Active Family - Watersports and Wetsuit lowdown

A photo I took while living in Cornwall

As some of you may already know I grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, very close to the coast and from a n early age spent a lot of time at the beach, either skateboarding when the surf was flat our out in the water. I was a very active child (I still am) and you to spend hours surfing and learnt a lot about the importance f good equipment such as wetsuits which is imperative, as well as looking after your equipment. When I moved to the UK I spent some time in Scotland before being pulled back to the coast and Cornwall and I moved down to Falmouth for a year and spent many a day with my board packed in the back of my mini on our way to the closest break.

My surfboard just about fit in my mini

When it comes to choosing a new wetsuit for watersports there are many a wetsuit guide or wetsuit review that will tell you all you need to know about the latest technological breakthroughs in wetsuit design. However, if you are looking for some basic knowledge then a wetsuit review or a wetsuit guide may baffle you with science and leave you just as perplexed as when you started out.

When it comes to choosing wetsuitsUK customers need to allow for the constantly changing weather temperatures. Taking this into account is important if you only want to have one suit that will cover all seasons. Speak to your retailer about what thickness of neoprene they recommend for your activities. Making sure that you are going to be comfortable, no matter what the weather temperature may be, should be your main priority when you next buy a wetsuit.

                                   

UK watersports enthusiasts will often have several suits for different seasons, whereas the occasional user will probably only ever own one suit at any one time. With this in mind wetsuit care should be thoroughly investigated. Wetsuit care will help you to look after your suit, keeping it in great condition ready for the next time it needs to be worn. Without proper wetsuit care it is likely that the suit will deteriorate and lose some of its insulating properties.

                                       

If you’ve read a wetsuit guide, or wetsuit review, and they haven’t mentioned the importance of sizing then this is something that you should definitely be aware of. Getting the correct size when you buy a wetsuit, UK or elsewhere, is vitally important. This is because if the suit doesn’t fit correctly the neoprene will not be able to do its job properly. If you have a wetsuit that is loose fitting around the extremities, cold water may enter in and flush out the layer of warm water that should be trapped within the suit. It’s also worth bearing in mind that different manufacturers often come up with different sizing and these can, on occasion, be a little vague. So, just because you are a medium in one brand of wetsuit doesn’t necessarily mean you will be a medium in another.

Old photo of me during

Wetsuit care of zips and stitching is also imperative to help maintain insulation. If water is allowed to seep through these openings then the whole suit could be compromised. Maintaining your suit with the correct wetsuit care will give it a much longer lifespan and offer both the occasional and regular user much greater value for money. Speak to your retailer about sizing and aftercare and you will be on the right track to enjoying years of fun in your wetsuit for watersports.

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