If you’re not well-versed in the wetsuit game, buying a new one can be incredibly intimidating. Daunting even. Each of the big three wetsuit brands (Rip Curl, Quiksilver, O’Neill) make about a dozen different suits, based on warmth, stretch, and fancy rubber-lining gizmos and gimmicks that mostly just drive up the price. Then there are the next tier of brands like Xcel, Patagonia, Vissla, which make good suits with slightly smaller market share but command fierce brand loyalty. Then, next level down in terms of availability, but often a grade or two higher in terms of quality, there are brands like Isurus, FERAL, Matuse and a whole host of boutique wetsuit companies popping up to fill in the cracks left vacant by the big boys.
But before we go any further, a little secret: The vast majority of wetsuits are all made by the same Thailand-based company called Sheico. Each wetsuit maker will have their own peculiar design features, but for the most part, the same factory has likely pumped out any wetsuit you’ve ever worn. Maybe that matters to you and maybe it doesn’t.
Lots of the biggest, most widely available brands, therefore, aren’t offering anything you can’t get from their competitors, they just put their own spin on it with slightly different designs. The smaller companies, like Feral, which uses high-quality Yamamoto neoprene that Sheico doesn’t provide, actually can offer something different.
And then, how about thickness? This is actually the easiest part. Do you surf, or plan to surf in California? A 4/3 mm suit (this typically means the body is 4mm thick while the arms and legs are 3mm) will work just fine for the cold months for everywhere south of Humboldt all the way down to Baja. I prefer suits with hoods attached for the really cold days. If you’re on the East Coast and surfing north of the Carolinas, a 5/4 mm or even maybe a 6/5 mm will be necessary for the brutal days of winter. Great Lakes? 6/5, no question.
Trying a wetsuit on is kind of a pain in the butt, but any experienced surfer working at a surf shop can tell you instantly what size you should be from taking one glance your way. Backzip wetsuits are much easier to put on and take off, chestzip suits offer more flexibility across the back and shoulders. Either will keep you just as warm, for the most part. A suit should not have any baggy sections at all when you’re wearing it, but it should be comfortable too. If it fits close to the body and you can comfortably bend forward to touch your toes, or reach both hands above your head without resistance, it fits.
Like many expensive outdoor products, there’s also a robust direct-to-consumer wetsuit industry clawing at its share of the market. Like with bikes, etc., this can mean a much better suit for the same price as the big boys. DTC companies typically sell their suits at about the same price point as big manufacturers, but without the middlemen of retail markups, the rubber quality is typically much higher.
So how to choose? Here are three hypothetical customers of different experience levels and willingness to throw cash around, with a wetsuit suggestion for each.
The Newbie
Are you new to surfing and aren’t totally sure how often you’ll be getting in the water? This is an easy one: go cheap. If you wear a suit only occasionally, you’re more likely to let it dry improperly, trapping water and salt in the seams and leaving it there for weeks on end where it will erode the neoprene. Plus, every surfer is different. Some surfers require extra-thick suits to remain as warm and cozy as possible to perform at a decently high level; others prefer a thinner, more flexible suit and don’t mind a slight chill. You won’t know which type you are until you spend a lot of time in the water. Even the finest wetsuits don’t last more than a couple years at best, so there’s no reason to buy a fancy, expensive suit until you know what you actually need. You’ll be buying a new one in a couple winters anyway. Plenty of decent suits can be had for around $200-300.
Suggestion: Men: Vissla 7 Seas Back Zip 3/2mm $220; Women: Roxy 4/3mm Syncro Plus $220
A basic, backzip or chest zip wetsuit (higher-end suits will almost always have the zipper across the chest for added back flexibility) with glued and sealed seams, both of these budget offerings are perfectly fine for a season or two of getting your feet wet. And at about $200, they’re a huge bargain.
Photo: Jeremy Bishop
The Every Day Surfer
If you’ve been surfing for a few years, you know what you like, and are ready to splurge a little bit, there are plenty of options for you to get a little spend-crazy. Or a lot crazy. Once you bump up to the $400-500 range of wetsuit, you’re awash in features. This can include a variety of liners attached to the inside of the neoprene meant to either generate excess body heat or more effectively trap it. Fancy seam-taping that promises to keep water out and heat in, while allowing for supreme stretch. Quick-drying fibers that mean second sessions don’t have to take place in a sopping wet suit. For the most part, most wetsuits in this price range, especially the ones made by reputable companies, will work very well. The Xcel Drylock series is probably the top of the heap. I’ve worn wetsuits from every possible manufacturer in 25 years of surfing, and Xcels have always been the warmest, most performance-oriented, and the longest-lasting of the mainstream brands.
