Through the winter?

Well there you go... Sorry for the bad advice.

But yeah, I don't get it anymore with my body glove and I also haven't heard my brother complain about it wearing my old rip curl

 

i'm not trying to be a smart ass but have you tried a rash guard?

 

Im going to upgrade from 4/3 to 5/4 this winter to keep me in the water and out of the patient first. I was like 5 for 5 (sessions to serious colds) when it really got cold last winter. Not cool. I have an idiot friend who preaches about how warm his psycho 3/2 is, but he has gotten pneumonia every winter that I have known him... HUMMMMM....

5 mil boots and gloves are plenty warm, the only issue I ever have is flooding.

 

I hadn't thought of that...thanks....
This is my first go-round with surfing east coast early spring & late into the autumn. In years past usually went to DR or Nica or Barbados during Nov - May months. So, as odd as it sounds, haven't had need for wetsuit before this.

This is going to sound rookie dumbass, but then again I am a rookie dumbass when it comes to wetsuits: do most guys wear rash guards underneath the wetsuit ...? It's pretty tight on my shoulders & arms now with nada underneath.

 

Ah. Point taken.

As an aside, my buddy bot a 4/3 Freak, spent approx $450 on it (ouch). We compared my RC Firewire with his ON Freak -- the Freak doesn't have any of the prickly seams on the collar area that cause friction / irritation.

Expensive lesson learned for me, because my suit is tearing my neck up. And thus it's only a matter of time before I dump it as too uncomfortable to surf in.

Holding out hope that the rash guard solution as proposed by AKA Pumpmaster is the fix.

 

Sorry: Damook & AKA both proposed the rashie...

 

It should work, just make sure that neck is high enough. I get that rub but after a few sessions i usually get a thick spot there and it doesn't bother me anymore.

 

There's a lot to be said for calluses getting us through the irritations of Life...

 

The high neck or 'turtle-neck' rashie will work. I did that for awhile with a cheap suit I had. Somewhat of a pain, had to keep pulling the neck of the rashguard up to make sure it was high enough to protect around the top of the wetsuit collar but it did work. Eventually upgraded the suit and didn't need the rashie underneath.
To answer your other question: I don't wear anything under the suit, and I suspect that's the same for most people.

 

I would go with 7 gloves and booties... might as well. I've never really said 'my feet/hands stayed a little warm', its always either 'man my feet were numb as sh*t after 30 minutes' or '..I was nice and toasty'
A little too warm is always better than not being able to surf cause you're way too cold..

 

Last Winter

I spent too much upgrading boots and gloves( 3mm, then 5mm, finally 7mm)

I wore my 7mm boots and 5mm mitts Sat and Sun. I never once thought, "Damn, my feet are hot!"

I wore a 5/4/3 mutant all winter. I was toast.

I get the money thing though. Try to keep your priorities straight . We are talking about surfing the best, and least crowded swells during this time of the year.

 

Thanks

Thanks for the tip guys; I'll try that as well. Funny how I used to surf Norcal EVERYDAY and never got the neck thing, but now do, probably because I live 2 hours from the beach and can't paddle out as often. I guess that's the callous deal.

To the other guys, I would caution switching brands just to try and save your neck skin...I've experienced it with both O'neill and Billabong suits in great condition. It's probably more of the "soft hands" syndrome than the wetsuit itself. Buying a new suit may get you the same result, just with more money down the toilet.

 

i have the ripcurl insulator, its a pretty high end 4/3, with a zip off hood, and i surfed all winter long last year and i was fine. but you definately need atleast 5 mil boots and mittens. there was a few days in the dead of winter where after a while i wished i had 7 mil boots. so you might be better off with them.