Price: € 250
Flex/Comfort: 9/10
Warmth: 9/10
Overall: 9.5/10

Test date: 10/04/14
Tested at: Santosha, Capbreton France
Air: 17
Water: 14
Dry Weight: 950g
Also: Got a 1ft head dip this sesh, which I’m still telling folk about… you know the kind, head upside down, ass in the air…
Tested by: PE

In brief: Pretty fucken awesome all-round really…

Brand overview

Originally from Hawaii’s North Shore, Xcel and have gone from strength to strength in the last ten years to establish themselves as one of the market leaders. Sometime in the mid naughties, Xcel bum-rushed the show, so too speak. I went back home and surfed in Devon and Cornwall after a couple of years in France and basically everyone was in Xcel, the entire surf population. These days, they have nuzzled in nicely to make up a kind of ‘holy trinity’ of rubber brands alongside Rip Curl and O’Neill.

The Test

In terms of cut, the cuffs on both wrists and ankles feel tighter with Xcel. If you’ve got big/wide hands feet like me (steady, ladies) you’ll notice that getting it on. It has a minimal opening, made bigger by a ‘cross-over’ design, which works great to get into. Getting if off after the first surf I needed a hand, from the second surf onwards, I was fine on my own. Still,

there’s no shame in asking a stranger in a car park to give you a quick tug, is there…?

The feel of the rubber is maybe a touch less ‘silky’ than a Rip Curl. I heard that the tolerance on the thickness means it might be up to half a mil over, but that’s wasn’t from an official source. The cornerstone of the Inifiniti Comp is the one piece chest/torso/thigh panel. Just one bit of rubber covering your entire chest, lower back and both thighs. It’s warmer, more flexible, and is just great design and function. After wearing that, everyone else’s many many little panels seem a bit… crap. The neck is lower at the front, which I love. I’ve long been an advocate of not much neck on wetsuits. Without meaning to harp on, has anyone, ever had a cold neck???

The textured ‘quick dry’ lining on the inside feels warmer than a standard lining, and does dry pretty fast, with less bulkiness than ‘the furry shit’. It’s also made from recycled polyester. Overall there is very little to say in terms of design, they’ve kept it simple and functional. There is also something that feels wholesome about a brand that only makes wetsuits, rather than beach umbrellas, shoes, watches, clothing etc etc etc. It kinda feels like they are focusing their attention on nailing one thing, which they certainly seem to be. 

The zip is attached at one end (right shoulder), which is fab. You just slide it down, never, ever have to thread the slot in into the slider at the water’s edge, trembling with excitement (we’ve all done it). Real, real nice.

In Summary

As you may have guessed, I love the Infiniti wetsuit. I think I might marry it. I can’t really think of anything bad to say about it, and I’ve tried… maybe the blue. I mean, it comes in other colours, including all black, but the blue is quite… blue, so maybe wouldn’t suit communists, socialists, or anyone anti-royal. Other than that, the thing is fucken great. If you’re spending your hard-earns on rubber, this would be my own personal recommendation, and at €250, it’s a veritable bargain.

Xcel Wetsuits