Patagonia Wetsuits

chilly1

Nep status
Jan 4, 2010
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Slightly off topic. I decided to upgrade, try Yamamoto rubber and purchased Isurus 4/3 hooded. Fits well, warm, and construction/materials seem high quality. However downside is stiffness, heavy, and long time to dry. I took out my sons 4/3 Rip Curl flash bomb zipperless same day comparison and felt like trunking it in comparison. Loose, and nearly as warm too (did suffer one nasty flushing tho). Likely Isurus will last much longer but life's too short to restrain ones self! Anyone tried Isurus and compared to Feral or any other Yamamoto material. I wonder if that material lasts long but is just characteristically stiff? Thanks!
 

grg

Phil Edwards status
Mar 11, 2006
5,882
1,199
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Tuna Town/Baja
chilly1 said:
Slightly off topic. I decided to upgrade, try Yamamoto rubber and purchased Isurus 4/3 hooded. Fits well, warm, and construction/materials seem high quality. However downside is stiffness, heavy, and long time to dry. I took out my sons 4/3 Rip Curl flash bomb zipperless same day comparison and felt like trunking it in comparison. Loose, and nearly as warm too (did suffer one nasty flushing tho). Likely Isurus will last much longer but life's too short to restrain ones self! Anyone tried Isurus and compared to Feral or any other Yamamoto material. I wonder if that material lasts long but is just characteristically stiff? Thanks!
all good as it went there very quickly LOL
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,214
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Petak Island
chilly1 said:
Slightly off topic. I decided to upgrade, try Yamamoto rubber and purchased Isurus 4/3 hooded. Fits well, warm, and construction/materials seem high quality. However downside is stiffness, heavy, and long time to dry. I took out my sons 4/3 Rip Curl flash bomb zipperless same day comparison and felt like trunking it in comparison. Loose, and nearly as warm too (did suffer one nasty flushing tho). Likely Isurus will last much longer but life's too short to restrain ones self! Anyone tried Isurus and compared to Feral or any other Yamamoto material. I wonder if that material lasts long but is just characteristically stiff? Thanks!
There's a wide variety of different types of Yamamoto rubber good and bad.

Chances are if you're buying a wetsuit from one of the major manufacturers it's the bad stuff.

 

surfapotomus

OTF status
Jan 21, 2014
176
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on a leash
chilly1 said:
Slightly off topic. I decided to upgrade, try Yamamoto rubber and purchased Isurus 4/3 hooded. Fits well, warm, and construction/materials seem high quality. However downside is stiffness, heavy, and long time to dry. I took out my sons 4/3 Rip Curl flash bomb zipperless same day comparison and felt like trunking it in comparison. Loose, and nearly as warm too (did suffer one nasty flushing tho). Likely Isurus will last much longer but life's too short to restrain ones self! Anyone tried Isurus and compared to Feral or any other Yamamoto material. I wonder if that material lasts long but is just characteristically stiff? Thanks!
My experience is completely the opposite. I've also done the Pepsi challenge with my Flashbomb Zipperless and my Isurus (both 3/2. 2016 E5 FB vs current model Isurus). The Isurus was much more flexible... and warmer. I could've stayed in the water all day in my Isurus. After an hour in FB I was ready to tap out. I agree with the drying time though. A backup is a necessity cause there is no way the Isurus will be even close to dry the next day.
 

chilly1

Nep status
Jan 4, 2010
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Looser interesting, My 4/3 is hooded and zippered vs no hood or zipper so that would offset the experiment maybe. I can see Isurus session lasting longer, I was only out in RC for about an hour. One other thing I noted was when I rinsed them they the Isurus was heavier too.
 

jkb

Tom Curren status
Feb 22, 2005
10,042
8,981
113
Central California
casa_mugrienta said:
Here's a question. Do the Japanese take better care of their suits and thus more effort is made to put together a quality product?.
I think the Japanese value quality and craftsmanship very highly. As a result, there is a lot of effort put into making a quality suit as well as effort to care for them.

casa_mugrienta said:
Because it seems most people treat their suits like sh!t. Minimal rinsing, sun dried. So maybe your average manufacturer just says f- it, they're gonna treat their suit like sh!t so quality is irrelevant.
As far as US manufacturers, I think their bottom line is the most important factor for them. Most are making their suits cheaply in the same factory with small differences between brands. A lot of it comes down to the marketing of the newest strechiest neoprene and that's about it. Many got rid of smoothskin and a lot do very similar seam glue/taping.

