Isurus I-Evade: Durability Review

I get questions about my Isurus all the time. “Those guys are local, right?” “Yup, they’re local” “Is it warm?” “Very warm.” “Is it light?” “Very light.” “Yeah, but how well is it gonna hold up?” “I’ll let you know in a year.”

Now, almost a year later, I can tell you with some confidence how well it holds up.

The suit:
I-Evade 4-3-4, Hooded. Small-Tall.

Purchased:
Feb 2011

Worn:
About 110-120 sessions over the last year

Me:
5’10, 150lbs-ish, Female, Longboarder.

I surf:
2-4 times a week, mostly dawn patrols, mostly Linda Mar, occasionally Ocean Beach on small days. I typically surf knee to head high waves.

Care:
I rinse the suit off quickly at the showers or with a jug of fresh water. I roll into work and toss the suit over my surfboard on the roof rack to dry. It doesn’t get much sun. I rarely wash it properly with soap. It only spends a little bit of quality time in a ball in my backpack, the rest of the time it’s hanging up inside out.

Performance:
This suit is toasty. I rarely wear the hood. I am hardly ever cold. I went barefoot all summer and only switched back to boots in November. I’ve occasionally gotten chilly if I’m doing more waiting than surfing. It’s light, it’s flexible, it dries fast. It was tricky to get in and out of in the beginning, now it’s old hat. (The exception being putting it on while it’s sopping wet. More than one double session has begun with me swearing furiously in the parking lot.)

Note: For women thinking about buying an Isurus suit: even though it’s currently only available in men’s sizes, this suit fit me perfectly. They are coming out with a women’s line next fall if you’re willing to wait (or are smaller than their XS: 5’4, 125lbs.)

Durability:

The Good: Amazingly, my wrist and ankle cuffs look brand new. No tearing, no stretching. All of my chest and shoulder seams are watertight. My old RipCurl on its retirement had a half dozen holes along these seams, especially in the back. The plastic fasteners to tighten the hood and the chest are in great shape. I’ve heard other folks say theirs fell off right away. Mine are still attached. The hood itself is also in nearly new shape. Zipper works just fine. The overall quality of the neoprene is still good. Looks good, still stretchy, still warm.

The Busted: The very first thing to break was the little pocket for the key. The loop to attach the key is still there and working fine, but the pocket was ripped open by session 3. Not a big deal, but busted. After carefully checking all the seams for this review, (I’m a little embarrassed to say) I noticed 3 small holes along the seam in the butt/upper leg. These holes look like they might need a little patching. It’s minor, but definitely goes through (and explains why the last few mornings have been a little more brisk than usual.)

The Only Kinda Busted: Kneepads. As a longboarder, I don’t think a wetsuit company can make kneepads strong enough to handle the abuse of kneepaddling on a thickly glassed board. The wear is not terrible, but the pads are getting a little thin and at some point my knees will start to hurt. I replaced my RipCurl partially because it was in tatters at this level of use and partially because it was downright painful to surf in it. Shortboarders probably won’t have this problem.

The Cosmetic: The chevrons on my left arm have started to peel. Right arm is fine. I’ve heard this from more than one person. It seems the first arm you take off shows more wear and tear. I don’t think it effects performance. Some of the 3m neoprene has started getting little threads. I haven’t noticed any other change in the material. There’s a little bit of cracking in the tape around the zipper on the inside from pulling the suit on and off. The seam is still water tight.

The Reported: I didn’t experience this problem, but futuresparky had a few gouges in his neoprene: http://stokereport.com/rant/isurus-wetsuits?feature=_comment#comment-301…

Summary:
This suit is in solid shape after a year of less-than-delicate care. It’s still warm. It’s still flexible. With a little love, I’d say the suit has another 6-8 months worth of sessions before it’ll be time to retire it. When that time comes, I would be happy to replace this suit with another Isurus.