Ownership of a wetsuit, goes hand in hand with water sports and while you may not need a ‘full suit’ for the warmer months if you want to extend you paddling through into the autumn, winter and spring, in most of Europe you will most certainly need to consider ownership of one, especially if there is a chance you may fall in. On the face of it, neoprene is not the best material for warmth when paddling and building up a sweat. The sweat acts like a radiator as air passes over the fabric, therefore it pays to wear some form of wind-break or outer covering to lower the affects of wind chill. On the other hand if you’re SUP surfing for example and falling a lot, then there’s less need for an outer shell covering.
If you have good skills and paddling on very flat water, you may consider wearing thermal leggings and thermal tops to counter the cold and lower your sweat rate, but where there is ever a chance of falling into cold or near freezing water, it’s essential your torso area is protected using neoprene materials and this is best served by a full suit. If you’ve an unlimited budget, you could consider a dry suit, however these are not fail safe for the most and can have sealing issues around extremities including the neck, zipper snags and all but the very best are safe and worthy of attention, which makes it almost mandatory to invest heavily.
During 2020 we released a Mistral line of wetsuits; full suits in 3/2 mm and 4/3mm and shorties in 2mm and it did not take long to sell out and we are now waiting on replenishment stock early in the new year of 2021. Encouraged by the popularity of these suits, we’ve now developed a front zippered design which offers greater flexibility, reduced water ingress in using a shorter zipper line and the inclusion of Enduroskin® our highly flexible neoprene and included chest and back smooth skin panels to reduce evaporation rates for above water level sports, ideal for windsurfing, wingfoiling and SUP for example. These designs will be available during 2021 and we shall keep you updated.
