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Wetsuit buyers guide - Chasing the Dream: Vlog 16

3,528 views · Published 10 August 2017 · 7:17 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: MACkiteboarding · 2017 · Sports

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Check out our temperature chart here: http://www.mackiteboarding.com/wetsuits-by-thickness/

What do you need to consider?

Riding Location
Are you riding in a cold water spot or a warm water spot? Is there a seasonal change from the winter to summer conditions? Can you ride year-round? Would you even want to? Are you the type of person that’s the first to get covered up when it starts getting cold or are you the last one to put your sweater on? Some of the more sensitive riders like myself may find that the gloves, booties, and hoods may come on a little sooner than for the tough guys that will ride their board shorts even through the winter.  If you’re the kind of kiter that likes to travel to summer and winter spots, or if you have a big temperature variation between your summer and winter or spring and summer seasons, you may need two wetsuits. I have a few because I travel a lot.

Budget
How much does a good wetsuit cost? You could probably get a standard quality, lighter wetsuit for somewhere around $100. A 5/4 or 4/3 wetsuit. These will range in price from anywhere between $175 to $350. A lot of people want to use their entire kite budget on their kites, harness and a killer board, but bear in mind a wetsuit is critically important, as this is the one thing that will keep you alive when all else fails temperature-wise. For the really cold spots, booties, hoods and gloves may be necessary. You’d be surprised that they often cost a little more as well. Be sure if you’re riding in cold weather and water, to leave a little more room in your budget for those things. If you are outfitting your kit for cold water you’ll want to budget an extra $100 or $150 for the extra little things. These will keep you warm and happy in the cold water when you wipe out...because you probably will at some point!

Size 

Sizing is very important as well, as a wetsuit that is too small or too big for you is no fun to ride in. The wetsuit might be too small if you find you can’t move your arms or legs around. It’s too big if there’s a lot of extra room. It won’t keep you warm if you have too much space for water to get between your skin and the suit. Additionally, everyone prefers a different style and fit of suit. My favorite wetsuits are the “booty” suits or “shorty” suits. Those are the ones that have sleeves and a zip up top, and a bikini cut bottom down below. These suits are primarily meant for warm water conditions. I also have a 3/2 Ride Engine, which is awesome. It’s one of the most comfortable and easy wetsuits I’ve owned as far as getting the wetsuit on and off. For the very cold environments like up in Squamish or in the Bay Area, I use a 5/4 Ion Jewel. That suit  keeps me roasty toasty and very happy, even when I’m swimming around trying to recover my kite!

Temperature
Let’s talk about the different temperatures, and what wetsuits might apply. Even if you are in a warm water spot, you may want to have a riding top, a thermal top, or just an exposure suit. That might just be a one millimeter top or a one millimeter shorty suit, which will keep you a little warmer, extend your session. Even if you don’t necessarily need it, it keeps you protected when you’re crashing, keeps you protected from the sun, and keeps you a little warmer when you’re getting blown around on the beach and in the water. A good rule of thumb to use when determining what size you need is to add the water temperature and air temperature. For example, in farenheit, if your water temperature is 30 degrees and the air is 110 degrees, the two added together is above 140 degrees. In those extra warm environments, boardshorts or a bikini will work just fine. Unless you’re trying to prevent yourself from burning. In that case, invest in one of those 1mm tops! Anywhere around 100-120, you may want a 3/2 suit. A few different options for the colder temperatures are the 5/3’s and 5/4’s. Like I said, I use a 5/4 because I get cold pretty easily. You’ve got 5/3 insulated suits, you have wind suits, you have the deluxe suits which have that extra stitching, but are that much better and will keep you much warmer when needed. Of course, once you get to the freezing cold waters and the icy conditions (even here in Squamish you’ll see people riding dry suits). Those cold days where your combined wind and water temperatures are around 60 degrees farenheit, you want a drysuit. 

One of the main safety rules in kiteboarding, is to make sure you are dressing for your wipeout, not for your session. If you run into a problem where you are in cold water, but dressed for a warm and sunny day, but you’re in very cold water swimming around for 15 minutes, you’re not going to last very long if you’re not dressed for the conditions. Dress for the wipeout, dress for the water, and dress like you have to swim back to shore for 20 minutes!

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