Chinese Vs. American Made Wetsuits

[Wetwear]

Let's be accurate. Your website claims that, "Wetwear NCN and Rubatex G-231NBN compresses less and recovers faster than other neoprene. It lasts longer over time as it is more compression resistant and durable and retains its flexibility and warmth retention capabilities longer." I know nothing about NCN, but I do know G-231N and I wholeheartedly agree. However, your posted statement that, "the neoprene does not compress at depth." is not correct.

You are correct, I did miss state that sentence. Instead of saying that the material does not compress, I should have stated that the material compresses very little compared to the material being made overseas without the nitrogen component.

The Wetwear NCN is also made by Rubatex, we call it NCN (Nitrogen Composed Neoprene). Both G231 and the NCN are both composed of Nitrogen, the G231 just has a denser component of Nitrogen.

 

[coral reef]

Coral Reef Here Our prices are the same as the imports or better check us out, and save America one suit at a Time. Mahalo Tony

 

[JamesBon92007]

My "Made in Southern California" wetsuit that I bought off the rack somewhere around 1975 is still usable and just as stiff as the day I bought it. Shortly after my purchase they came out with "Soft Stretch" or some such name. My ex had a custom suit made out of the old neoprene and ended up buying a rack suit made from the stretchy stuff and it fit her better and was more comfortable. What I'm using now is an old Parkway 1/4" Farmer John for cold water and a Dacor 1/8" jumpsuit for the tropics. I don't know where the Parkway was made but the Dacor says "Made in Korea." Both suits are still in quite good shape but I always rinse (inside and out) them and dry them out of the sun . Unfortunately even the fluorescent green sleeves on the Dacor are still bright and shiny and, quite frankly, I'm a bit tired of how it looks. I'm now looking at a 2.5 mm jumpsuit on eBay for $35. Unbelievably cheap. And where does it come from? Illinois. I would bet my retirement that it originated a little further "East" so my number one concern is: how well do they hold up? Having owned various Chinese products the main shortcoming was the rubber: air hoses, tires, spark plug wires, etc. After reading this thread it sounds like neoprene wetsuit material might be an exception. Has anyone here actually bought and used a really, really cheap Chinese wetsuit? I found another one (this time it says "From China") that looks exactly like an O'Niell suit. Probably not a coincidence. It's pricier at $56. I figure a 2.5 mm suit will be so stretchy that a precise fit will not be an issue.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Zombie thread.

The answer to almost anything made in China is quality varies. Price is king there, quality, reputation, honesty are all pretty low on the priority list.

If you can inspect it before you buy the price savings can be substantial. I have been part of purchasing 1000s of different parts from China, incoming inspection and rejecting 5% or so of parts for quality is typical. These rejects make it onto the secondary markets (ebay) fairly often as the Chinese don't waste product. So when you find a really good deal this is a possible source.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I got the wetsuit and sure 'nuf it says "Made in China." The quality of the manufacturing is excellent. It fits quite well except the sleeves are a bit long. It's stretchier than my Dacor 1/8" (3mm) suit so it's more comfortable and easier to get on and off. I like it so much that I started looking at Chinese manufacturers to see how much it would cost to buy 500 or so. Imagine my surprise when I saw their sample images which included OEM models with names such as O'Neill on them. The one I bought looks exactly like an O'Neill model but with the eBayer's name on it.

After doing quite a bit of research on doing business with Chinese manufacturers I am left wondering how the heck this guy on eBay was selling the suits for so little. The only thing I can think of is that he had a few leftover and was selling them at cost.

 

[BRT]

Why does the nitrogen compress less?