Wetsuit
Buyer's Guide

Wetsuits with a thickness of 3/2 mm are the most common. These summer suits are ideal for water temperatures between 15°C and 20°C. A 3 mm suit with a good thermal lining and wind-repellent neoprene will also work in colder regions.

With a 4/3 mm you can still enjoy surfing on colder days or during spring. These suits keep you warm and still provide great flexibility. Optional gloves, booties and hoods with a similar thickness will keep your hands, feet and head warm.

If you are a cold-water enthusiast, suits with thicknesses around 5/3 mm, 5/4 mm or even 6/4 mm will work for you best. Combine these winter suits with accessories to keep heat loss as low as possible. Remember: You can cool yourself down easily by opening your suit when you got too hot – but it's hard to warm up if you got too cold.

Some brands also have intermediate sizes to help your selection. These are given by the manufacturers as Short or Tall which reflect the height while the regular sizes refer to a standard body shape. An MT is a medium wetsuit in the tall version. If you are tall and slim, you should opt for a MT size.

Back zips open from the lower back to the neck. This opening makes it easy to get on, so it's the perfect option for beginners. The zipper material is less flexible and water-resistant than neoprene - so we recommend this system for milder climates.

The small opening make no zip wetsuits harder to get on, but the unrestricted flexibility makes them the most comfortable system for surfing. Leading brands pair this system with their best neoprene to create top performance wetsuits. If you are looking to spend a long time in the water, this is the best option for you.

A front zip opens from the top of your neck to the bottom of your torso. The opening allows you to get into the top of the wetsuit easily. Front zip systems are designed for warmer waters and typically found on springsuits and are usually for women.

For this seam technology, the neoprene panels are first glued together and then blind stitched through the glued area. With this technique, the material is only sewn from one side which doesn’t cause any needle hole through the neoprene resulting in a more water-resistant seam. Some brands glue and blind-stitch multiple times to make the seam stronger, more durable and even more water-resistant.

Additional taping and liquid sealing are other technologies to further reinforce GBS seams.

Stretchy, lightweight tapes are glued to the inside of the seam to advance comfort, durability and water-resistance. Seams can be spot taped in high-stress areas or fully taped.

Liquid sealing is the ultimate method to create leak-free seams. This seam reinforcement lets the least water through so is essential for cold water surfing.

For heat retention wetsuits are equipped with a partial or full thermal lining. These are stretchy, lightweight, water-repellent and fast drying. Advanced lining technologies increase the insulating properties so much that wetsuits with thinner neoprenes can now be used in colder waters.

Reinforced knees make your wetsuit last longer and add a second protective layer. This is beneficial for take-offs, especially for beginners.

Gloves are another helpful addition to your winter setup. They are available as mittens, 3-finger models or 5-finger version. Mittens are comparably the warmest, however, they do limit fine motor skills.

Hoods provide protection against cold wind and water. Depending on the outside and water temperature you can choose between different models.