Review: A Luxurious 2-For-1 Wetsuit From 7till8 

Two years ago, I clicked a Google Meet link for a virtual wetsuit fitting with 7till8. 

I was in Portugal; they were in LA. It was very 2021. 

I’d wanted one of their suits since Mikey declared them the victors of Stab’s best wetsuit test the prior year (they were not in this year’s test, because apples are not oranges). The fitting went well, and I’d arranged to pick the suit up from their HQ the following month. 

Plot twist: I did not make it to their HQ the following month. 

Instead, I showed up a bit late…like, two years late. My bad. 

Considering we were approaching 1000 days since the virtual fitting, the 7till8 crew and I decided it’d be best to take my measurements again, which produced nearly identical results. This is not only a testament to my lifelong commitment to remaining strikingly average in all regards, but also to the fact that their virtual fitting process is dialed. 

A few weeks later, the suit arrived. I went for a 4/3 with a removable hood. Hoods are versatile tools. They prevent your brain from producing that horrible sensation it does when its inconsiderate operator gets a bit too excited with a tub of Häagen-Dazs — but they can also save you from any conversations you don’t want to have. Plus, they provide a false sense of security in heavy waves. 

But you don’t always need ‘em. If you were to draw a line between when to hood or not to hood, I believe it would be drawn straight through the chest of a 4/3. (My apologies to the hooded rashguard community.) 

Recently, at La Grande Plage in Biarritz, France, I decided it was time to give the suit a go. The water was 59 degrees. The air was 50. The wind was light sideshore, and the waves were largely uninspiring. It was the type of day in which you needed to be motivated to surf, and cautiously avoid any excuse not to. With $750 worth of luxury neoprene that had been tailored specifically to my body, I had no such excuse. 

I elected to run the hood. Despite my poor motor skills, it took 10 seconds to swap enclosures. The first thing I noticed was how easy it was to put the suit on. I’m not one to complain about ease of entry — I hardly even think about it. But, as I scrambled to put the suit on in the rain in front of a table of mildly agitated patrons sitting inside a stone-walled Basque restaurant*, I noticed how smoothly it slid onto my body.   

It felt like home, instantly. 

That feeling extended into the water. In my opinion, a wetsuit only needs to do two things — keep you warm and otherwise make you forget about it. Bonus points if it looks aight (remember that ungodly season or two when it seemed brands had co-conspired to use neon liberally?). But, once again, I couldn’t help but notice how good this thing felt. 

My only concern was that I’d respect the suit too much to wear it constantly. However, 7till8’s team quickly put me at ease. 

“We took forever to select that rubber and jersey combo with the intention of building it to last,” they told me. “You definitely don’t have to be precious with it.” 

Fair enough. Time to put it through hell. 

All up, you can sense the amount of love, consideration, and craftsmanship that goes into the suit. If you find yourself displeased with a custom-tailored wetsuit made with Yammamto 40 neoprene, then, frankly, you should rid your mind of the concept of satisfaction. 

*They were French. They probably would have been unhappy, anyway. That said, I am quite hairy.