Neil Pryde 5/3 Steamer Series 3000

Earlier this year (April 2012) I purchased this wetsuit to replace my old original BARE 5/4 steamer wetsuit. The BARE was beyond repair and was starting to look pretty bad with all the patches and rough gluing i had done in the past.

Since the original BARE, I had purchased a two (2) piece BARE with farmer pants from Yvan aka Yvente. I love this wetsuit cuz I can choose to wear only the pants on days when it is not too cold in the air... The NP steamer was purchased for those cold outings - i usually do 5 to 10 of those a year.

In terms of warmth I rate this wetsuit quite high. I put it on before going out and temperatures were approaching freezing in the air. Water was cold enough to make my feet in the booties a little cold, but the body was fine. During this outing my hands were fine as well - Chinook mittens...

My issue with the NP is the putting it on and taking it off. The 2 piece BARE zips in the front and that is a JOY. This one zips in the back with a short chord - which i will extend - and goes on like sticky rubber. For the first trial, i could NOT pull the zipper up myself. Luckily i did this at home cuz no-one was at the park beach that day ...

Once wet, getting it off was even worse. And i was in a hurry to go to the bathroom/can/toilet. TMI - i know, butt if you want to get it off in a hurry - foget about it ... :(

I hope with some more practice getting it on and off, i will like it more !!!

btw there are little flaps n stuff around the top of the zipper that seem to help keep the cold water OUT !!!