I’m heading to Santa Cruz for 2 days to see my daughter-in-law and 2 grandsons (Papa has gone to Nashville on music business).
I want to get a really good wetsuit (with built-in hood) that I don’t have to struggle so much to get into (and out of), and doesn’t feel like a suit of armor (like my custom made 5/4). Any suggestions? My friend Ray swears by his $500 O’neill suit which he says is really flexible.
About Lloyd Kahn
Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the
Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include
Shelter,
Shelter II (1978),
Home Work (2004),
Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008),
Tiny Homes (2012), and
Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:
these are some of the nicest wetsuits i've seen:
http://www.surfisurus.com/
very high quality neoprene.
hey now, i just bought o'neill full suit 323 for $200.00 at the frog house in new port beach ca. i love it, been a o'neill fan for forty years now, aways got my money worth. got a new robert august 8' 10 a gift to myself for fifty years of riding waves. pixs of it on my fb page !!
Do you use a plastic bag when putting on a wetsuit? Got the tip from someone who surfs in cold Atlantic waters. He recommended putting a plain plastic bag over each hand and foot as you put on your wetsuit. It just slides right over the bag and makes putting it on much quicker and easier. Doesn't help with the taking off, though.
Heard good things about Patagonia's offerings … have not personally used them.
How about one of the battery powered vests? Then wear a 3/3 over it. After surfing my way through maybe 25 suits in 32 years of norcal surfing, I have yet to find a 5/4 that is "flexible" But more important that brand is the fact that each sizes a bit differently. So a medium rip curl wont fit like an oneill of same size. I currently wear an excel, 5/4 with hood and love it. But its not that flexible, none are when they start to get that thick. Try a battery vest Lloyd and let us know how it works! http://www.heatedwetsuits.com/