Warmest hooded full suit and favorite winter gear

[rgruber]

Looks like they are in Costa Mesa so might drop by as I'll be close by.

Hit up Ryo at Reunion Wetsuits while you’re here. He’ll meet up, measure you and you’ll have a new custom suit shipped to your place in a matter of weeks. He delivers and measures up and down the coast so he’ll have some custom suits with him for you to see. Choose your preferred entry, materials, thickness, color, etc. They’re a small notch below Axxe, so not outrageously spendy like Axxe. But still way better than the big names stocked at surf shops. I’m still perfectly fine right now in my 2/2 with smooth rubber torso and arms

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[mundus]

My experience with the Psycho Tech 5/4 hooded I bought last year is that it's super flexible and relatively warm but walking down the beach on a windy 30 degree day, I could feel the wind going through it in the stretchy areas. Fine for the water temps in the low 40s but with air temps in the 30s and a bit of wind, they just aren't as warm as Drylocks. It's going to be me my "nice" weather, winter suit but I still go back to my Drylock on nastier days (which are far more common). It's more of a toasty, flexible 4/3.

Exactly what I want to avoid.

 

[YakAk]

Curious, what water temp you deal with there?

It 42 right now, should drop to 40 here soon.

 

[Mr J]

Last 5 years of winter hooded wetties. According to seatemperature.info surface water temp is from about 12.5 to 14C for 6 months of the year. Where I live now, gets a lot of bad windy weather so the sea temperature doesn't tell the full story. I also seem to do a lot of surfing in bumpy windy conditions that others shun. From left to right starting with the oldest.

S Xcel Drylock 5mm. Shipped from the UK. 3 winters no leaks. Rubber Sealer on outer seams showing some cracks, but very little leakage. Plastic zip worn and difficult to undo in season 4 which put me off using it. Hole in chin of hood. Smoothskin chest panel seams opened a little. Super warm. Too big for me, but not a big issue. Overall rating 9/10.

S Patagonia 4.5mm. Bought on sale in the Patagonia shop in Torquay (near Bells). No smoothskin. Surprisingly warm, almost as warm as Drylock. Stiff and heavy, but extremely durable rubber - like all my suits the elbows are pancaked from my duck diving. The rest of the rubber in great condition. Rubber sealer on outer seams started to crack end of season 2. No leaks at all for 2 seasons, then leaking noticeably and uncomfortably about mid way thru season 3. Technically slightly too big, but getting into one that fits would be a challenge. Overall rating 8/10. Flexibility in rubber is overrated - the secret to being able to paddle and pop up to the feet well is not a flexible wettie, it is fitness and core strength, hence the high score.

S Vissla 4mm. Bought in local surfshop. Noticeably too big, purchased locally during Covid lockdowns when there wasn't much available. Not leaking much, but too cold with paper thin arms. Seams stitched, no rubber sealer on outside, but not really given the full wear test due to it not being very warm. Poor design let down with what looks closer to 2.5mm than 3 on arms and shoulders. Overall rating 5/10.

S Xcel Comp X 5.5mm (unusual thickness), no smoothskin, no rubber sealer on seams. Shipped from the UK. Very warm when new - possibly warmer than 5mm Drylock. Started leaking badly in season 2, sitting in pool of cold water means this suit is not really useable. The annoying thing is that seams look perfect. Keeping it just in case I can get it repaired. Overall rating 4/10. A suit that doesn't go much beyond one season is a waste of resources.

XS Adelio 4mm. Surprisingly warm for 4mm, but obviously not going to be as warm as 5mm so reserved for arvo use only. 3 seasons of use. Leaking, but not badly. Overall rating 8/10. This takes into consideration that I would not expect it to be as warm as 5mm. Its also nice to have a wettie that fits perfectly - maybe this is why the leak doesn't trouble me much? Rubber is starting to lose its insulation a bit.

J16 Buell 5mm. Shipped from Santa Cruz CA. Not quite as warm as I hoped, but got me through all the mornings of the last winter. Now well into spring, but used it only last week when some howling onshores dropped the temp. Rubber sealer on the outer seams - this seems a necessity to get a suit to go beyond 2 seasons with no leaks at all. No rating yet, too early to tell, but very hopeful based on rubber sealer on seams. It is also the suit that fits me the best, slightly better fitting hood than Adelio - the cord on the adelio hood presses into my temples a little (not a big issue) yet is more prone to flushing than the close fitting Buell hood.

