Why do the zippers on women's wetsuits stop at the waist?

[rmh84]

My 3mm Henderson has a back zipper that goes below the natural waist. My mother and I both have these suits, and are members of the boobs & booty club, so we'd know if they were a problem.

 

[chillyinCanada]

My Bare Velocity is a back zip that goes down to my hips. My old Mares was the same. Even so, there's been some struggle from time to time due to my bodacious bod. can't find a decent fit in the shoulders though. The Velocity is OK but the Mares had room in the shoulders for a linebacker.

 

[kimbalabala]

My 3mm Henderson has a back zipper that goes below the natural waist. My mother and I both have these suits, and are members of the boobs & booty club, so we'd know if they were a problem.

Which suit do you have? I just bought a 3mm Henderson Thermoprene yesterday and the zipper goes only to the waist. My 5mm Henderson Aquasilk also zips only to the waist. I'm wondering if you have men's wetsuits and don't know it? When you hold them up do they have the hour-glass shape to them? Maybe I'm just buying the wrong style?

On the positive side, I picked up a 2.5mm Neosport zip-front vest and love it! It is clearly made for a woman and is very comfortable.

 

[morecowbells]

After reading your question, I just had to get up and compare my two wetsuits with each other. My Henderson has the zipper starting at the navel. My new Waterproof has a front zipper which starts about 2" above the crotch. My hips are my downfall when it comes to how clothes and gear fit.

If I had to do a side to side comparison of my two wetsuits, I would honestly have to say that my Henderson is easier to don over the hips(despite the zipper being significantly higher than my Waterproof wetsuit). I am not skinny or fat. However, the excess that I do have has gravitated solely to my hips(completely bypassing my chest Donning my Waterproof wetsuit was nothing short of exhausting. I would have to suck it all in, lay flat, and contort myself like a Cirque du Soleil performer to get the zipper to close over the hips. Where as with my Henderson there was the initial sausage casing appearance when making the upward thrust over the hips, but it was less taxing.

 

[Kharon]

Sweetie - ain't only women that would like longer zippers. As an old guy (67), every little bit helps. I have both front zip and back zip and, while they aren't always that hard to put on, taking them off after they are wet is difficult for the flexibility challenged. I've always had flex problems, even as a youngster (heavy work from 14 or so). I finally conceeded to spring fin straps. I'm hoping that they make it easier. Lately, I huff and puff and turn red just trying to get them on. I recently got a Faber 27cf LP tank for when I am too old to handle the Al 80's, my PST LP 80 & 72. Damned if I'll just give up. Plan to dive till I croak.

 

[Wookie]

it's because the designers are a) guys and b) clueless.

And.....Marci is the winner! So, when O'Neill shortened their zippers (my wife wears a wetsuit for a living, and we would buy her 3 wetsuits per year, every year, all O'Neills), we stopped by the O'Neill booth at DEMA and asked "WTF?" Turns out, the wetsuit manufacturers are saving about 2 bucks a suit on shorter zippers. she said "But you have lost customers due to your crappy short zippers." The answer was that they really didn't give a damn about Melanie and her zipper problems, they had wayyyy more important things to do like talk to each other. So, with tears in our eyes, we shuffled off looking for alternatives. She must have tried on a zillion wetsuits ("This one doesn't need a longer zipper, the material is stretchy") until we came to Waterproof. The Waterproof has a longer zipper, built in boobs, and a codpiece if you're a guy. If you can't fill the codpiece, then guys will have an ugly camel toe. Don't ask me how I know, just use your imagination. Anyway, the Waterproof is the only wetsuit that fits me off the rack (except for that codpiece thing) and Melanie can live with hers. It isn't as comfortable as her O'Neills, but they have other things to worry about.

 

[kimbalabala]

the wetsuit manufacturers are saving about 2 bucks a suit on shorter zippers. she said "But you have lost customers due to your crappy short zippers." The answer was that they really didn't give a damn about Melanie and her zipper problems, they had wayyyy more important things to do like talk to each other.

This is NOT the capitalism I know and love at work! The problem is that there is nobody in the market to offer what women WANT. I wonder how much of the market consists of women versus men? Women outnumber men in the United States - and you can see that advertisers understand this when you watch adverts of the television. Must not be the same in the scuba industry. $2 a zipper. That's insulting and ridiculous. Thanks for the info. I was wondering if it was some sort of mechanical engineering issue - like taking the zipper down a few inches lower would put too much stress on the integrity of the seams in key places. Obviously I was over-thinking this!!!

 

[Wookie]

This is NOT the capitalism I know and love at work! The problem is that there is nobody in the market to offer what women WANT. I wonder how much of the market consists of women versus men? Women outnumber men in the United States - and you can see that advertisers understand this when you watch adverts of the television. Must not be the same in the scuba industry. $2 a zipper. That's insulting and ridiculous. Thanks for the info. I was wondering if it was some sort of mechanical engineering issue - like taking the zipper down a few inches lower would put too much stress on the integrity of the seams in key places. Obviously I was over-thinking this!!!

I can see this conversation headed straight for the pub. What makes you think companies are in business to serve the customer?????

 

[kimbalabala]

I can see this conversation headed straight for the pub. What makes you think companies are in business to serve the customer?????

I thought it was about MAKING MONEY - and that making the customer happy was the quickest way to make money! What was I thinking? Let's meet at that pub though!

 

[goflyplanes]

See I have the opposite problem. I so far have only managed to fit Mares suits and frankly their suits are CRAP. I have extremely broad shoulders and no boobs really and Mares seems to be the only suits I can even get into. I wish they could figure their zipper issues out though. If I had a dollar for every time a zipper split on my semi dry, broke on my 3mm or just flat out refused to unzip, I'd be rich.