Use a Robe
Get a change robe. Especially one with a hood. They seemed a little kooky when they first came out, but the joke was on me. Change robes are a pretty cozy way to change outdoors without flashing the neighbors. Bottom line, these things make getting naked in a parking lot a lot more pleasant for everyone.
Keep it Clean
Keep the sand and street grime off of your wetsuit! Your suit will last longer, you will be happier, and your skin will be happier! Get a change mat or anything you can hose off to keep clean and dry. Make sure your suit stays on it when you peel it off in the parking lot. This little hack keeps everything including your car and your house clean.
Clean and Condition
Some of my buddies put their wetsuits in the washing machine to clean them but I never do this. Reason why? It can damage the seals and seams. For me the best way to really clean a wetsuit is with wetsuit shampoo (with built in conditioner). I hand wash my suits in cold water in a big bucket using this product. I rinse my surf booties with it too. Wetsuit shampoo not only cleans out the bacteria and stains but also conditions the neoprene, bringing back the soft feel to the suit when you bought it. Your wetsuits look, feel and smell like new after using this product and also last a lot longer. One of the many nice things about Solite Boots is that because the lower is made from an exclusive patented material that is hydrophobic (meaning that it soaks no water) the insides dry much faster and don't have open cells to collect bacteria. As long as you rinse them often, they will never stink!
It’s in the Bag
A nice waterproof wetsuit bag works to keep everything together. Which is important when you start adding accessories like wetsuit boots, Heat Booster Socks, gloves and hoods. Plastic trash bags work in a pinch, but you always risk your wetsuit getting taken out with the trash if you leave it laying around in one of those things. On a trip to Oregon I saw a lot of guys using a spackle bucket as a wetsuit carrier. They would also use oversized Fisherman’s boots that they slipped on over their neoprene booties for a long rocky walk. Of course, Solite Boots are so durable you really don’t have to worry about that, but shoot, I love that ingenuity!
Fire can be Your Friend
The other thing that these guys like to do was build a fire. There’s a lot of places where you can’t do that obviously. But in the middle of the cold northern nowhere a little bit of lighter fluid and a lighter combined with dry-ish driftwood can buy you a second or third session. Just don’t burn anything down or melt your wetsuit!
Wrists and Ankles
Another problem can be a wrists and ankles rolling up during a wipeout or even in hand drags and pig dogs. Some of the more flexible materials used in suits to make them stretchy have a tendency to over-stretch or roll up on impact with the water. This leaves you with bare skin and a surf boot or a glove full of water which is very cold very quick. If you have this problem, old leash cuffs work well to seal your non-leash ankle. You can also find a lower profile velcro strap at most hardware stores to seal your wrist/ankle cuffs. The idea is to have your suit pretty sealed so you can take a pretty good wipeout without having it flush and send you to the beach to drain all the water out. Your kit is only as good as its weakest link.
Getting it On
Damp skin tends to stick to the inside of your wetsuit and make putting that thing on excruciatingly tedious. A pair of socks works wonders, so do plastic bags on your feet. (The ones that you were recycling anyway hint hint.) Of course, Solite gives you a pair of Heat Booster Socks with your boots so you can always use those! They are for heat molding your boots, but also handy for suit entry and extra insulation when the water is really cold. Some people get parking lot foot from oil or mud in or on their wetsuit boots. The socks are great for that too because they clean out whatever is there, and you can then just throw them in the washer.
Getting Out of it
Taking the suit off can be hard sometimes. A little bit of rinse water down your neck and up your sleeves helps break the suction between your suit and your skin. Get as much water between you and the suit if as you can and it will slide right off. The same goes for booties and gloves.
What if I Have to Pee?
It’s the dirty little secret of cold-water surfing. Some people think it’s gross and do anything to avoid it. Others embrace it and think of it as a nice hot Jacuzzi for a few moments. Whichever camp you fall into, just be sure to rinse your suit out really well no matter what. Saltwater, your water, whatever... Rinse it well and it won’t smell.
What about Wetsuit Rash?
If you’re surfing a lot, sometimes the suit will give you a rash especially in your armpits. Once it starts it just keeps getting worse for that session. The solution is a bit of petroleum jelly, Vaseline etc. under each arm before you put your suit on. It not only soothes whatever rash you have but coats the inside of your suit a bit to prevent further chafing.
]]>In your car, keep a big jug of hot water wrapped in your towel for insulation. Old detergent jugs work pretty well, rinse them, fill with hot water right before your session and wrap your towel around it in the back of your car. When you get out of the water you’ve got a nice hot shower and a rinse for those sandy surf booties or your feet. You've also got a nice warm towel to dry off with! If you have to change outside. Try to get away from the wind. If you can find a sunny, non-windy spot you will be much happier.
