Wetsuit advice....

[HurdyGurdyManOnAWave]

Hey, so i'm going to my buddy's memorial (R.I.P.!!! lil bro) in central california, and my friend brought up the idea of driving up along the coast to get there and stopping at some surf spots....

for those that dont know me yet, i'm from los angeles... so it's late october here and I'm still going out in boardshorts and a long sleeve loose-fitting "surf shirt" just to minimize rash and UV rays.

however, i think it gets significantly colder up north, so I bought a wetsuit last minute. ive never worn one because im new to surfing. It was used, 45 dollars and in excellent condition. Only one problem, it fits pretty perfectly everywhere except around the belly and lower back, there is a bit more room there. The little shop I bought it from on Topanga Cyn, said it "looks like it fits perfect!"

i'm 5'9 about 135-140 pounds, i have broad shoulders and a wide chest and pretty low-body fat (thanks to surfing and skateboarding) So when I got home I decided to look up the Billabong size chart for XLS and it says that this size is for my height and chest size, but not for my waist size and weight! it says its for 180-200 pounds, and 34.5-36.5 inch waist... all the pants i have vary comfortably from 28 to 32 in waist. Do you think this will cause any problems/dangers/etc, while surfing? it's too late to return it, im leaving in the morning. :/ I have a short sleeve rash-guard to wear under it, i think that might help. Other than it looking a little baggy around the belly and lower back, it fits nice and is really warm.

so, yeah, just wondering if this extra bagginess around the mid section will cause any problems. ...ah wetsuits, i'm already not too keen on them, love the feeling of my boardshorts and a loose fitting shirt blowing in the wind while surfing.

[HurdyGurdyManOnAWave]

also, if there is a solution to fixing this problem on the fly, let me know!

[dtc]

I'm similar to you-at my height wetsuit manufacturers seem to think my waist should be at least 6 inches bigger and my shoulders somewhat smaller.

What is the solution, well it's basically trying on wetsuit after wetsuit until you get the best fit, and accepting that the higher end suits stretch more and so can fit better.

What can you do with the cheaper suit, not much. Wetsuits work by trapping water against the skin and letting your body warm it up. If there is space then no water will be trapped. So it mostly means your belly or back will be a bit colder, the rest of you should be fine. I can't think of any way to pad you out. Wearing a 1mm vest underneath will give you some warmth (from the 1mm).

If it's not too cold then it may not matter, or you cut the sessions bit shorter. For $45 it's a pretty reasonable trade off. It's not otherwise going to be noticeable

[Big H]

You're going to have to warm that water up in the baggy places differently than just trapping the water against the skin.......BTW how does that used wetsuit smell?

Give it a good soak with a couple capfuls of bleach and some laundry detergent just to be on the clean side....

[HurdyGurdyManOnAWave]

it smells pretty clean. ...but comeon man, give me a break, this is temporary until i find something better.

[Jester]

Ah easy! Just pop it in the tumbledryer to shrink it a little

[drowningbitbybit]

Get fatter.