Anyone got any experience with ION wetsuits?

[Poo Stance]

Saw one of these the other day and quite liked the look.

http://www.ion-essentials.com/public/co ... ry_4_3_dl/

Anyone using one/know anything about them? After durability really.

[prjwebb]

the boat guys in Porthtowan SLSC are sponsored by Ion. The suits look decent enough, no better any others though I'd say. Not sure about durability because they've only been wearing them this year but they seem to like them.

[gavtheoldskater]

seems to be a few kite/windsurf type brands starting to make interesting looking suits, also check out mystic.. years ago i had a neil pryde and it was definitely one of the best wetsuits i've ever owned.

i've been looking at onda suits recently online, indeed went out of my way today to go check one in a shop. very impressed with the 4/3 zipflex, especially for the cash - £165. looked way better quality than anything i've had from ripcurl in the past.

[Poo Stance]

Cheers guys. Always nice to know whats out there as an alternative to the main brands. Mate has a Neil Pride. I couldn't believe how thin it was compared to my Xcel. No way I'd want to wear that in winter but maybe I'm a wimp. He doesn't surf enough to be able to see what the durability is like though. Good to know you thought it was a good suit, my mate's not got really anything to compare it with apart from my suits which he borrows and don't fit into.

[briggfoot]

Whilst we're on the topic of suits, anyone got any experience with 'Animal' winter suits?

I didn't want to start a new thread just to ask, as I know the topics been done to death, but I couldn't find much about Animal in the search function.

They make quite a few mid-range suits, just don't know about the build-quality.....

[manbearpig]

they are still main brands just for different sports. if i only surfed then id steer clear myself, its so much colder than kitesurfing and windsurfing and the products reflect that. no question they are good suits and good value

[Kenny]

I´ve got an O´Neill Windfreak which I use for windsurfing. It has more single lined neoprene so is warmer than my surfing suits when it´s windy. I often think it´s a shame there isn´t more smoothskin on surf suits (like there used to be). Wouldn´t wear the suit surfing though as they have wider cut arms(for forearm expansion) which would billow if surfing.

[eric_t]

Animal make good suits - they're made in the same place as most other brands these days. You can get a mid range for about 160 thats exactly the same as a 200 c skins, oneill rip curl suit. They actually stay together pretty good as well for a modern suit, the only thing thats not so good on them is the knee's they wear thin after a while... but yeah warm suits

[briggfoot]

Animal make good suits - they're made in the same place as most other brands these days. You can get a mid range for about 160 thats exactly the same as a 200 c skins, oneill rip curl suit. They actually stay together pretty good as well for a modern suit, the only thing thats not so good on them is the knee's they wear thin after a while... but yeah warm suits

Cheers for the reply Eric, I will add Animal to the contenders list!
I'm located near to Alder's main depot at the moment (okehampton) and am hoping I can find a nice fitting suit when I visit there in the next few days. They're a British company (i believe?!) and when searching for peoples experiences of them on this site, have found a lot of warm+fuzzy posts about their customer post-sales care so if I can I'd prefer to throw my money in their direction.
Hope the quality of their suits is good too, as I'm not made of money and just want a suit that will LAST, and not need replacing after a season or two!

At the moment I'm considering:
O'neill SuperFreak fuze 5/3
C-skins Legend 5/3
Alder Evo 5/4/3
Xcel SLX x-zip 5/4
Animal Amp V2 5/3

Going to head over to the North Devon Wetsuit Centre and hopefully find a few good places with a range of brands to try on a few suits.
North Devon Wetsuit Centre looked promising but only stocks Billabong/Xcel......

regards

[Black]

C-skins are built to last if thats what you're after and a uk company.

[briggfoot]

C-skins are built to last if thats what you're after and a uk company.

Sounds good Black, I havn't heard a bad word about their products yet so that is promising......
Built to last is definately what i'm looking for! Nice one.

[cooter]

C-skins are built to last if thats what you're after and a uk company.

Sounds good Black, I havn't heard a bad word about their products yet so that is promising......
Built to last is definately what i'm looking for! Nice one.

I'd echo that - I've been wearing a Wired 5/3 for the last three winters and its still going strong - one repair following a fin slash but no significant wear and tear. Easy to get in and out of and I've never felt cold when I've been wearing it. A great suit.

[henryg]

C-skins are built to last if thats what you're after and a uk company.

Sounds good Black, I havn't heard a bad word about their products yet so that is promising......
Built to last is definately what i'm looking for! Nice one.

I'd echo that - I've been wearing a Wired 5/3 for the last three winters and its still going strong - one repair following a fin slash but no significant wear and tear. Easy to get in and out of and I've never felt cold when I've been wearing it. A great suit.

I'd agree that CSkins are built to last but my experience is that they are nowhere near as warm as the likes of Xcel and Ripcurl (which incidentally are not built to last more than a couple of months so it would seem)

[Vince Noir]

i am just about surviving in a cskin hot-wired ( 2010 top end) on the east coast..not warm enough for depths of winter, but managable when i wear a thermal rashy

[briggfoot]

I'd agree that CSkins are built to last but my experience is that they are nowhere near as warm as the likes of Xcel and Ripcurl (which incidentally are not built to last more than a couple of months so it would seem)

i am just about surviving in a cskin hot-wired ( 2010 top end) on the east coast..not warm enough for depths of winter, but managable when i wear a thermal rashy

Ahh I'm blessed to be living down South rather than the unforgiving N.East or baltic Scottish climes (fair play for surfing up there!!) so I reckon one of their suits would do the job down here ok.
From about February time onwards I've managed in a second-hand Tiki 3/2mm (the only one for sale in the shop!) with boots/hat/gloves and a lot of cramp and numb extremities after long sessions, but I think we had a mild winter and it's time to invest in something a bit more suitable!!!

regards

[mr vic]

to a certain extent it depends on your body shape what brand of wetsuit you should take, although these days most brands have a pretty broad size range.

I am quite tall, and have found o'neill fits me really well. Anyway, I have the Pyscho 2 5/3 from the 2010/2011 winter collection and it is great. super warm and none of the seems have cracked yet after 2 solid winters(or I am not surfing enough!).

early this year after that hardcore cold snap we had, I surfed the North sea with water temps around 3-4 degrees and I was still warm after over an hour