Use Protection
The only thing better than a rinse with hot water is a nice hot shower. Driving to one is always super nice. How do you do it without getting your car wet and sandy? Plastic floor mats are key. Get a deep dish one that holds some water. But, over and above that, those reflective silver windshield sunshades make great seat protectors to keep your car seat from getting wet. The water just sits there, and you dump it out when you get out of the car. It’s a great added use and benefit for those things.
The Laundromat
Growing up on the East Coast, good waves usually came infrequently. That meant multiple sessions per day when it was on. After our first session, we used to drive to the nearest town, find a laundromat, and put our wetsuits in the dryer on low heat. Then we would go to the nearest deli or takeout spot and grab food and come back and eat while our wetsuits were drying. Usually by the time we were full our wetsuits were dry enough for a comfortable re-entry and we were back out there. Now I can’t recommend doing this in terms of the extra wear it may put on your suit. But there comes a point where everyone makes a choice about buying an extra suit, burning through the one they have, or just putting the thing on wet all the time. If you’re like me, you’ll be looking for a dryer and a second suit.
Tip: be courteous don’t put a bunch of sandy suits and surf booties in somebody’s dryer. And if by chance you do...definitely don’t get caught. It will not make you popular on those premises.
The Ice Cream Headache
Anyone who surfs in cold water knows that repeated dunkings or extended hold downs lead to an ice cream headache equal to a pint of Haagen Dazs in one bite. To avoid this, start with a hood that fits well...really well! You may find a wetsuit that fits perfectly on your body, but the hood is too tight or too loose. Don't take this lightly. Find a suit that fits well EVERYWHERE, body and hood. There are a ton of fit-choices out there. Try on a bunch of different suits from a bunch of different brands to find your best fitting brand and size. If you surf water below 50F, make sure your hood has an adjustable string around the face opening. This will help the hood seal to your face and give you the ability to duck dive without getting a headache. In all the cold-water regions, most surfers now use a hood that’s built into their suit as it minimizes flushing by eliminating a neck collar entirely.
Duck-Diving
Sometimes I modify my duck dives to minimize the chances of getting flushed, meaning I go deeper and not just face punch through the wave. My hood has a good string but sometimes when its firing water can always get through. When it’s really cold water (and the visibility underwater is usually nil), when duck diving, I tuck my head down and turn it to one side. I find this eliminates flushing into the hood that you might get when your head is up and facing straight ahead. Puffing your face up before you duck dive sometimes helps maintain the seal. It's got to look funny but at that that point nobody really cares.
Getting Used To It
The first few duck dives in cold water are always the worst. You do toughen up the more you do it, but it's still a shock to the system, especially if you just came out of a nice warm car. There are some things you can do to minimize these shocks to the system. Planning and timing your paddle outs is key. Try to get out in the lineup without going under too many waves. Cold water has a cumulative effect, so three or four duck dives hurts way worse than one or two. There are plenty of people who will ride a wave to the beach and time their paddle out to avoid going under the rest of the set. Jetties and Reef/Point breaks with channels become your best friend when the water is really cold. A little strategy will go a long way in extending the time and comfort of your session.
Avoiding the Flush
The royal flush is really bad. That’s where a whole bunch of water gets in your wetsuit unexpectedly all at once. Even water in the 40s is so cold it feels like battery acid burning you inside your suit. If you get too much you lose your core temperature and have to end your session. Or worse your suit, boots and gloves fill up making them sloshy and super heavy. At Solite we put O-Ring style cuffs on ALL of our models to minimize flushing regardless of which boots you choose. Our 3mm and 6mm Custom Boots feature our EZ-O cuff to prevent flushing your boots while still making it easy to get them on and off. Our 3mm and 6mm Custom Pro, and our 8mm Custom Fire feature a more traditional O-Ring cuff which seals even tighter than the EZ-O for extreme conditions.
It's about Commitment
If it’s really cold but I know it’s good. I will put my wetsuit on, just the bottom half, before I get in my car. When I get to the spot and check it, if I already have half of my suit on, then I’m going for sure (even if it’s not good). But if I don’t have the wetsuit on then there is a decision to get suited up or not. Don't even put yourself in a position to make a decision. Plus, if its pumping then I’m usually first one in the squad who’s out there!