Not to say all US Manufacturers are bad. I've had good experiences with Oneill and Isurus. I'm sure there's others.

 

Goodfish

Michael Peterson status
Feb 22, 2014
2,045
1,863
113
Got 2 Patagucci suits. Both Yulex R1 - a spring suit and a full suit. Both pretty crap in their own ways. The spring suit has no cuff on the leg seams, so they ride up a lot and squish your balls. If I didn't do yoga, then I wouldn't be able to put it on. The full suit is cold. R1 must be solid 2mm, cos my Hurley 3/2 is much warmer. Wouldn't get one again. Xcel or Hurley for me...
 

obslop

Rabbitt Bartholomew status
Feb 4, 2002
8,044
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san diego, CA
looks like the patagonia suits are more hated now than 10 years ago when all these same issues were already well known.
 

Duffy LaCoronilla

Duke status
Apr 27, 2016
38,642
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obslop said:
looks like the patagonia suits are more hated now than 10 years ago when all these same issues were already well known.
Yet every time I ask a soyboy that I see wearing one in ventura they all say the same thing....

“Best suit ever....”

Yeah, right.....
 

casa_mugrienta

Duke status
Apr 13, 2008
43,214
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Petak Island
Duffy said:
obslop said:
looks like the patagonia suits are more hated now than 10 years ago when all these same issues were already well known.
Yet every time I ask a soyboy that I see wearing one in ventura they all say the same thing....

“Best suit ever....”

Yeah, right.....
Well, maybe you're not soul enough to understand.

That flushing is a throwback to the days when wetsuits really sucked.

Feels best when riding throwback equipment from the same time period.

 

ghostshaper

Phil Edwards status
Jan 22, 2005
6,244
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Had an old wool lined r2. Heaviest least flexible suit I've ever owned. The worst part was that there a seam down the middle of the neck, so I got the worst neck rash I've ever seen. Showed the shop guy the picture, and he wrote on the warranty card, "severe neck rash." Haha

Thought these suits were designed by people who surf?
 

Duffy LaCoronilla

Duke status
Apr 27, 2016
38,642
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ghostshaper said:
Had an old wool lined r2. Heaviest least flexible suit I've ever owned. The worst part was that there a seam down the middle of the neck, so I got the worst neck rash I've ever seen. Showed the shop guy the picture, and he wrote on the warranty card, "severe neck rash." Haha

Thought these suits were designed by people who surf?
I got some gloves with the wool lining. They somehow achieved the impossible and actually made my hands colder by wearing them.
 

johnson7

Nep status
Sep 29, 2016
686
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If I can squeeze into one of those suits, would it automatically give me killer side burns, and a mean ass Wyatt Earp style mustache, while turning my quads into single fin gliders?
 

Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,990
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PNW
manbearpig said:
Can’t believe Patagonia still hasn’t fixed the flushing issue.

Does the hood still have openings on both sides?
no, it's just one side opening now and yet it's still flawed in just about every other way possible. the inside neck gasket is too short so there is like an inch of overlap. no cinch cord so water just flows in and out at will. to top it off they went with the zipper the wrong way so you have to line up the two parts using both hands instead of the tried and true right to left one handed operation style that oniell, xcel, isurus, etc. use. it's pretty annoying to be messing around with lining up zipper parts when your hands are freezing and/or you are wearing gloves which, since it's a cold water suit, is most of the time.