Surfing isn’t the ‘greenest’ of sports. We all know this. But equally, you can be more environmentally friendly than you’d think. Without having to shell out on a new wetsuit. After all: the most sustainable wetsuit you’ll ever own is the one you’re already wearing! 

Surfing considerations with wetsuit care in mind,

Before you rush out to buy the latest “neoprene-free-green-eco” surfing wetsuit, consider sticking with your current one. A little care can go a long way! NCW has loads of tips on how to look after your wetsuit like this. And if your suit starts to show signs of wear, North Coast Wetsuit is here to help with our in-house professional repairs or re-panelling service. 

If it’s an older suit that doesn’t stretch like it used to, we can upgrade the paddle zones with modern, higher-quality materials. And if it’s not fitting quite right, whether you’ve gained or lost weight, we can alter it to make sure it feels just right again. Even broken zips? No problem! In most cases, they’re easy and cost-effective to fix.

Mark says: “Honesty, I get a great buzz from fixing someone’s old suit. Recently we had a lady send us her old GUL wetsuit that had a corroded zip head that was stuck fast. She had tried all the regular things but I always say we’ll give it a go. When you fix a lot of zips you can get some great skills and I am quite nerdy about it. It was not a huge surprise I managed to free it up enough to change the zipper head and not destroy any teeth. Magic! And for under £25 her zip is good for another ten years especially as we advise how not to let it happen again…”

Reuse and recycle – in life, not just surfing.

When it comes to most things we use in life, not just wetsuits, repairing and reusing is always the better option. The carbon footprint of keeping something in service is always much smaller than starting fresh with a brand-new item. 

Wetsuits should never be disposable! If it’s not possible for you to repair or update your wetsuit, think about passing it on to someone who can breathe new life into it. Someone out there might have the skills and time to fix it up, and it could be resold at a more affordable price for someone else.

We love doing what we do with surfing and wetsuits!

Here at Rubber Shack, we love upcycling ‘retired’ wetsuits that are donated to us. Even if we can’t always repair every single one, we gladly take in wetsuit donations, fix them up when we have time, and offer them out again as pre-loved at a fair price. These wetsuits get years more use, helping reduce waste and giving owners an affordable surfing wetsuit option.

While we might not be making a fortune, but we feel we are doing meaningful work and living our passion. Which is what matters most to us. If your wetsuit is beyond repair, we can still salvage any usable panels for re-paneling other suits, and old zips can often be reused too. We try to put nothing in landfill and have lots little projects on the boil to use up all those neoprene and fabric scraps.

The importance of fixing things.

Mark says: “It’s become very of the moment to start fixing things up but it’s always been second nature to me much to the woes of my wife. She’d tell me I am a hoarder but I can bear to throw something away that might be useful to someone else at some time in the future. There certainly is a good feeling in finding a purpose for something that others feel is trash. I’ve had some great ‘skip’ finds in my life and I am proud of that. A lot of that comes from my Grandfather and father. Grandad was a toolmaker (almost quoting Kier Starmer!) and both he and my father took eveything to bits and re-engineered what others would have thrown away. I love to try and do the same any wetsuits that come our way (plus a lot of other junk!)”

Right now, NCW has over a hundred pre-loved wetsuits (for both adults and kids) that have been part-exchanged, donated, and repaired. We’re constantly on the lookout for more suits to restore and send back into the wild!

Get in touch with us to see how we can help you with surfing wetsuit repairs/alterations or new/used wetsuit bargains.