I've been pleased with O'Neill boots for my last few pairs. Gloves/mittens - they just all seem to get leaky pretty quick. Actually a big fan of the Rip Curl mittens I picked up this winter, we'll see how they fare next window with a full season's use.
I had the same problem. I have xcel wetsuits and drylock booties. Xcel makes great booties. I had the flashbomb lobster claws from ripcurl and the thumb wore through really quick. I called ripcurl customer service and never got anyone on the phone. I left plenty of voicemails. They finally called me back but I missed their call because I was in a meeting. I tried calling them again but the same thing happened. I just gave up. I won't buy from them now because of it. Maybe I just had bad luck with them and it could be that they put more focus on their wetsuits.
The value of the forum: intelligent info from real-time experience. Ergo, next purchase to be Rip Curl based on some of the insights here. Nearly everything I have is Xcel. My 5/4 hoody is pretty toasty in January; no beefs. Howevah.... 4/3, which was like Linus blanket on my body so good in December, is now not even a year old & leaves my lower back feeling iced/cramped up big-time, even with my constant (heat-producing) paddling & riding, after only 40 mins in 50-degree-ish water. So, not too thrilled about that. Maybe mine is a defective suit, but hey it doesn't do the trick as advertised. At these prices, there shouldn't be any defective suits. IMHO Time to try another manufacturer. And nothing wrong with shopping 'round.
