Ive surfed 45 consecutive winters
"Ive surfed 45 consecutive winters in the south island of nz , in chch , with av water temps 9 to 12 degrees. This would be a great suit if it was fully hooded . Why any brand would build a winter 4;3 without a hood is extremely strange . It seems product development happens in tropical urban centres with little practical understanding of colder waters . The suit itself fits well , and has excellent flexibility and paddling throught the upper body and arms . This is important as at 68 , a 5;4 is very stiff to paddle , and I still like to ride midlenghts , even in winter . The suit does allow this . I also have a fully hooded 4/3 furnace which is warmer , and better if there is alot of wind chill , however with low wind or glassy I prefer the revolution as it feels far more flexible and less clumsy . I intend to GLUE A HOOD ON TO THE REVOLUTION , as this is the only way to seal the suit properly . Ive used fully hooded suits , June through to Nov for over a decade , they are significantly better than a std suit and seperate hood . Significantly . My favorite winter suit is a rip curl 4; 3 zipperless fully hooded E6 ebomb. Not that warm but superb paddling , and with the correct tensioning of hood cord and shoulder cord , I can surf 2 hrs and still come in with dry hair , and zero flush outs . No flush outs means staying heaps warmer for much longer. For july /Aug / Sept , I also use a high tech hunting vest from hunter elements , which only marginally affects paddling . but will extend the suits effectiveness from around 1 hr hr to close to 3 hrs in 11 degree water , with medium wind chill . Excellent combo . Winter suits in this latitude with out a bult in hood are a complete waste of time . I can seriously recommend a fully hooded Revolution for next winter . Its easy to take a hood off , if you are too hot , and its total gold to be warm and not flushed out 90% of winter sessions. Im happy to test drive one , if you are developing proto types . Im a retired former product manager , and can provide accurate and objective feed back . I may update this review after testing the revolution with a furnace hood glued on . Hope this is useful feedback . Kind Regards Simon Brown . Founder Member Sumner Longboarders , and 2002 NZ Masters Games National Surfing Champion ."
