Neoprene - surfing’s “shabby little secret”

[PRCD]

Yep. It's in the video I posted- Patagonia will share the recipe. Hopefully other brands will follow suit and the "market" will drive down the prices.

Does Patagucci still guarantee their suits? Free seam repair?

I think we need to hold our horses here. 1) Patagucci wetsuits svck. These will likely be no different, but let's find out. 2) Let's wait and see how much of this type of latex can be produced before we say it meets demand, to wit,

But natural rubber can have nasty environmental consequences, too—hevea is a cash crop in many tropical countries, and to plant more of it, rainforests have been slashed and burned, waterways drained and diverted, and toxic defoliants used to remove native ground cover. In Southeast Asia, farmers have cleared an area of native forest about the size of Massachusetts and Vermont combined to cultivate hevea.
When we decided to switch to natural rubber, we wanted to make sure we weren’t contributing to deforestation, so we partnered with the Forest Stewardship Council® to ensure that our hevea rubber was sourced only from plantations that preserve biodiversity and ecological integrity. All of our Yulex natural rubber is FSC® certified, ensuring that it doesn’t come from newly clear-cut rainforest, like some of the world’s supply.

I don't know what planet these guys are from, but the rainforests are all new growth from the collapse of the Meso and South American civilizations wiped-out by European diseases starting in 1492. It sounds like misanthropic Western corporations have figured out some way of imposing their economic imperialism on people who are already poor. I'm sticking with Yamamoto. The rest can commit harakiri.

 

[menobrah]

No horses need to be held. Most wetsuits are made with chloroprene these days, environmental consequences be dammed. Im sure some xcel exec considered the welfare of the people of Louisiana vs doubling their costs for about 5 seconds lol.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

Yamamoto.

Which one? Cause they make alotta different types lol

 

[GromsDad]

Buy sh!t that lasts. That's the way to be eco. Boards that last. Wetsuits that last. Cars that last.

 

[SirKooksALot]

Buy sh!t that lasts. That's the way to be eco. Boards that last. Wetsuits that last. Cars that last.

You tryna kill our consumer economy here or what?

 

[SlicedFeet]

https://forum.surfer.com/index.php?threads/surfers-owe-the-residents-in-a-town-in-lousiana-big-time-wetsuit-cancer-related.235937/

 

[TeamScam]

I work in a plastic factory. We make stuff everyone uses. Most of the people who retire, die soon after, but that's not unique to us, nor is it unique that many people are suffering some sort of cancer prior to death. It happens a lot in the industry, a lot in the area due to many different reasons but being downwind, down water from industry surely plays a part.

We need to care to make things better.

I think surfers probably care more than the average anyway, which you can be proud of. You can and should use whatever voice you have to make stuff better for anyone.

I'm just a little sensitive about someone promoting yet another reason why who I am or what I do makes me a despicable human.

I'm a despicable human because I see this and all I can think of is show me your t!ts.

What kind of surfer are you?

 

[freeride76]

Hang on- can someone explain this.

The neoprene is made in Lousiana and then shipped to Japan?

So, what is Yamamoto?

 

[jory]

To quote SRFCE wetsuits site…….


JAPANESE NEOPRENE
You might know Japan for its high-end neoprene production. For instance, for their rubber chips and CR neoprene blocks, ready to use foam sheets and even for their complete wetsuits. Denka is one of the largest Japanese limestone chip manufacturers. They produce limestone rubber chips for most of the world’s neoprene sheet production.

( the chips get melted in an oven and made into blocks which is then sliced into sheets to get cut into panels and made into suits )

Denka has two factories, onein Louisiana and one in Japan.

 

[SurfFuerteventura]

Surfer Environmentalists is the name of my new band that plays Die Antwoord covers exclusively done in Nordic Death Speed Metal style.

Irony is the record distribution labels name.

That's right, Surfer Environmentalists produced by Irony.

 

[JeffRSpicoli]

Apoptosis is the really the only path to environmentalism....

 

[Atrain505]

Patagonia has an ad in the new surfer's journal telling people to buy yulex wetsuits from the other companies that make them now. Billabong, need essentials, Seea, Finisterre, Srface.

I used to have proform (40% off) through a different industry with Patagonia so I've seen the evolution of their suits. 5+ years ago they were dogshit. Sharp glue outside of the tape roughing up your skin, leaky, heavy, stiff. Every year they improved. As of last year they are very well constructed, durable, comfortable suits. They aren't as light as a yamamoto, but comparable wet weight to a standard neoprene suit (this is still an area that could be improved, wet weight). If you live near a Patagonia store I think its a no brainer. After a couple years you can drop the suit off for free repairs to get another couple years out of it. There's a little cut here from a rock, this seam has developed a little leak, neoprene in the knee is a bit worn out from duck diving, etc. They mark all that down and a couple months later you get a refreshed suit for free, that's leak free.

 

[elcalvo]

We are traditionalists up here in the Northeast. We surf all winter in woolen long-johns and keep a couple of tires burning on the beach so we can go in and warm up as needed.

 

[Aruka]

Thankfully all of the toxic downsides are contained to the manufacture of neoprene and the end user who spends hundreds of hours per year encased in this rubber, baking in the sun and soaking in a salty brine, doesn't have to worry about any potential health risks....

Right? Right??

 

[oeste858]

hundreds of hours per year encased in in this rubber, baking in the sun and soaking in a urine brine

Well, I was pretty good in high school chemistry, and I’m pretty sure the pee acts as a “force field” to keep any chemicals away from the skin. It’s science, bros

 

[000]

i guess i should stop eating techno butter

 

[ElOgro]

https://forum.surfer.com/index.php?threads/surfers-owe-the-residents-in-a-town-in-lousiana-big-time-wetsuit-cancer-related.235937/

There was another thread on this that iirc @oneworlded started. Nasty place.

Look at everything your household consumes. Figure out where it comes from and what happens to it when you throw it out. Move someplace where you don't need a wetsuit. (not here, you will die).

 

[SurfFuerteventura]

Quit surfing now,
Ask @ElOgro how?

 

[ZZ Soft Top]

Denka is not dank.

 

[bonzer5fin]

20W will outlive us all with no wetsuit and a barrio resistance to all std's from boning all the fat ones while wasted on steel reserve.