What is neoprene ?

Before talking more in depth about wetsuits, it is useful to define and explain what neoprene is, so what is neoprene?

Neoprene was born in the 30's in the chemical factories of a French-American giant of the chemical industry. It was in fact the first synthetic rubber, resulting from the polymerization of a chemical compound called chloroprene (for obvious reasons, we will spare you the details of this process). This famous rubber was used in the manufacture of products such as tile grout, gloves or even life-saving channels, by virtue of its properties to resist relatively corrosive fluids, such as hydrocarbons and sea water. It is only later that the use of neoprene was declined to make wetsuits for surfing, triathlon or diving because of its thermal and waterproof properties.

The use of a wetsuit is essential in the practice of surfing, especially for questions of comfort and safety. Note that what is valid for surfing is also valid for kitesurfing, wingfoil, windsurfing, wakeboarding, etc... We speak here about surfing wetsuit for simplification reasons.

The neoprene wetsuit is the only viable element to bring you an extra layer of warmth. As mentioned before, neoprene has a strong thermal and waterproof property, which makes it the most suitable material. This extra layer insulates you from the cold in an optimal way, thus bringing maximum comfort to the water temperatures, avoiding you to be frozen after a 10 minutes session. The wetsuit also provides a strong safety aspect in terms of avoiding hypothermia as well as avoiding cuts from coral or a foil.

However, when buying a wetsuit, many people wonder which wetsuit to choose? The criteria for choosing a wetsuit are multiple and depend on many factors, all equally important.

How to choose a wetsuit ?

In order to help you to see more clearly the world of neoprene wetsuits, we are going to see together point by point the different criteria you have to pay attention to before buying a wetsuit, starting with the thickness.