I've used the suit now for roughly one and a half seasons. It has yet to leak or tear and lord knows I've subjected to some punishment. (Separated from my board on a big day at Ruggles (RI) last Winter, I was repeatedly smashed and dragged against and over barnacle ridden cliffs and rocks - not even a pin hole.) Sue (a friend and estranged kook) did however manage to tear a small hole in the knee of her dry suit at Matunuck (Trestles) last season. After it happened she paddled over and indicated that she was leaking, but felt that it wasn't a big deal. The ballistic nylon held true and the small hole didn't spread, nor did her suit fill up with water. She stayed out a good three hours with only a damp leg to show for it. I repaired the hole that night with a latex cement and it hasn't leaked since.

Sue uses the suit all the time, even during contests. The joke last year at contests was that she looked like a colostomy bag. During this last contest with the wind was howling out the West. Those waiting around on the beach in their wet suits for heats seemed to be a little less vocal than last year, but who knows, maybe it was just the hypothermia. (A few have converted. Its value during contests has to be experienced, you simply don't go hypothermic waiting around on the beach.)

Kwik Change Tips by Kevin O A great trick for getting into and out of wetsuits ALOT quicker: Wear thin woolen or fleece SOCKS underneath the wetsuit! It makes it way easier to put on and take off booties!!

Notes on Avoiding Hypothermia during Winter Surfing in the Northeast:

With ocean water temps low 40's F in January, and sometimes in the high '30's you're going to need some good rubber to surf in New England or New York and New Jersy in the winter. You will want a fairly new drysuit or a wetsuit preferably at least 5 mm in the body.

As a general guide to exposure, if you can't feel your toes, its probably OK. But if you can't feel your hands and your toes it's time to get out of the water, assuming that you are wearing gloves of some sort. Feet are almost always the first to go. When your fingers and toes numb out that means that your torso and brain are probably slightly hypothermic already.

Most heat is lost through the head and neck. Don't be a macho shmuck and say you can't surf with a hood. Hypothermia can also cause neurological impairment so that probably explains the previous. On the other hand maybe you should take up professional boxing.

• Conserving the temperature of your torso, head and neck will keep your extremities warmer!

• If you feel disoriented or unusually tired all of a sudden then get out of the water immediately.

• Shivering is good, it causes the body to warm itself.

• Alcohol and caffeine-containing drinks are to be avoided. Both are diuretics (make you pee, and dehydrate) and also vasoconstrictors (cut down blood flow to the toes etc.) These effects will make you more cold NOT MORE WARM in the long term.

• I am going to experiment with a skull cap over the top of a hood.

• Fuel up with plenty of sugar and complex carbos, plus liquids before you surf. The body uses up alot of energy just staying warm, plus the energy of surfing too.

• Keep the sessions short. If you havent gotten your best waves within the first hour of surfing pack it in, cause it just ain't your day.

• Keep paddling, don't sit around and wait. This will cut down on cooling by the wind on your body, and will also keep your core body temp up because of the metabolism.

• Ride a longboard, everyone knows it's harder to pop a chip wearing 5-10 lbs of rubber.

• Surf when its sunny out and the winds are calm.

• Pretend you are in the tropics (never works).

• Pee in your wetsuit!!! My favorite trick.

• Additional Info: Lycra is not a good insulator, do not use lycra rash guards under winter suits; in my honest experience it makes you colder than nothing.

• Avoid light colored panels on winter suits, they reflect the light and also the warmth. Avoid suits with excessive texture and fabric coverings, they catch more wind than do skin-out wetsuits.

• If you have trouble with your feet and hands becoming water balloons try putting the cuffs underneath your wetsuit (roll up arms and legs, and then roll down after you put on gloves and booties).

• If that doesn't work use duct tape to seal your ankles and wrists but if you make them too tight you will cut off circulation and increase coldness. As an aside, Lex and I used to use duct tape to seal up the leaky zippers on our old O'Neill winter suits which did help somewhat.

• The O'Neill 7 mm booties I recommend cause they have velcro sealing tabs. lobster claw and oven mitts are WARMER than gloves!

• A little help from a friend is in order with the zipless Bong suits.

• While a bit on the kinky side, rubber (neoprene) underwear is readily available for those wish that little extra millimeter or two of insulation, especially useful for the malnourished and terminally skinny surfers...

• I have tried polypropylene ski undies and they insulate but also get quite heavy under a wetsuit. Try the Wetstuff Polarguard 100 rashguards instead, they don't hold much water.