2009 Wetsuit Review

Arsenal Posted:
i picked up a 4/3 Boz thermo boss front zip suit right before Christmas. meeting up with
harry was super cool. he’s a real down to earth guy with a great perpective on wetsuits and phenominal with his customer service. he made a comment that i thought was really cool
when i asked him about Boz trying to make a bigger presence for themselves. he said that
they are able to keep the cost of their suits down because they don’t sink millions into
marketing, and by making a few hundred suits at a time instead of thousands allows them
to take their product into different directions sooner. Also, when they started Boz their goal
was to be able to surf everyday and if they got bigger they’d be too busy to do that.
the suit is extremely well constructed, very similar to some hotline’s i checked out before.
the material is very flexible and the way the suit is cut around the upper arm and shoulders
really makes sense for when you’re paddling.
the first time i wore the suit i was really stoked on how loose it felt while paddling, but i did
notice that it flushed a little more than other front zips i’ve tried. i shot harry an e-mail about
it and he let me try out a back zip for a couple days to see if i liked it better. i don’t think
anyone at a surfshop would have offered something like that. after trying the back zip and the
front zip another time, i felt the front zip was more comfy and decided to keep it. i also wasn’t
a big fan of the back zip’s velcro closure system.
i adjusted the way i put the front zip on the next time i wore it, which helped the flushing quite
a bit. however, after wearing the suit a few more times, i started developing a really bad, itchy
rash. turns out only three people in the last 10 years have had this happen. seems to be an
allergy to the glue. harry took the suit back, no hassle, and gave me my money back. i’m really bummed it din’t work out because i really did end up liking the suit. it was very warm, paddled
like wearing a 2mm spring, dried pretty quick and i really liked giving my business to a small,
grass roots operation with phenominal customer service.
if you’re thinking about getting one, i highly recommend it. the quality of construction and the yamamoto materials they use are excellent. i’d try one on if you can get to him because their
fit is a little different than most suits. if you can’t get to him to try one on, i’d order one a little smaller that what the size chart recommends.
so i think i’m going to try the new hotline phoenix or freebird. anyone try either of these?
>
before. the material is very flexible and the way the suit is cut around the upper arm
and shoulders really makes sense for when you’re paddling.
the first time i wore the suit i was really stoked on how loose it felt while paddling, but
i did notice that it flushed a little more than other front zips i’ve tried. i shot harry an
e-mail about it and he let me try out a back zip for a couple days to see if i liked it
better. i don’t think anyone at a surfshop would have offered something like that. after
trying the back zip and the front zip another time, i felt the front zip was more comfy
and decided to keep it. i also wasn’t a big fan of the back zip’s velcro closure system.
i adjusted the way i put the front zip on the next time i wore it, which helped the
flushing quite a bit. however, after wearing the suit a few more times, i started
developing a really bad, itchy rash. turns out only three people in the last 10 years have
had this happen. seems to be an allergy to the glue. harry took the suit back, no hassle,
and gave me my money back. i’m really bummed it din’t work out because i really did
end up liking the suit. it was very warm, paddled like wearing a 2mm spring, dried pretty
quick and i really liked giving my business to a small, grass roots operation with
phenominal customer service.
if you’re thinking about getting one, i highly recommend it. the quality of construction and
the yamamoto materials they use are excellent. i’d try one on if you can get to him because
their fit is a little different than most suits. if you can’t get to him to try one on, i’d order
one a little smaller that what the size chart recommends.
so i think i’m going to try the new hotline phoenix or freebird. anyone try either of these?
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