]]>Suit Up
Get a high-quality wetsuit that fits you very well. Life-threatening water temps are no place to cheap-out on your wetsuit and other gear. Good cold-water suits have no leaky seams and minimal flushing in the cuffs and neck or hood. Suits should be thick and warm in the seat and lower back, as this zone spends a lot of time submerged and subject to heat-loss. If you surf in windy conditions, some sort of smooth-skin on the upper body (torso/back) of your suit will keep you warmer, as the smooth-skin won't absorb water and contribute to evaporative cooling. To minimize fatigue, your wetsuit should be reasonably easy to paddle in the shoulders. Your paddling movement will be restricted compared to a warmer-water suit, but paddling should still feel reasonably limber. You will get used to the suit and the suit will likely break in a little bit and become easier to paddle in.
A good fitting wetsuit that is well-designed is key. Think about the collar or built-in hood as you’re trying on your new ones. If it doesn’t fit reasonably snug, it’s going to let water in. A snug collar and slightly loose in the shoulders is a great combination! The right suit is many different things to many people. Thickness depends a lot on you and the conditions. How cold is the water? How cold is the air? How windy is it? How much paddling are you doing? Is it sunny or not? Each individual is different, and some feel the cold more than others so trust your own instincts. Are you surfing or doing another activity that has you spending more time on top of the water? These things are the greatest influences on how thick a wetsuit you need.
Different wetsuit brands have different recommendations, which can be very confusing. Based on OUR experience, here are some general guidelines for wetsuit thickness based simply on water temperature:
Water Temp Wetsuit Thickness (mm)
60F+ 3/2
50-60F 4/3
40-50F 5/4
30-40F 6/5
Boots are the Key to better Cold-Water Performance
Once the water temperature gets below 60F, most people need to wear wetsuit boots to be comfortable. The better your wetsuit boots fit, and the less they interfere with your movement, the better you’re going to surf. It’s that simple. Think of them as your connection to your board. Everything you do has to go through your wetsuit boots, and having some sensitivity, dexterity, warmth, and a really good fit are most important.
As with choosing wetsuit thickness, having the right surf booties for warmth and mobility is key to your comfort and performance. You may be tempted to troll the internet and buy cheap boots on sale. Just remember: boots that are warm and fit perfectly are the biggest key to your comfort and performance! Frozen feet will send you to the beach faster than almost anything else.
At Solite we have gone out of our way to reinvent cold-water sports booties. We use a patented Thermo-Form material for the whole lower half. It is hydrophobic and soaks no water, so it stays much lighter. It is also many times more durable than a traditional neoprene boot. Best of all you can custom mold them to your feet using hot water. Mold them once and they will stay that way, if they’re not comfortable you can do it again and again if you like. The perfect fit, and one piece of material custom molded to your foot takes performance to a whole new level. The boot actually moves ergonomically with your foot which gives you a lot more control, dexterity and comfort. They are super durable so you can expect to get more years of normal use out of a pair. There are no seams in the lower half of the boot. Nowhere for a leak to start. Small leaks are typically the death of all coldwater booties. A leaky seam here or there and your feet are freezing.
Boots are all we do (so far), and we believe we do it better than anyone else. Yes, the lowly pair of wetsuit booties has come a long way. And once you try a pair of Solite boots you will never want to go back.
Here are our recommendations for Bootie Thickness based on Water Temps:
Water Temp Bootie Thickness
60F+ No boots necessary unless dealing with sharp bottom (reef, etc.)
50-60F 3mm
45-50F 5-6mm
40-45F 6-7mm
30-40F 7-8mm
Pro Tip regarding bootie fit: For cold water (below 10C/50F) you don’t want your boots to fit overly tight in the toes. They should still fit snug, but if boots are too tight, circulation is compromised, and your toes will get cold faster. Heat mold your Solite Boots using the Heat Booster socks to make sure the fit is ideal: not too tight, not too loose.
Now You’re on Board.
You’re adding 10 or 20 pounds of wet rubber to the mix. Cold water has less salinity and therefore less buoyancy. Winter Surf tends to be bigger and more powerful in a lot of places. So, ask yourself: Do you need more foam? More length? The name of the game is catching waves and having fun. Be honest with yourself about the tradeoff of fun and high-performance. Whatever that is for you, you want to be on the right side of it.
Many surfers in cold-water regions have "winter boards" in their quiver. These boards have a little extra volume and/or length to compensate for the extra weight of your wetsuit/boots/gloves and also to compensate for the fact that everything happens a little slower in a thick wetsuit. It's harder to paddle and harder to pop up quickly when you're encased in rubber. So be honest about your board choice. Foam is your friend.
]]>Solite wetsuit booties are built with state-of-the-art materials and manufacturing processes. Our goal with every product is to exceed industry standards in both performance and durability. Following these simple care and maintenance steps will go a long way to extend the life of your wetsuit boots: