Worth getting a off the shelf wetsuit tailored?

Mr. X said:

How much too big? Could you just live with it? I've both gained weight and then lost weight since having my made-to-measure Eliossub suit made, it has remained a pretty good fit despite that. Eat more pies? Wear a neoprene vest underneath (for some reason neoprene vests are often more expense than a shortie wetsuit, odd, should be about £12 but more often £22-£45)? I'm sure your wetsuit could be adjusted but finding somebody willing and able to and at reasonable cost might take a little effort. I believe there is a wetsuit/drysuit manufacturer on the Portland Harbour causeway, at the end near Chesil Cove, on the left hand side. Perhaps they might help? Perhaps there is a surfsuit maker closer to your home?

At a push, I wonder if you might be able to do it yourself, or find someone who'd try to do it for you - obviously that is risky. An accomplished seamstress/dressmaker/pattern-cutter/clothes designer might be able to figure out a way to pull it in (my wife says, for normal clothes, you'd pull it in at the side-seams). I think a wetsuit could probably just be glued BUT wetsuits are normally sewn and glued during manufacture. You'd need to use proper neoprene wetsuit glue, e.g. Spetton or Picasso black witch. I believe manufacturers use a special sewing machine which hides the stitch inside the seam - not sure if a regular sewing machine can do that but probably not. There is information, diagrams and even videos on the web showing details. It even might be possible to sew something similar by hand - but you'd likely need to do further research that if you want to do a good job? Sewing alone would not, I think, be enough, would need to glue it for strength and to seal it.

Sell it? For example on DeeperBlues marketplace area - no charge either Plenty of fat bellied XL spearos around Swap it? Donate it?

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Mr. X said:

Yes, I think O3 is likely the Portland, UK company. Probably closed for Corona

Is the suit loose with your weightbelt and weight-vest on and hood up? Do you get cold? If not, maybe it's good enough for now?

I have the impression that Omer wetsuits are quite slim fitting, suited to adolescents and Italians perhaps? You should check their size charts. I think Beuchat are more normal fitting for many older adult British men. I got a Mares camo suit on sale for about £120-£130 which just about fits my stocky frame in theory but actually fits surprisingly well in actuality. The 5.5mm neoprene is quite stretchy, so quite accomodating for different shapes and sizes. But stretch means the neoprene is thinner than 5.5mm when you put it on. But it's fine, more warm enough for me even in March - although I don't feel the cold as much as some. It was made in Cambodia.

I expect most brands are now made in SE Asia, so much of a muchness perhaps. I like the look if Polo sub semi-camo designs and they are made in Rome. I like the Omersub Camos. I like the Beuchat wetsuit designs, mainly black, the quality looks better than average and they have some novel innovations. There was an antipodean company that produced what looked like it might be the best/fanciest wetsuit. Rob Allen wetsuits might be a good, robust option for "manly men". I wouldn't touch Picasso stuff with a barge pole, some of their sizes are/were way off, perhaps sized for Asian market. Bad/odd size issues with Seacsub wetsuit too, despite carefully checking their model-specific chart.

The Turkish Apnea brand wetsuits from spearfishingstore.co.uk might be worth a look, if on sale. The guy in the store insisted my son was a small so, against my better judgement, he tried to get into a small but it was way too tight and we didn't have time to try the next size up. They were charging camo prices for plain black wetsuits at the time but, in their recent 30% off on-line sales, probably a much better deal available now/soon. The quality looked good enough. The owner is trying to sell the business now though and is not currently selling in the shop, just on-line.

Refer to model-specific size charts, these tend to be more accurate but they don't tell the whole story e.g. cuff sizes and thigh width/length.

A made to measure suit e.g. by eliossub, polosub or the cheaper Greek company some use now is worth considering.

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