There are other interesting options in this segment however. Patagonia, for example, is now making its suits neoprene-free, from a rubber source derived from sustainably harvested plants. The suits typically aren’t as flexible as competitors and can be a little more fragile, but the materials as you’d expect from Patagonia feel terrific against the skin, and if eco-friendliness is a significant concern, they’re basically the only game in town.
Suggestion: Men: Xcel Drylock, 4/3 mm, $500ish
Take it from me, a guy who’s spent upwards of … [checks old receipts] … wow, probably $5,000 on wetsuits over the years, the Drylock is the grandaddy of high-end, surfing through the coldpocalypse while still shredding, performance.
Women: O’Neill Psycho One 4/3mm $400
It’s hard to find women’s Xcel Drylocks these days, but the O’Neill Psycho series works just as well. O’Neill is one of the two oldest wetsuit makers in the biz, for a very good reason. This is a top of the line suit for year-round use.
Photo: Bishop
The Every Day Surfer Who Wants the Best
Finally, for the long-time hardcore surfer who’s grown bored of the same old same old from wetsuit makers—it’s time to try out the little guys. After two decades-plus of Xcel, O’Neill, and Rip Curl, I finally took the plunge on a smaller company a year or two ago and have been wearing FERAL wetsuits ever since. I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t actually need all the complicated additions to the modern high-end wetsuit. Good rubber in a good fit at a good price is about all I care about. Lots of these little companies are still surfer owned and operated, often by surfers every bit as hardcore as their customers. Something that’s always been attractive to me.
Suggestion: Men and women: FERAL, 4/3 mm, $395
Made with very high-quality Yamamoto neoprene, the difference between a suit like a FERAL and the above Xcel is night and day. The FERAL is lighter, simpler, fits better, and is far more durable. The superior neoprene quality leaps out at you instantly. Because of the great rubber, the suits don’t need the heat-retaining liners of their more expensive brethren. They aren’t the only brand out there using Yamamoto but their prices are often the best and the quality is great.
Photo: Jeremy Koreski
All of the above assumes a wetsuit for surfing. Even more daunting is trying to decide on “the” suit for open-water swimming (and triathlons too I suppose). These, more delicate, suites come in summer shorty suits, shoulder season farmer john suits, and full on winter swimming wetsuits for those of us in Texas.
Then, there are SCUBA or snorkeling wetsuits. In some cases all of these are sold at the same online retailer and one must be able to decipher the sport and the season. And, when to buy for the best prices.
If I could only post a picture here of all of the wetsuits I own just for open-water swimming you’d laugh.
I would know what the best open water wetsuits are.
I mean I would like to know what the best open water wetsuits are.
I purchased a Billabong wetsuit 6 months ago and found the flaps on the rear fold /roll up and with having big shoulder it is in possible to pull the rear flaps up. I have been surfing for 44 years and will not recommend billabong of one’s choice. I have taken it up with billabong and no feed back and a no care attitude.
Daan – have you tried O’Neill suits lately? Over the past few years they have led the way in very stretchy, comfortable suits that might suit the big shouldered well. I shy away from them because, well, as I say in the article, I prefer the superior rubber in Feral suits and the like, but O’Neills tend to be easiest to stretch onto awkward body parts.
Xterra makes some great suits for open water swimming at a very reasonable price…
Check out Finisterre from the UK. They’re doing some really cool stuff on the environmental front.
Great article. I actually work in a store selling wetsuits of almost all varieties. My two biggest problems are convincing guys not to buy a wetsuit two sizes too big and that people tend to have misconceptions about what to expect from any given price point of wetsuit (I too am a strong proponent of Xcel’s Drylock wetsuit)
I might start referring surfers to this article!
Check out LANDYWETSUITS.COM
By far the best women’s wetties available
Sounds nice but I don’t see any warm ones. Do they offer hooded long sleeve suits?
A 4/3 in California isn’t entirely accurate. A 3/2 covers most the year in Ventura area! Get a 2mm vest you can put under it for cold days to keep your core warm but keep that great flexibility that makes a 3/2 shine!
