East Coast Surf Forum

Jimmyd20 · Joined: 15 Oct 2010 Posts: 6

I'm looking at getting a new winter wetsuit and came across the Xcel 5mm X-Flex with chest zip. Does anyone own one of these or has anyone got any feedback on them ?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Cheers James

Aceline10 · Joined: 28 Dec 2011 Posts: 3 Location: canada

Anyone a similar size...short and stocky. I'm 5'7", 165lbs. I'm wondering what is the best fit in Xcel suits for my size. I've seen their size chart and appear to be in between many sized. I'd appreciate a suggestion from anyone who is a similar size and has found a good fit.

P.S. Assume i don't have the luxury of going to a shop to try on a bunch of suits.

rancid · Joined: 19 Sep 2009 Posts: 24

If you are in between sizes, go for the larger size of the 2. If you get it online and it is wrong, you could always send it back and get the other size - usually costs about a fiver to send back. Or, you could order a SNUGG wetsuit to your exact measurements - plenty said on here about their suits.

Chris R · Joined: 20 Jul 2007 Posts: 532 Location: Ipswich, Suffolk

I'd guess that you've already resolved your buy, but nonetheless:
There are also 'tall' & 'short' sizes available from Xcel.
I'm about the same size as you - i've got a 5/3 in ms, & a 3/2 in a large. I've had a large 5/4/3 too.
Its invaluable to try a suit on - winter suits are even more a pain, & just recently i've tried to buy blindly, but it gets bloody expensive & frustrating & ruins many sessions during winter if you don't take the time at the start. How about heading to vibe or filf? They will be in all probability a bit more expensive from anywhere other than an online retailer, but in the long run you'll save possibly having to buy another suit after getting frustrated from a poor fit.
If you're going to buy online, maybe ask the trader if you can have a few suits to try, returning what you don't want - I'm pretty sure at most you'll just need to pay postage/courier fee to return it.
Sorry if you know all this & I'm trying to teach you to suck eggs...[/u]