how to choose a wetsuit

Winter is here with a bang the last 2 days. Cold NW winds mean a big drop in air temperature, and the sea will be dropping in temperature also. That means its time to break out the 5mm suits. Had a quick surf yeaterday in my 4mm and felt cold while the other guys out looked toasty in their new 5mm suits - mine is still an a hanger in the plastic wrapper gathering dust. We have some great prices on winter suits at the moment, with good quality 5mm suits starting at €130 for both men and women. http://www.bundoransurfco.com/SurfShop/Suits.asp

If you are unsure about which suit to go for, here is a little bit of advice:

1) What are you going to use it for? If you are going to be in the water a lot over the winter then you will need something extra warm. If you are only surfing a few weekends on and off then something more mid range should be fine. All decent winter suits will keep you warm but the top end suits will keep you even warmer.

2) What is the quality of the suit? Cheaper suits will use a lower grade neoprene and also have cheaper features in terms of knee pads, stitching, zips. They will also be less flexible. As you spend more on a suit you should see noticable differneces in the flexibility and feel of the neoprene. Zips and knee pads should be better. You will also see that the seams are covered with a taping or liquid seal, on either the outside or inside of the suit, or both. This tape or seal will protect the stitching of the suit. It also minimises the amount of water that could seep through the seams. Mid range suits will have some taping around the critical stress points (wrists, ankles, underarm). Most winter suits have glued and blind stitched seams (GBS) while basic, cheap suits have flatlock seams. With GBS the water is less likely to get in through the seams.

3) Try on a few different suits. There are plenty of wetsuit brands out there. Top brands include O'Neill, Xcel, Quiksilver/Roxy, Billabong, Rip Curl. Most of them make a range of suits, from basic, cheap suits to top of the range, expensive suits. All of them have slight variations in their sizings, so try on a few and see which one fits best. They all have size charts on their websites.

4) Make sure your suit fits. Modern wetuits use very flexible neoprene so ideally your suit should fit like a glove. It should be the right length on your wrists and ankles. It should have a firm seal around the neck and should not be baggy or loose anywhere. Tell tale signs of a too big suit is bagginess around the armpits. Even though suits are very flexible it is not receommended to buy a suit that is a size too small for you and then plan to stretch it out - this will put undue stress on the seams. Never buy a suit that is too big.

5) Environment. Most wetsuit brands seem to be moving towards using Japanese Yamomoto neoprene. From an environmental point of view this is positive as the neoprene is made from a limestone base, while traditional neoprene is petroleum based. Not many options for recylcing old wetsuits that we know of so maybe try and pass on your old suit to somebody or try and use it for repairs on other suits.