Those other rubbers like the Matuse geoprene, etc fit differently as well. I have been wearing o’neill psycho freaks for a decade now but tried Matuse stuff and it just doesn’t fit as well at the end of the day (for me) nor does it feel as plush and stretchy as the o’neill. Curious how the shoulders are on the Feral suits…
My experience is the big brands focus on stretch to the detriment of quality. My O’Neills have always sagged like an old sweater and broke down fast. I still have my first Feral, it’s more than 5 years old, and the tape isn’t even peeling off. Higher quality neoprene tends to be less instantly stretchy, but, at least with Feral, because the suit is much simpler, it’s much lighter, and gradually becomes stretchier and fits better, something like breaking in a baseball glove.
Scuba- after wearing our main brand wetsuits (guiding in Indonesia), I was fitted for a custom Elios free dive wetsuit. As pointed out in the article, highest quality neoprene, custom fit, and an attached hood. With such a wetsuit, I was warm in a thinner suit.
Justin, are the Feral suits any warmer or colder than the Xcels or big brand suits? I just bought another Xcel Drylock. Now, you have me curious about the Feral suit. Im one of those guys that likes the warmth. I live on the central coast of CA.
They’re about the same, I’d say. The Feral suits don’t have ANY linings at all – it’s just the neoprene and the thin jersey. The theory is the high quality neoprene is less water permeable than what, say, Xcel uses, so you don’t need the fuzzy—and heavy—liners. I live in San Francisco and wear a hooded 4/3 Feral all winter and spring. I have a 5/4 too, but only wear that one when I’m bodysurfing and neck deep in water most of the session. I’ve turned some of my Morro Bay buddies onto them, and they haven’t looked back.
Thanks for the feedback.
Justin
Great article. I have two questions :
1 –
I’m 5-11 and 160. I wear a M oNeil Techno butter and love the fit and comfort. However, like you noted it’s falling apart after 18 months. I surf one to 3x per week and love a 5/4 hooded here in SF area.
Which feral suit do you recommend?
2 – do you find the lack of a visor flap on the feral hood ok?
Hey David,
I’d go with a MT 4/3 hooded Feral, personally. The Feral will initially feel less stretchy than the Techno Butter, and the Medium would prob feel too tight. I also have a 5/4 but so rarely wear it. We’re in the same ballpark size wise, I’m 6’1″ x 165 and unless it’s brutally cold, the 4/3 is fine for me, and the 5/4 would be way, way too warm starting around this time of year. I think the hood looks goofy without the visor, but you soon learn the visor on most suits doesn’t actually block sun–it’s too short. The extra visibility you get without the visor is really nice. It feels much less claustrophobic, which I suspect is why they don’t use them on their suit.
Great. Thx Justin. Hope you find some waves this week. It looking bleak around here these days
Oh and I always found the visor to be useful for keeping water out of my eyes. Which sounds silly, but I notice that when I don’t wear it and I’m duck diving that I get more water in my eyes….
Not sure if that makes sense but I feel it’s more about water than ☀️
Nice article. I have a handful of Hyperflex suits (by different “makers”) that were used in canyoneering & Hawaii snorkeling for years. I’ve never put on or tried a Feral suit, which you tout highly. Price, flex, comfort, seal, warmth are all factors in buying & using wet suits. For all I know, the suits Justin “highlights” and recommends are just as flexible & functional as what I used for years in the “Hyperflex” offerings (which are still sold) that appear on various surfing & wetsuit web sites.
I got a rip curl E5 simples, I can see it’s not good enought system, it’s fragile, the sews cannot bear the tension from dressing and pulling out the wetsuit, even being gently.
How about Mormaii wet suits, the ultraskin or the fleaxxxa pro model!?
Ok, 4/3 in Central Calif. Yeah, that pretty much works 95% of the time. I have surfed it when I could have used a 5mill.
I’ve seen the water get down to 9 degrees Celsius. The air temp was around -18 Celsius. And it was Blasting offshore.
I wore a hood, booties and a 4/3 Hotline made in Santa Cruz. Chest zip.
That was cold.
So Cal? A 3/2 will cover you. Pretty much year round.
Nor Cal. From the north side of the Golden Gate.
It’s good to have multiple wetsuits. 4/3, 4/5 or maybe a straight up 5 mill. You never know up there. And odds are, you’ll surf alone.
So, be prepared..
One wetsuit for Calf won’t cut it. Especially if you go for a second session, and the ice hasn’t melted.
Knowing where and when is the trick.
I’ve worn O’Neil wetsuits since 72. That Hotline was the first time I tried something different. Warm suit. A little stiff.
But when the air temp is -18 Celsius ( pretty close to 0 Fahrenheit) and its blasting offshore, you’re gonna wish you had a thicker suit.
I get a good dose of hypothermia from that day..that lasted for days.
I just stayed in front of the fire and slept.
Fortunately, I woke up.