Friday, November 12, 2004
Brian was successful in purchasing a board from a SBS reader in the classifieds. Pope did not get to see the new Moonshine Conspiracy surf flick, so if anybody has a writeup and wants to post it let him know.
Rip Curl 4/3 Ultimate Fireskin Review:
(Disclaimer: My own personal experience. Although I've written several reviews on Rip Curl wetsuits I have never received any money nor discounts from any surf shop or wetsuit company based on my reviews.)
With the water temp in October 57 along the Central Coast I knew my year old 3/2 Ultimate Elasto wouldn't hold me through the winter. I was very impressed with the Elasto, it being perhaps my best wetsuit ever in terms of flexibility, warmth, and durability. I lost count on sessions in it way back in December of 2003 at 46 session in 3 months. It is safe to assume I had over 100 sessions in it in the last year and have not had to have it repaired yet. Although still holding up it was getting noticeably colder, at least north of Pt. Conception where the true nature of the flexible seams was showing through. My biggest complaint about this 3/2 was sometimes water got flushed down the back of the neck where the "batwing" was. This happened so rarely and the suit heated up so well afterwards that it was seldom an issue.
The decision came down to an Elasto 4/3 or a Fireskin 4/3 by Rip Curl who I swore brand loyalty to after several recent bad experiences in my 15 year relationship with O'Neill. The Fireskin being Rip Curl's warmest suit ever, utilizing polypropylene in about 50% of the suit, making it a lot more restrictive than the Elasto yet much warmer. One has to ask themselves weather they want a super flexible suit good for about 90 minutes in cold water or a bomber suit that is going to be more restrictive but will allow you to sit outside on cold days and wait out the sets. I chose the later, which retailed at $299 as opposed to the Elasto which was $269.
My first two sessions took place in 57 degree water on partly cloudy days with air temps in the low 60's and 5knt offshore winds. I used the suit in conjunction with last year's "Core 357" Rip Curl Booties (I believe the new models come out next week). The great thing about a new setup is you feel like you are in a dry suit when entering the water. It took me a while to actually feel the water in my suit because it was put together so well. I wear a size M in super stretchy suits but had to go with MT on this one cause it didn't stretch as much. Even then it was a little tight in the neck and shoulders and I was rolling the dice that it would loosen up after a few sessions. This suit is without a doubt the warmest suit I've ever worn, being too warm for these first two sessions. I found myself opening up the batwing and dunking in the water a lot in my sessions. As the water goes south of 55 and we get some cold damp mornings I think this suit will be in it's element. Rip Curl did away with it's superhero looking coating on this suit, instead opting for an old style "smoothy" approach. It felt like a step backwards to me, as I really love that coating on the chest and arms, it helps to bead water off of the suit and repels wind. The Fireskin instead only has a small patch on the chest of the smoothie material making it more vunerable in my opinion.
The loss of flexibility can't be underestimated when going from an Elasto to a Fireskin. Although still more flexible than old style Neoprene wetsuits of the 90's, you still feel like you've taken a step backwards from the Elasto. It is a huge tradeoff, flexibility for warmth. As time wore on the suit did start to open up some more, but it still left me tired and ragged after a 2 hour session. This of course is going to be offset by the confidence that I can go out on cold mornings in deep winter and know I've got the warmest thing going.
In summary it's tough to give a detailed review of the suit since I've only had two sessions in it, and in relatively warm conditions for what it was purchased for. However I can say this suit is put together very well. The fit and finish of the suit is excellent, with all seams looking and feeling great and the suit going on and coming off easy. The polypropylene in the torso is like bringing along a comfort blanket, it is warm and fuzzy and if nothing else will mentally make you feel immune to cold. I figure I'll try to write another review in January, after I've gotten to know the suit some more and the cold is in it's prime. In the meantime, if you want a bomber suit to sit outside on cold mornings north of Pt. Conception, get this suit. If you are looking for something south of the point or for quick lunchtime sessions I'd recommend an Elasto or equivalent.
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Santa Barbara Surfing. Created by Tim Maddux. Continued by Pope.
