First report.
The suit arrived yesterday. A large part of it (the gray part) is this teflon/lycra/neoprene mix. It’s more stretchy than plain neoprene. I bought the winter (1 mil thickness) size Medium. They spec that for up to 5’10" and 180 pounds. I’m 5’9" and 130 pounds, so I thought the fit was a little loose. Not baggy, no major wrinkles anywhere, just not as tight as I would expect a swimming (as opposed to surfing) wetsuit. I think that’s more a reflection of their sizing than the intrinsic potential of this design.
The zipper on the back is fairly short: from the shoulders to just about mid-back. When you open the zipper you see an additional “fan” of material behind it, rather than the wetsuit just opening up. Not clear what the advantage is there.
Overall it feels good, quite comfortable and I’d guess it would still be even if it were a lot tighter (i.e. if the wearer were bigger). Of course this is the point: 1 mil is pretty thin. Great shoulder flexibility. So the question is does it still hold the thin layer of water, and insulate enough to keep me warm?
Haven’t taken it in the water yet, will continue report when I do.
Andrew