A Tale of WETSUITS

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.”

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 41^st 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')

Different Types of Wetsuits today