bit stiffer and heavier, and more expensive, but they are dry to the touch in 15mn, the water just runs from them. Also, some brands have the regular inside cloth dry more quickly than others, I have read a test somewhere. Also some are much lighter there.

My solution is having a dryer setup: I hang them in the bathroom in front of a big fan close to the mural towel heather. They dry surprisingly fast, useful on rainy days of after a sunset session.

Also, just dry the inside. No need to waste time drying the outside.

Weak!!! I have one pair of Viakobi pants and a 1mm long sleeve top for winter and boardies and a rashy for everything else

I live in Vic, reasonably cold water.

I recently bought a Patagonia 3.5 x 3.

After 40 years of surfing I finally have a great wetsuit. Awesome fit, comfortable under the arms, extremely warm and pretty good to get into it.

The old story, 'you get what you pay for'.

thanks for this thread - reading it reminded me to get my wet wettie & towel from the back of the car & bring them in to dry by the fire for tomorrow.

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riverider said..
Down here in winter I have 2 3/4 steamers & 3 pairs of booties, use a dryer on the wetsuits, takes a hour to dry, but haven't sorted drying for booties yet.

...

The wetsuit dryer is a wonderful thing. I mostly use mine in late spring.early autumn when suits will stay wet for a week if you don't dry them.

Strangely enough I don't need it all that much in winter in Melbourne. We run the gas heating in the mornings. I hang my suit over the duct and it dries nicely.

You can put stuff inside the wetsuit when you're using the wetsuit dryer. I have used a mesh shopping bag to hang stuff inside so it doesn't fall down and block up the legs (it doesn't do damage but it stops the blocked leg from drying).

After literally decades of trial, I have finally found a method of drying booties then dries them overnight and ends up with no stink at all. It's one of those "Doh!" moments. Simply turn them inside out.

Even 4mm and 5mm booties with fairly stiff soles can be easily turned inside out. Hang them out overnight and they dry nicely.

As for number of wetsuits, I think I've got 8. It's something like two each in 2mm, 3mm, 4mm and 6mm. Most are fairly current generation with a couple of old ones hanging around. I kite or surf almost every day and it's nice to have a clean dry wetsuit to put on.

2mm for sun protection in summer. 3mm for the warmer parts of autumn and spring. 4mm for the cooler parts and 6mm for winter.

Great wetsuits are now so cheap it's pointless to scrimp on them. needessentials.com/

I've got a 5/4, 4/3 hooded, 4/3 and a 3/2

I may have a rubber fetish....

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riverider said..
Down here in winter I have 2 3/4 steamers & 3 pairs of booties, use a dryer on the wetsuits, takes a hour to dry, but haven't sorted drying for booties yet.

Avoid these hangers. I have been using them for years but my wetsuits were destroyed at the shoulders before 2 years.
Now that I fold them over a pool noodle, I have used them for 3 years with no wear sign yet.

Booties in NSW is fine, I like the US ones as the north Cal is very cold. I find, O'neill, Bodyglove and the US brands are better in the colder water. If you use heat in drying the wetsuit you will stretch the neoprene and also start to dissolve the glue so be careful. Just drying on the line will prolong the life of your wetsuit. Most good quality suits should last 4 to 5 years. I like Australian brands for stretch and love quicksilver to paddle in.

Anyone with shoulder/flexibility problems should take a look at Matuse Dante it has made my life a lot easier for wetsuit wearing, easy on easy off. Check it

My winter suit is a Ripcurl 2mm/2mm Zipperless Flash Bomb. Superb suit and despite being only 2 mm is super warm and dries out in a couple of hours due to the special lining.

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Merrick10 said..
Here in Vic its a 2mm steamer for Spring/Autumn, Boardies and a 2mm top for summer and 2 x 4/3 F-Bombs for winter with booties. However for an old fart the 4/3 has to be with a back zip, got one with a chest zip and its a bit of a workout to get on/off . My new 4/3 F-Bomb in E5 is a big improvement over the E3 rubber. I certainly do not have the flexibility to fight my way in to a zip free.
Also found a short burst in the sun for the booties (inside out) helps kill the stink.

I tried my brothers chest zip and nearly died trying to get out. Are there many others still using a back zip ? They seem so easy

Seriously feel like I will do a rotator cuff injury or other neck / shoulder strain getting out of anything but a back zip suit

As somebody who has started a business within this area specifically:

Basically if you have broad shoulders a back zip will suit better for ease of on/off. For absolute performance a zip free or chest zip will offer a little more shoulder freedom. For SUP i really don't think it matters much for normal guys Sup Surfing... the benefit of the shoulder freedom on the chest zip suits is mostly for when you prone paddle a surfboard, not when you stand up paddle.

Having said all of this, the best wetsuit you can buy is one that fits you properly. It is as simple as, if it doesn't fit you well it won't work properly. Too many surfers buy a stock size (or 2) too small for suits thinking that it creates a snug seal around the neck/sleeves/cuffs... this makes the suit wear out 50% faster, as the neoprene is over stretched with every use, putting added stress on the seams/seals/glue and neoprene...

Also, many (not all) of the mainstream brands suits are cut to suit teenage body types as that is their target market... another thing to consider if you are not built like that any longer.

As I have got older and rounder, the main brands don't fit, I paid the extra and got a custom and never looked back well worth the money and got within 10 business days. Have a look at seventhwave in NZ ships worldwide, ps no links apart from happy user.

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kitemantim said..
As I have got older and rounder, the main brands don't fit, I paid the extra and got a custom and never looked back well worth the money and got within 10 business days. Have a look at seventhwave in NZ ships worldwide, ps no links apart from happy user.

Yes, and there is also the "tweaking" option: just have the arms & legs cut off a bit, it is free at the Rip Curl factories for instance. I am normally close to an XLS size but which is becoming more and more unavailable, so I just use a standard XL size with 4" cut off from the legs and 2" from the arms. I used to go custom, but alas the quality of the custom wetsuits in France I could find was nowhere near the big surfing brands. And the newcomers (Vissla etc) have even less sizing choices.