These Are The World's Best Wetsuits
Stab's search for the warmest 3/2 and most comfortable 4/3 starts here.
When we invited the world’s best wetsuits manufactuers to our world’s best wetsuits shoot, we warned of real and honest feedback. Many ran the other way. The ones included were excited about having their product critically reviewed.
Welcome to Stab's Best Wetsuits of winter 2019-2020—the Northern Hemisphere edition.
Our objective: to discover the warmest 3/2 and most comfortable 4/3 on the modern market.
Reasoning: nobody wants to wear a 4/3 if they don't have to, so it's our job to keep you in a 3-mil as long as possible. But, if that extra millimeter of rubber is required, we want to make sure that you don't end up in a rubber straitjacket.
Tester: Stab's resident tech geek, Michael Ciaramella. Having exclusively worn Xcel neoprene for the past decade, Mike's utter ignorance of these six neoprene brands makes him uniquely qualified for the task, as he is an analytical and unbiased subject.
Watch above as Mike samples 12 rubber tuxedos both in and out of frigid Central California waters, in an attempt to answer the question: who makes the warmest and most comfortable wetsuits in 2019?
Click here for the complete Best Wetsuits feature.
Billabong's Furnace Ultra 3/2 and Furnace Comp 4/3
Click here for a complete analysis and review.
Furnace Ultra 3/2 Warmth score: 8/10
Furnace Comp 4/3 comfort score: 7/10
Graphene: A Nobel- Prize-winning super-fiber implemented in wetsuits by Billabong in 2019. It's meant to be ridiculously stretchy, strong, and warm.
Feral's 3/2 Chest-zip and 4/3 Chest-zip.
Click here for a complete analysis and review.
Makes you wanna surf.
Chest-zip 3/2 warmth score: 9/10
Chest-zip 4/3 comfort score: 8/10
O'Neill's Psycho Tech 3/2 and Hyperfreak Comp 4/3 (COMFORT WINNER)
Click here for a full analysis and review.
Psycho Tech 3/2 warmth score: 8/10
Hyperfreak Comp 4/3 comfort score: 10/10
Legacy brand.
Quiksilver's Highline Plus 3/2 and Highline Ltd. 4/3
Click here for a full analysis and review.
Highline Plus 3/2 warmth score: 8/10
Highline Ltd. 4/3 comfort score: 7/10
Lined with a field of roses (sans thorns).
Rip Curl's Flashbomb Heat Seeker 3/2 (WARMTH WINNER) and E-Bomb 4/3
Click here for a full analysis and review.
E-bomb 4/3 comfort score: 9/10
Flashbomb Heat Seeker 3/2 warmth score: 9/10
Fins just wanna be free.
Volte's Supreme 3/2 and Premium Hooded 4/5
Click here for a full analysis and review.
Supreme 3/2 warmth score: 6/10
Premium 4/5 comfort score: 8/10
A wave goodbye!