I have been paying international shipping costs out of necessity, for some reason the local retailers and online portals have decided its not worth trying to sell 5mm in my size. Size L surfers can get them, although ridiculously I have overheard some saying they are cold - then why don't they get a thicker wettie! Most surfers use a 4mm around here. Adelio sent me a follow up email saying "we care" and wanted me to fill in an online satisfaction form about my purchase. In the further comments box, I told them "why don't you sell 5mm wetsuits in my size, don't you realise that small people get get colder than big people". I stopped short of giving them the classic elephant Vs mouse mass surface area ratio explanation. I didn't get a response.

 

[Lakookaracha]

Winter water temp around 7C/45F.

I’m 6’1, 165lbs, and built like a spider monkey so tend to get cold quickly.

Xcel infinity 6mm was the go to for many years, then fell into the Drylock craze, but eventually the leaky seam syndrome was plus come earlier and earlier.

Recently have tried the Xcel comp 5.5 (I sized it too small but wind would cut through and tore a wrist cuff), Psycho tech 5.5 (most comfortable/stretchiest for sure but not warm enough), and Buell 6mm (warmish but not enough to warrant the stiffness and flushing).

None are the sea going unicorn I seek.

Considering Feral or Bong Furnace next.

And I definitely think suits have gotten colder as they’ve improved other aspects such as flexibility.

 

[Mr J]

@Lakookaracha , thanks for your report on the drylock. I was wondering if the rubber sealer on the outside was still making them last like mine, however it seems not. I suppose even with the sealer if the glue is inferior then when the inevitable cracking of the sealer occurs they are going to leak badly. Super happy with the way my drylock lasted, but I consider my glued 5.5mm Xcel Comp X to be rubbish. A glued only suit should not start to leak badly shortly after 1 season.

I have had 2 billabong furnaces, 4mm no hood. They lasted 2 seasons without any significant leaks.

 

[rgruber]

Curious if the Drylock X fixes the leaky seams in the standard Drylocks. I still contend the problem with my newer Drylocks is that the seam tape in the crotch used to be about twice as wide and when they narrowed it, it made the seams leak as they stretched when you are sitting. With the wider tape this didn't happen.

 

[Northern_Shores]

Curious if the Drylock X fixes the leaky seams in the standard Drylocks. I still contend the problem with my newer Drylocks is that the seam tape in the crotch used to be about twice as wide and when they narrowed it, it made the seams leak as they stretched when you are sitting. With the wider tape this didn't happen.

I don't understand why people buy Xcel suits. They are just trash. The seams are bad, the wetsuit fabric is stiff and the smoothskin on the stomach detaches.

 

[mundus]

Guess i am going with Billabong again, already traumatized by this preview of a cold, flat, windy winter

 

[rgruber]

In my case it's because despite this, they are still warmer than the competition.

My leaky 2 year old hooded 5/4 Drylock is significantly warmer than my brand new hooded 5/4 O'Neill Psychotech.

Mabye one day I'll discover a magic Japanese suit that beats it for warmth but at this point every time I've deviated from the Drylock's, I've gotten kinda burnt or I guess frozen.

I don't understand why people buy Xcel suits. They are just trash. The seams are bad, the wetsuit fabric is stiff and the smoothskin on the stomach detaches.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

In my case it's because despite this, they are still warmer than the competition.

My leaky 2 year old hooded 5/4 Drylock is significantly warmer than my brand new hooded 5/4 O'Neill Psychotech.

Mabye one day I'll discover a magic Japanese suit that beats it for warmth but at this point every time I've deviated from the Drylock's, I've gotten kinda burnt or I guess frozen.

1. Xcels fit me the best of the big name suits. Isurus, Patagonia, and Matuse I think don't want fat guys with stumpy legs and long torso wearing their sh!t. This is where I had an issue with Billabong post-adolescence. The ankles were loose and I had to wear booties at all times, or I might as well have gone surfing in a sweatshirt and jeans. The Hurleys fit me pretty well, but other than 2mm with smoothskin front and back, the 3mm was a little bricky, and the nice ones cost more than the Xcels and it seems like they stopped making the nice ones and/or they came in orange with fluoro green leg stripe motif. I already get eyeballed enough on trips to California.

