the surf wetsuit story | surfermarylin's Blog

In the early days of surfing, this sport was not only restricted to places that had the big waves, but also where the waters had been at least reasonably warm. With nothing but your swim trunks or go well with between you and the ocean, surfing was restricted to either short periods of time or the hardiest of people.

Then along came Jack O'Neill.

Jack O`Neill was a surfer in the San Francisco area who had a day job of selling architectural aluminum. He surfed at every opportunity he got, but surfing in the cold waters off San Francisco caused him constant sinus issues. One day although displaying a drawing to a client, his clogged sinuses opened up leaking on the drawing he was displaying. Jack discovered himself not only embarrassed but out of a job.

Given his unemployed status Jack decided to do what any avid surfer would do in the 50s. he decided to open a surf shop in his garage which was very close to the beach. He made surf boards out of balsa to sell in his store, although at the exact same time experimenting with vests and other clothing that may help keep a surfer warmer while riding the waves.

His experiments had been a study in trial and error and determination. Initial he experimented with PVC which he knew was a great insulating material but discovered that it was difficult to work with. He moved on to working with plastic foam which once again proved unsuccessful for this needs. Then he discovered neoprene.

Neoprene proved to be not only a great insulating material but it was each flexible and buoyant making it ideal for use by surfers.

And so the neoprene wetsuit was born. Jack O`Neill's wet suits proved to be practical and could be produced in big numbers. Over the years many improvements have been made to the fits O'Neill originally designed. Nylon backing was adding to make them slide onto your body simpler without the ripping and tearing that occasionally occurred with the original wetsuit.

Next came improvements in the way the pieces of the wetsuit was joined collectively. Here too a bit of trial and error was needed to achieve the result the manufacturers wanted. Stitching allowed the water barrier in between the skin and the wet suit to leak via the needle holes. Gluing the seams was attempted, only to discover that when the neoprene stretched the glue would let loose and the go well with would begin coming apart. Finally tape bonding of the seams was tried and this worked fairly well. With the introduction of nylon backing on each sides of the neoprene and taping the seams on the inside of the suit the fits held together with out leakage. Blind stitching was then utilized to flattened the wetsuit seams. These innovations created the go well with easier to produce and gave it a a lot much better and stylish look.
>the surf wetsuit story
Today, O'Neill is a major corporation and leads the field in wetsuit design. But if it hadn't been for Jack O`Neill's drippy nose and his vision of being able to surf in cooler water temperatures who knows exactly where our surfing buddies may be today.
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