Care for your wetsuit, and it will care for you. Photo: Juan Luis De Heeckeren
The most common mistake made when buying a wetsuit – and this applies particularly to young people with value-hungry parents – is purchasing a wetsuit that is too big. Let me enlighten you a little on how a wetsuit works.
Neoprene rubber is an insulator. The idea is that the wetsuit keeps your body heat in and you stay warm. For the wetsuit to do this, it needs to fit your body tightly. Don’t get me wrong, comfort is still an important factor, but it’s as simple as this: If your wetsuit doesn’t fit in a snug manner all over, you might as well be wearing boardies and a rashy. Unfortunately it’s just not one of those things you can “grow into.”
The most important place to check for excess rubber, or bunching is in the chest and around the neck. If you can grab a bunch of rubber here, any time you spend underwater your suit is going to fill up with ice-cold water, defeating the purpose of the suit in the first place. Your lower back area is also an important place to get the suit particularly snug. Additionally, elasticity of neoprene has come along in leaps and bounds over the last few years, so you can afford to get a suit that fits just a little bit tighter.
The other most common mistake that wetsuit shoppers make is not setting aside enough time to try on plenty of different suits. You need to be an absolute wetsuit hussy! Whore yourself around as many styles and brands of suits that are in your size and price range as is humanly possible. Brands and styles vary in cut and ultimately there may just be a particular style that suits your particular body type. Take the time to walk around in it, stretch and try and go through all the motions you will be doing in the water (no tinkling allowed).
Of course, the time of the year and the climate conditions will guide your suit selection in terms of springy or steamer and whether or not you want long or short sleeves. Ultimately, fit of a suit is the most important thing, so if you feel equally as comfortable in a less expensive suit, then grab the opportunity to save yourself some cash and spend it on a trip to warmer waters. Price does generally go up with the number of features that a wetsuit offers. Things such as thickness, sealed seams and more flexible neoprene all add to the price of the wettie. The trick is to find a happy medium between the features offered and a price that suits you.
By getting into a few simple habits in wetsuit care, you can maximize your wetsuit lifespan and make sure it lives to fight another day. Sand and salt water will corrode the rubber in your wetsuit, so a dousing of fresh water after every surf is just what your suit needs. Treat it like a plant. Do up the velcro tabs on your suit as they tend to make a lot of the elasticized neoprene peel and start to perish. Finally, don’t stomp it into the floor of the car park when you’re removing it. Treat your wetsuit with the utmost respect, and it will serve you well for a lot longer than it would if you didn’t.