2. The warmth. The Rip Curls seem like the third-closest fit match. Some wonderfully flexy suits. But most winters we spend enough time in the mid-lower 50s (with the occasional colder snap) that the warmest 3/2 possible is the go. Based on my 3/2 Xcel comp with no smoothskin requiring good weather or booties to deal with 58/59/60, and Xcel being the warmest, I have 0 confidence someone else's no-smoothskin suit is gonna cut it in February.

3. My Xcels haven't held up any worse than the next brand's sh!t. The first season is generally joyous. The end of the second and the third, I'll have to do some seam sealing.

I'm not interested in cupping my wetsuit's balls. If the coffee wants to come out, it's going to be used for more than one kind of "watersport". I don't stomp it into the asphalt, but once it's at waist level, it gets stomped off the legs while standing in the wetsuit bin while the arms dry off the rest to get back to work ASAP.

 

[smithgrind]

My 5/4 drylock X is still going strong with no leaks after 4 or 5 years. Certainly not
the most flexible or light suit in my cold water quiver but when the water temp is in
the 40’s it’s my go to. I do have a rotation of suits (hyperfreak 5/4+, Patagonia R3,
Rip curl 5/4 Ebomb) that I use but the X is reserved for the coldest of temps.

As far as fit goes, O’neills and Rip Curls are the best for me. Patagonia is too tight
in my shoulders and too long in the legs when I have to size up. Xcel is slightly too short/tight in the arms and legs but accommodates my upper body just fine.

I’d be open to sampling some other brands but trying out wetsuits ranks up there with
cleaning the bathroom or making my cat swallow medication.

 

[SeaFoamGreen]

I find that wetsuits oxidize and neoprene gets stiff and brittle over time wheatear or not you use them or not, so I dont put them on ice. One 5 mill is all I really need for 70-80 sessions a year. Surf it until its dead and get new one.

 

[Northern_Shores]

Id find that wetsuits oxidize and neoprene gets stiff and brittle over time wheatear or not you use them or not, so I dont put them on ice. One 5 mill is all I really need for 70-80 sessions a year. Surf it until its dead and get new one.

Yeah, I don't have my suits for more than two seasons, but I don't wanna die midway through the second.

 

[Sharkbiscuit]

Yeah, I don't have my suits for more than two seasons, but I don't wanna die midway through the second.

Do you think your likelihood of death corresponds more closely to wetsuit durability, or kicking a Syrian refugee family out of the discarded refrigerator they're living in so you can glue the side panels together and glass it indoors using a pyrophoric cocktail you made out of battery acid and a bucket of **** you collected milking goats?

 

[germs]

Just used xcel drylock 6/5. Dang I think it’s warmer than the x, despite what xcel says. Also used the new O’Neill psychotech tb4 5.5/4+. It seems a bit warmer than the old one. But just a hair below the 6/5’s in terms of warmth. Best flexibility, and the upper “cardigan” portion seems more sturdy and more windproof. A winner!…and yes I’m a wetsuit slut.

 

[bluengreen]

On the Xcel bandwagon here ... I bought a 2019 Drylock X a few years ago and it's still the warmest suit I own. Biggest plus, it doesn't flush at all, ever. It's heavy has sh!t when wet, but I'll trade that for warmth any day. It's held up really well, too.

How are the recent ones?

 

[Northern_Shores]

On the Xcel bandwagon here ... I bought a 2019 Drylock X a few years ago and it's still the warmest suit I own. Biggest plus, it doesn't flush at all, ever. It's heavy has sh!t when wet, but I'll trade that for warmth any day. It's held up really well, too.

How are the recent ones?

I think 2019 might be the cryogenic ones

 

[Woke AF]

The last few times I have gone back to excel I have regretted it. Each time the crotch goes first. If I have to wear my 5/4, and every time I situp on my board my nuts get flushed, I'm done with that.
One-year-old excel booties ripped and wore holes in the stress areas. Dug out the solites I gave up on after a month. Remembered why I discarded them soon enough. They bruise my big toes and pinch my toes to cut off circulation which happens to help freeze them.

 

[Northern_Shores]

The last few times I have gone back to excel I have regretted it. Each time the crotch goes first. If I have to wear my 5/4, and every time I situp on my board my nuts get flushed, I'm done with that.
One-year-old excel booties ripped and wore holes in the stress areas. Dug out the solites I gave up on after a month. Remembered why I discarded them soon enough. They bruise my big toes and pinch my toes to cut off circulation which happens to help freeze them.

Xcel boots are great if you have feet like a duck.