Text of an email from Feral Wetsuits, the tiny San Francisco outfit who made a good impression with a display at the Florida Surf Film Festival a few years back. As a result, I have and like a couple of their suits.
"FERAL wetsuits don't absorb water and get heavy like our competitors' suits do. We figured this out by weighing our 4mm3 versus a not-to-be-named, big famous competitor's new fuzzy-lined 4/3 while dry and then after dunking them in a tub of water for 10 minutes. Both were 3.1 pounds dry. The FERAL was 4.2 pounds when soaked, but Brand X weighed 6.2 pounds-it doubled in weight! That means
it absorbed about 3 times as much water. That gets worse with age for Brand X too, but not with FERAL, because Yamamoto neoprene keeps its cellular integrity far longer, while Brand X's neoprene (embarrassingly poor integrity) starts practically inviting water in for a party after just a few months of constant use. Water logged neoprene doesn't insulate well, either, so Brand X gets heavier AND colder over time. The FERAL though will be performing like new a year into ownership.
Integrity. It's baked into every FERAL
wetsuit."
FERAL, along with Matuse and little Hotline (Santa Cruz), goes with quality neoprene and no fuzz. Buell (also Santa Cruz) is also fuzzless but at their price points, I assume they use less expensive neoprene.
Most others are fuzzy. The fuzziest thing I have is a Rip Curl, carpeting all the way down the arms. Anyone want to try a 4/3 XLS (I think fit would be more like a Buell LS)? Free.
It's been clearance sale season for wetsuits. Along with the two FERALs, I have an amazing 5/4 Hotline (should have gone to California this week), a couple of Matuses (their fit is tighter than FERAL and quite a bit tighter than Hotline), and 3 Buells, which fit a lot like Hotline. If you have a Volte wetsuit, take good care of it. The company seems gone and the suits were great, very lightweight.
Edited: 04/27/2023
at 09:53 AM
by ww