The Oneill Zipless Hyperfreak Stretch Test

It's stretch test time on winter wetsuits...stretchy neoprene is important in a wetsuit, especially a winter one. Heavier 5mm or 6mm neoprene is resistant to movement and so the action of paddling means you are in effect fighting your beloved wetsuit. The more fluid that movement can be made then the less energy you use, the warmer you stay and your surf time is prolonged.

The key factor with super stretchy suits is that the neoprene doesn't get too thin when it stretches, it must retain its thickness in order to keep you warm. Almost all winter wetsuits from the top brands have an element of stretch in their winter wetsuits nowadays and it's at the top end of the price bracket that suits are typically 100% stretch neoprene. The wetsuit brand give this different types of stretch neoprene various fantastic names - 'technobutter' 'ultrastretch' 't flex' etc

We've used and tested all of these suits at some time or another to see if they live up to the claims that are made and universally they do, but some are better than others. This week we're having a good look at the O'Neill Hyperfreak which features 'Technobutter 2' neoprene, in order to make it a bit more fun we decided to see exactly how far 2 of our strapping warehouse guys could actually stretch it...see the pics below. We wanted to make sure it went back to its original shape afterwards and that the neoprene and seams were intact, amazingly it was as good after the test as it was before!

Check out the complete range of super stretchy O'Neill winter wetsuits including the Hyperfreak Zipless featured here by clicking on the images below!