So this year we have brought out a new wetsuit which takes our full suits down into a 2/1mm option. Okay so 1mm is available on suits right now in a few cases – but not on a smooth-skin, fully blind-stitched option. As far as we know there are only 2 factories brave enough to make suits like this and we work with both of them. Tonight I wore my new one, I swung by the warehouse yesterday in LA and opened the new boxes which read Large Tall on the box and whipped a few extra for team surfers whom I know where keen to sample them out. Their’s were still in the car tonight when I unwrapped mine so I guess the Large Tall was the fist one to get worn. Now Nineplus has had its fair share of problems on the quest to make nice wetsuits, from incorrect glue to problem with materials, sometimes it has been a fine line between blindly pushing ahead when maybe we should have stopped or continuing to believe that we could overcome the barriers that can come with the smooth-skin and make solid, dependable wetsuits that help people enjoy their favourite sport that little bit more. Well tonight was one of the highlights for me as after 16 years of designing and sampling new products the new 2/1mm fullsuit was as warm as any 3/2mm if not some 4/3mm wetsuits available. It was stretchy, very light (under 1lb) and when I put it on I immediately noticed its flexibility and comfort. I paddled out and with just 1mm on the arms it was so easy to paddle, in 60f water it was more than enough to stay warm.
I know its easy to say this and to some it may feel like sales but people who know me know if I don’t like it, I don’t like it. I love trying other peoples products out and at the moment am riding a ‘Bing Levitator’ surfboard as a tester. If products are good, they are good and its good to not just take advertising on face value. Product in my opinion should stand up, marketing should just make people aware of it. The 2010/11 suits were okay but I have always held onto my 2007/08 models which to me feel like wearing a second skin. The new 2012 suits are like the 07/08 but lighter, stronger and more flexible, they are more durable and as someone who wears all the competitors suits I have been smiling all the way home. We have been making wetsuits for 11 years and in that time have learnt allot about working with Yamamoto (The Japanese Gold Standard) it has at sometimes been painful but I rest assured as I know what it takes to work with this material. Its the Louis Vuitton of the neoprene world but to learn to use it might take someone else another 11 years and in that regard, were ahead.
But really, I hope anyone thinking of buying a new suit would consider the new 2/1mm fullsuit, tonight made me proud. Heck, I even almost went for a run in it along with all the other spandex covered Southern Cal ladies jogging T-Street at dusk.
NWS-RFS21