This is the first in a series of posts about wetsuits. In this article we provide an overview of the categories of wetsuits that are generally available.

Wetsuits are firstly classified into gender, Mens wetsuits, Womens wetsuits, and also groms (childrens) wetsuits.

There are two general categories for wetsuits those being winter wetsuits, and summer wetsuits (sometimes called spring suits).

Winter wetsuits and summer wetsuits are classified based on the temperature of the water they are designed to be used in, this determines the thickness of the wetsuit material.

Wetsuits come in a variety of thicknesses ranging from 7mm to 1mm, typically there are two different thicknesses of neoprene used (but sometimes 1 or even 3 different thicknesses). Example being 5/3mm wetsuit – this refers to the thicker material covering all or part of the torso, and thinner neoprene covering arms and legs. Typical thicknesses are, 2/2mm, 3/2mm, 5/3mm, 6/4mm.

Look out for our next post shortly which explains the different styles available.

Freakfish Surf Shop have a 50% off clothing sale running from 17th June till the end of the Month.

Items in the sale include mens clothing, womens clothing, from both the Summer and Winter ranges.

Full details are available here hurry whilst stocks last.

Free Delivery on orders over 30, 10% discount available if you write a review about products, and there’s also the opportunity to win a free copy of The Surfers Path.

Sadly we heard today about Urban Surfer formerly at www.urbansurfer.co.uk, who have gone into administration.

Urban Surfer isn’t the first business in the industry to go to the wall this year and probably not the last.

There’s loads of surf companies out there and competition is rife, customers are becoming more price conscious and are continually expecting higher levels of customer service.

Fuel price increases have made things difficult with manufacturers and distributors passing on price increases to retailers.

Freakfish have managed to maintain high levels of customer service whilst offering great deals and this has enabled us to continue to increase our product range and the community aspects of our business at www.freakfish.co.uk (including a forum and blog).

We’d like to say

• fond fairwell to Urban Surfer


• thank you to our existing customers, without you we are nothing


• welcome to new customers.

If you’re interested in what our customers have to say about us click here.

The greatest surfer of all time has claimed yet another victory on the 2008 ASP World Tour riding his signature FCS K2.1 fins. In the final of the Globe Pro in Fiji Kelly defeated fellow Floridian and FCS team rider CJ Hobgood, and in doing so notched up his 37th WCT win.

The final day of competition produced challenging conditions that proved no match for the lethal combination of Kelly Slater and the FCS K2.1. In the shifting wind effected waves of Cloudbreak Reef off Tavarua Island Kelly surfed with aggression, speed and lightning response, reminding everyone that he still at the forefront of performance surfing.

In the semi finals both Kelly and CJ produced huge scores and mind blowing surfing to take down their respective rivals in Taj burrow and FCS team rider Adriano De Souza. Of the two finalists it was Kelly who maintained his momentum displaying a back hand attack consisting of huge tail throwing turns coupled with impeccable timing to find the barrel.

Event runner up CJ Hobgood was again a standout at Fiji and he was unlucky not to find quality waves in the final. Both CJ and Damien have been riding prototypes of their new signature FCS GOODS-1 fin throughout the 2008 season with great results. With a 3rd and a 2nd in the last two events CJ is validating the performance of this fin which will be released later this year.

FCS Brand Ambassador Richie Lovett watched the event and remarked; “Cloudbreak is a tricky wave to surf. You have to react quickly and anticipate how the wave changes as it tracks down the reef. Speed and timing is the key. Kelly and CJ both looked totally in tune with their equipment the entire event. It was amazing to watch”.

Kelly continues to have remarkable success with his signature fins as he understands the performance advantages associated with using different templates to suit varying surf conditions. The K2.1 is a fast and lively high performance fin ideally suited for tighter manoeuvres. It features a more compact upright design and is available as in a variety of different materials.

The majority of surfers on the World Tour choose to ride FCS in their boards. By riding the FCS system they are able to fine tune their equipment and make travelling a whole lot easier.

FCS is dedicated to supplying high quality products to the world’s best surfers.

For more information on the FCS system go to www.surffcs.com

WETSUITS NEVER DIE

Rip Curl is proud to announce the success of their neoprene recycling project. Never again will this material – so valuable to surfers in cold waters – be treated as trash ! Project Resurrection can now save old wetsuits and production off-cuts from a gruesome end (burial or incineration), by offering worn neoprene a second life : reincarnation as an espadrille or a pair of slaps.

In 2006, the world leader in the production of wetsuits, in partnership with the Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine, launched a research program into the recycling of neoprene. They wanted to find some kind of use for old wetsuits, and for the production off-cuts, which constitute about 150 tons of waste per year.

“Project Resurrection” Beanbags for the Surfrider Foundation.

In July 2007, Rip Curl launched “Project Resurrection” by collecting wetsuits that had come to the end of their life. These collections took place on-site at the Rip Curl Pro Hossegor-Seignosse and in Rip Curl Pro Stores. More than 400 kilos of neoprene were collected in this way. Wetsuits which were still usable were given to young surfers in Morocco via Rip Curl Maroc. A portion of the remaining neoprene was chopped up and used as filling for beanbags, whose outer-shells were made out of old Rip Curl event banners. These one-off, designer beanbags will be auctioned off on the Internet during the Rip Curl Pro WQS 6* this summer. The auction will be available on the event web site, and all the proceeds will be donated to the Surfrider Foundation.

The Basque connection

At the same time, the research initiated in 2006 to find a large-scale recycling program was turning towards footwear, which offered sufficient volumes to absorb the amount of waste generated, as well as using materials that could integrate neoprene. At the beginning of 2007, after numerous attempts at coming up with the right formula, and plenty of resistance testing, a new material was created : “resurrection rubber”, a mixture of chopped neoprene (30%) and rubber.

This material is manufactured in France, and the search for a local product ended up in Mauleon, in the heart of the Basque Country, with the conception of the “must-have” item for summer ’08, the Resurrection Espadrille. With an organic cotton upper, printed with Öko-test certified ink, a sole made of “resurrection rubber”, and a limited distribution zone, the Resurrection Espadrille represents an excellent ecological end product, and stands out as a symbol for the Rip Curl Planet initiative.

A limited series of Resurrection Espadrilles will be sold from the end of June ’08 in Rip Curl Pro Stores, at the Rip Curl Boardmasters in England and the Rip Curl Pro Hossegor in France, at the price of 25 euros.

The Asian Connection

This technology was adopted by our Asian partners in 2007, with the goal of using all the neoprene off-cuts in the manufacture of slaps. All the off-cuts will now be transferred from our wetsuit factory to or slaps production site. This re-cycling allows us to avoid the treatment of 150 tons of waste, as well as replacing the same amount of raw materials. In the Summer ’09 Collection, there will be a total of 8 models of slaps, representing 10% of our range, which will use “resurrection rubber”. A fantastic result for a project, which is very close to our hearts here at Rip Curl.

The Collection continues

In 2008, Rip Curl continues to collect old wetsuits. So don’t throw away those old leaky, cracked piles of neoprene, molding away at the back of your garage! Take your old wetsuit to one of the participating Rip Curl Pro Stores (Biarritz, Anglet, Hossegor, Bordeaux, Merignac, Brest, Paris, Marseille and Chamonix), and Rip Curl will re-cycle it.

And from the 15th of July to the 15th of December, Rip Curl will be giving away a “Project Resurrection t-shirt”, and a 25 € voucher (valid throughout the store from October 15 to December 15 when you spend more than 100 euros), with the purchase of a new wetsuit.