What is a Wetsuit?
A Wetsuit is today’s
impeccable piece of garment that surfers cannot live without. Surfers aren’t the
only people who wear wetsuits, but also divers, windsurfers, canoeists and those
whose hobby or sport involves playing with the huge, chilling ocean waves.
Wetsuits are usually
made of foamed neoprene and materials that provide thermal insulation, abrasion
resistance and buoyancy in water. The insulation properties of wetsuits are
believed to depend on the gas molecules entrapped within the material which provide
or conduct heat to surfers/divers even when they’re wet . This idea was originally
embarked by Hugh Bradner in 1951, a known Physicist in Berkeley driven by his
desire to create a suit for military underwater swimmer.
From then on, wetsuit
became a highly successful product, a necessity for most sport enthusiasts all
over the world.
Without wetsuits, surfing in low temperature coasts would not
be possible, or it would only be limited to those fortunate countries and coastlines
blessed with huge waves and warm water at the same time.
Wetsuits do not just
provide you warmth and safety while surfing or diving, these light-weight, skintight
outfits look great when worn.
Its Brief History
The invention of
wetsuits cannot be pointed out to merely a single person. The idea of creating
wetsuit was thought of by Hugh Bradner in the year 1951, while the inspiration
of pursuing this idea into reality was embarked by Jack O’neill. We all heard
of these names somewhere, maybe in sports magazines or in sports TV shows.
Hugh Bradner was a Physicist
well-known as the first one who thought of the idea of creating a suit which
could aid underwater divers and swimmers. His goal was to create/design a suit specifically
for military underwater swimmers, but he never did actually produced one. His
idea was recorded in a letter sent to Larry Marshall dated June 21, 1951. In
his letter, he wrote “suits don’t need to be watertight since thermal
insulation is obtained through the entrapment of air molecules within the suits’
material, hence, divers/swimmers can stay warm even when they’re in the water.”
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| Jack O'neill |
His great idea inspired
one man whose love for the ocean and surfing was unbeatable, Jack O’neill. O’neill
produced the first wetsuits made of stitched pieces of neoprene to protect him
from freezing whenever he surfed in the bitter cold waters of San Francisco,
California.
His brother, Robert O’neill had helped him by creating the first wetsuit designs. The creation of wetsuits
provide a huge relief to numerous surfers in California coasts who had
struggled so hard to keep themselves warm and dry before wetsuits came along.
O’neill devoted his
whole life to surfing, creating wetsuits, and other surf accessories. He opened
his first surf shop sometime in 1952 which became a hit and a frequent stop to
surfers. His wetsuit business boomed, leading him to relocate the shop to 41st
Avenue where there was enough space for large production and manufacturing. His
achievements motivated many people to design and create their own wetsuits.
Along with his discovery
of wetsuits, Jack O’neill became the founder of today’s giant, O’neill sports
equipment Company which began as a small and simple surf shop in California.
The First Wetsuits and
Today’s
The first wetsuits made
by Jack O’neill were simply made of stitched pieces of unprocessed neoprene in the
form of vests. These wetsuits were stiff and uncomfortable to the skin since
they were made of raw, unprocessed material. Back then, the neoprene was sticky
and surfers need to brush their bodies with talcum powder in order to wear the
suit.
But in 1970, a new breed
of wetsuits came along-wetsuits made of double-lined neoprene that were sewed
with nylon on both sides. The nylon made these wetsuits more resistant, durable
and flexible. But these wetsuits weren't that effective and did not last long enough. There were many problems
encountered in the layers of neoprene, holes made from stitching got bigger as
the wetsuits were stretched, and there were flushing caused by the stitches.
Because of these,
wetsuit manufacturers had to find newer and more efficient ways to sew the
garment. There were several sewing techniques applied as wetsuit design evolved
including seam taping, seam gluing and blindstitching.
With the application of
these new sewing techniques, wetsuits evolved from stiff, uncomfortable suits to flexible, durable and waterproof ones. From wetsuits, dry
suits came along, and these suits would keep the body completely dry. Non-zip
wetsuits made of modern materials such as titanium, lycra and spandex, were also invented in 1989 and became
widespread nowadays.
Today, wetsuits are available in several different sizes, thickness,and styles that include a full suit type, shorties, spring-suits, or rash vests ('rashies')
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| Different Types of Wetsuits today |
