Things to consider when looking for the right wetsuit for you
1. Where do you ride? What is your season high and low temperatures for both water and air? How long into the season will you realistically ride? How much temperature change do you experience throughout your riding season?
2. Are you warm blooded, cool or cold blooded? I am still wearing booties, hood and gloves when lots of riders are in just their wetsuit. How important is warmth to you personally?
3. What is your budget? This is always a tough one. Everyone wants to spend all their money on their kite, board and harness. Remember that your wetsuit is stuck to your body and will be a huge deciding factor on how long you can ride in comfort. In Lake Michigan you must have a wetsuit, and for all practical purposes it needs to be a 5/3 blind stitched and glued suit. You are talking of an investment between $175-350.
4. Sizing – Okay, so this is a given. This is absolutely critical for your comfort. If you get a suit, it should be snug, but not super tight. Can you touch your toes? Are the arms and legs long enough or too long? You don’t want to have bunches of neoprene on your arms or legs. I like to leave a little extra room for a layer of polypropylene for those really cold days. If you buy a suit online and it does not fit right, do not use it. Call the retailer and trade it in for the right size.
5. Booties, hoods and gloves – If you want to ride when it’s cold you will need all three. Booties are the most important to start with. Plan on spending $100 – $150 to get the right set up of all three pieces of gear. Your extremities are always the weakest link in the length of your session due to cold.
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