Wetsuits stretch! Why?
They are made out of neoprene that is a very flexible and stretchy material. So the natural flexibility of wetsuits is quite big.
Then there is stretching when the neoprene gets wet – a dry wetsuit is tighter than a wet wetsuit.
And finally, I guess this is what you wanted to know – will it stretch over time? Like any elastic material the neoprene will loose its flexibility in time. If you take good care of your wetsuit this will take a year or a few years (depends on how much do you use it). If you don’t take good care of it, if you leave it in the sun a lot, it will happen faster.
Neoprene will lose the flexibility and its ability to return to the original state after it was stretched. So it will become looser and bigger. This change is not that huge that you should worry about it – like that your wetsuit will not fit you anymore.
If your wetsuit is to small and you are wondering if it will stretch. Huh, it will. If you are to big for it you will stretch it. It is hard to tell how much. But this is not the best thing for the wetsuit because it will speed up the before mentioned process – your wetsuit becoming less flexible.
Looking for a wetsuit that would fit a tall, amazingly skinny kid–6 ft. 2″ and might add another couple of inches. Any thoughts? It’s for general recreational use, not serious sports. He just gets cold in the water. What should I expect to pay?
Hi Ruth, I think it is impossible to get a really good fitting wetsuit if you are really tall and skinny. Tho closest you can get is with ST or MT sizes. That is small-tall and medium-tall. Lots of wetsuit brands have these two sizes, they are meant for people that are skinny but tall. Size doesn’t really influence the price, it’s the quality of material and production that determine how warm and stretchy the wetsuit will be that influence the price the most. You can probably get a good wetsuit for around $200, makes no sense to get a more expensive one if it is just for occasional use.