Why thick wetsuits?

This sport combines wind and water, apart from the general weather conditions, so they can mislead our concepts.

Till date, I´ve just had 2 wetsuits (in 7 yeares of kiting), the first one was a 70€ Decathlon very basic model, it was a 4/3 which gave me a really good result.

(For further description check this link http://www.decathlon.es/traje-surf-100-h-4-3-mm-id_8229475.html , I´ve noticed that they are selling it for 15€ more now). A picture wearing it:

Well, all the time I´ve had friends telling me that it was a piece of shit!! by not being elastic enough, not confortable, that it didnt fit tight to the body, etc. Always hearing that I should upgrade to one of the top brands in the market… well, as I didnt have previous experiences and it did it´s job, I was happy with it and did use it till it was almost wasted. I used that wetsuit both in summer and winter, and different waters like lakes, ocean and seas. It did last all my learning curve of the sport without a scratch. Bombproof, full stop.

The reason why I decided to upgrade that wetsuit was dictated by a nasty experience I had one summer at “Pantano del Ebro” which is a lake in the north of Spain (I will speak about this amazing place in latter posts as it well deserves it´s space).  Till then, I believed that the wetsuit was pretty much useless (in kiteboarding) compared to other water sports as surfing or scuba diving as one you learn to ride on the board you don’t spend time on water. Of course, I knew that you needed it for protecting you against the elements (water, wind) but apart of that I was convinced that I did buy a thicker one that I really needed. Well, that day was blowing side-shore and I was doing long distances getting far away from the shore, then the wind completely drop making me sink and the kite felt to the water. I was fuck as I was 4km away from the downwind shore. By that time I didn’t know how to perform a self-rescue, so I did have to wait for the 2-4knots wind to pull me to the shore. After some time floating, the cold water (FYI: It is a lake that does not warm as it is 1000 meters over sea level) started to make my legs cramp, and after a bit more more, they were almost useless. Luckily I´ve made it, but just because the wetsuit gave the flotation I could not get from my legs.

Suddenly after that, I did decide to go thicker, I went again to Decathlon and got a 5/4mm that I also use it in even warm spots. This one is supposed to be kitesurfing oriented and did cost me 164€. It´s not on sale anymore but here is one picture of me using it (excuse my hair style):

This one has being doing the job for 4 years now and it well deserves a golden retirement.

Right now I´m looking for a new wetsuit and despite what you might think, I´m almost decided to not buy something fancy as I´ve discovered (by a forum writer that I respect) a UK brand that looks that they know what they do. It will be a 5/4 mm again from “Lomo”: http://www.ewetsuits.com/acatalog/wetsuits-1.html. If they are used in the UK waters I´m sure that they will perform and the company strategy does something that I like, direct distribution, so it has all the “key elements” of fancy brands at a more than reasonable price.

 

Reasons to go thick:

·      Despite I now know how to perform an auto rescue, you cant be 100% sure that your kite wont go away leaving you inside the water, or imagine also the situation that could happen if the wind rolls and start blowing you offshore and you have to wait to be rescued by the coast patrol for instance. You will be warm in the meantime.

·      The flotation factor is also a key element for the type of situation described above.

·      Crashes hurt less as you have more protective skin.

·      When you stop for a break to rest on the shore, it will protect you more against the wind chill.

·      Just need to spend in one wetsuit only. Any save means more kiting to me as I have to drive to the coast every time.

Buen viento