"Body Glove" wet suits?

  Was in Sport mart yesterday, and saw some Body Gloove wet suits hanging up, bootles, $99? Any comment on this particular brand?  According to the tag it had all sorts of goodies, like hidden key pocket, being one, I don't have a wet suit yet, just my 5mil chest waders for cold water.
  Just courious, not going to go out and buy a wet suit anytime soon.

I know that it's a popular brand, not necessarily on this site, but not sure of their quality.  How thick was the suit?  Was it a full suit or a Farmer John?  I think multiple things go into deciding whether something is good or not.  But I am far from a know-it-all on this sort of thing.

Michael

I have liked Bodyglove wetsuits - I used them for many years waterskiing, jetskiing, bodysurfing, kneeboarding - hey I was younger, OK?

If you are going to use it to dive in Nor Cal, in my opinion you will probably be most happy with a suit in the 7mm thickness range - thinner and you will get cold - particularly if the suit you end up buying does not fit your body size and shape well. I find that the cut of the Bodyglove suits fit me (personally) well.

Although I have not seen it, I kind of doubt that the $99 BG suit has the quality or features you will end up needing or wanting. The BG dive full suits I know of run more like $225 and up.

I would try to rent some different suits at dive shops and see what you find works best for you - in the water.

For something that can directly affect your safety, comfort and mobility, I would recommend spending some time to find that one and buy the best one you can afford.

About 4 years ago I found a good deal on a suit that I liked (Tilos) and I have stayed with that. It seems to have really shrunk tho from last year . . .

John

My suggestion if your going to spend any money on a wetsuit I would invest in a little higher end suit with the newer super flex neoprene. These suit feel as though your not even wearing a suit and I love this material. They are also much easier to get on and off as well. Different manufactures have different names for the super stretch neoprene and if you look at there product specs it will tell you the percentage. The cheaper suits like on one your looking at Sports Mart,or Big 5..etc. most likely don't contain this type of neoprene.  My recommendation is wait until a dive/surf shops have a sale you can usually get a decent deal on a quality suit.

Here are the different names from different manufactures

O'Neill
70% UltraFlex DS™, 30% FluidFlex™ or
100% UltraFlex XDS™

Xcel
100% ultra stretch

Aqua lung
250% aqua flex

Body Glove
100% future flex

etc.

 Thanks all.  I think if I were to get the one at sport mark, I wouldn't use it in the ocean.  I know the saying "You get what you pay for" probably applies to the SM suit and I normally don't buy cheap stuff. (Quality wise)  It was a full suit, but bootless, and it seemed a little thin to me, possibly for lake use?
  Never surfed, and never wore one, so I don't know anything about wet suits.  My 5mil chest waders are the closest thing I've come to in regards to a wetsuit.

I have a couple of full surfing wetsuits (4/3mm), they are fine for surfing, but they seem to bind my shoulders too much when I tried paddling my kayak wearing them when I tried it. It was downright painful after a half mile.

NRS  (National Rowing Sports) has some good Farmer Johns for a little over $100, and lots of other clothing and other gear.  I've been impressed with their designs and quality. I see some of their stuff in kayak shops, and they'll send you a new catalog every quarter(it seems) if you order anything.  I think you can see their catalog on line too.  It's all stuff made for paddling.

  I've had the NRS catalog before, it does have some nice stuff in it.  I think I bought some biking items then.