Wet suit age/ I’d

[tomferry]

Hello all .

I won this of eBay probably 6 months ago , have started to use it a lot, It keeps you very warm but you can feel the water going in the join around high waist . This warms up after so long . Even sitting down you stay warm & it’s great for movement , it’s hard to get the trousers of though , is this a key point that it’s thicker than the 3mm ?

Just wondering if anybody recognises the age of it ? I am assuming it is caving ? Front zip . The external material is also very very “rip resistant “

I have a warmbac neoprene fury and this seems thicker neoprene so I am thinking maybe it was sold as 4 or 4.5mm ?

If anyone knows, was this designed not to require a oversuit ?

Thanks for any help

 

[Cantclimbtom]

Warmbac haven't changed their wetsuit range for ages, went back in time to 2016 and looks same as today. (They have the optimal recipe, so why change it?)

Warmbac - Caving Wetuits - Clothing for Cavers

Warmbac - Clothing for Cavers : - Wetsuits, Oversuits, Undersuits, Accessories.

web.archive.org

So all I can say is pre 2016.
I'd hazard a guess at an early version of Speleo
Whatever it is, it looks in excellent condition

Edit: went back to 2012 and warmbac website still the same so perhaps pre 2012 Speleo?

 

[Addy]

I'm not sure you'd want to (or be able to) wear an oversuit comfortably with the wetsuit.
It's probably 4mm or 5mm thick.

It was, at one time, common to see cavers wearing just a wetsuit, particularly on Mendip or in South Wales where the caving is predominantly horizontal. Knees and elbows had patches of neoprene added when they went through.

My preference was for the one-piece suit rather than jacket and trousers as the double thickness was often too warm.

I'd say the design dates from the 90s or even before that.

 

[alanw]

I have an old Inglesport Catalogue. I can't find any date on it, nor on the accompanying price list. It mentions the café, and it must be later than 1990 when I moved to Yorkshire, but not much later.
Wetsuits: Warmbac clipper suits - single lined sharkskin finish. 5mm thick neoprene.

WS 011 Two Piece Suit	£68.60
WS 012 Jacket	£44.65
WS 013 Trousers	£29.35

 

[PeteHall]

Rich at Warmbac says 20 years +

The sharkskin neoprene is less slippy than the smooth stuff, but it isn't any tougher, so I'd definitely use elbow pads and knee pads with it.

Personally, I don't usually bother with an oversuit if I'm wearing a wetsuit, as it's more comfortable without.

Also, you can pick up a 2nd hand wetsuit for a tenner quite easily, but oversuits are much more expensive, so I'd rather wreck the wetsuit than the oversuit!

 

[tomferry]

I have an old Inglesport Catalogue. I can't find any date on it, nor on the accompanying price list. It mentions the café, and it must be later than 1990 when I moved to Yorkshire, but not much later.
Wetsuits: Warmbac clipper suits - single lined sharkskin finish. 5mm thick neoprene.

WS 011 Two Piece Suit	£68.60
WS 012 Jacket	£44.65
WS 013 Trousers	£29.35

That could be “key” it definitely has a finish I’ll get a close up photo of it .

I was thinking of measuring it with calliper's , but it wouldn’t be accurate due to this finish .. it definitely is designed for resisting “tear”.

Nothing extra on the knees or elbows , I no know days they 2nd finish these areas with pads on the neoprene fury .

 

[PeteHall]

The "sharkskin" texture comes from the mould.

The neoprene is made in a big slab, then sliced up into sheets of the specified thickness. The "sharkskin" stuff comes from the outer slices, while the inner slices (most of the slab) have a smooth cut finish.

There is nothing different about it to stop it tearing, it's just a bit more grippy on smooth rock because the surface is textured.

I'm pretty sure that the sharkskin texture is no longer available.

The newer wetsuits from Warmbac use "Warmtex" on the elbows and knees. This is an extra coating on top of the neoprene that is much tougher. You can improvise your own with Sika mastic.

 

[tomferry]

Will wait and see what else is said , sounds like it’s potentially going to be a 90s product !

Clearly wasn’t used in the mendips & fod in its previous life