R5 Patagonia Wetsuit review

[Roadmaster]

I bought the new 2018-2019 Patagonia R5 wetsuit from Cleanline Surfshop during one of their sales. The R5 is a 6.5/5 mil suit and redone this year. Their website said they resized the suits, made them easier to get into and are more flexible over last years suits. I never tried their last years suit but they were said to run small and not as flexible as the pre-yulex suits. I decided to give the new R5 a try. I seem to fit medium wetsuits by just about all brands and do fit a medium in the older pre-yulex Patagonia suits. So I ordered a medium and it fit perfect and is easier to get in and out of. I needed no help in getting out of the suit the first time.

I really like the suit as it is super warm and surprisingly flexible for such a thick suit. I think a high performance short boarder may find them too stiff but for a long boarder in very cold conditions, perfect. The lining is now black and dries pretty quick. I like Patagonias for their warmth and the strong construction, really well made suit. My O'Neills fall apart after 2 years, they are very flexible but weak.

I like my, maybe too thick, Patagonia R5 suit and it gets me out on the cold days as I know I will be warm. I want to be warm and this suit does that, if I get too warm on some days, well that is a problem I can deal with. A good suit maybe not for everyone but if you surf very cold conditions, worth checking out.

 

[Artz]

Nice review.

 

[glider_boy]

Thanks. Seems like the first few generations of Yulex suits got meh reviews but the new ones are better? Tempted to try one. Anyone have a recent R1 or R2?

 

[Bighouse]

Seems like a good time to chime in....

I've had three generations: merino wool, yulex & new yulex. ( I think there are 4 generations?)

I still wear the merino wool version i bought about 10 years ago. A little leaky & stiff, but still very warm. The 1st gen yulex I returned because it felt like i was going to break my nose when peeling the hood off. When on, the movement in the shoulders was substantially more flexible. I only wore about 3-4 times before I gave up & returned. Patagonia confirmed they were cut wrong and sent me a gift card for new suit.

This years "new yulex" is incredible. I've worn about 6 times so far, and its very flexible, very easy to get into & very WARM. I have the R4 model and about two weeks ago surfed in 30knot winds, 36 degree air and I was still warm. Surfed about 2.5 hours.

I like these suits. I don't think I can afford a quiver of them, but for my winter suit, this is it.

 

[Roadmaster]

I agree; old pre-yulex good, yulex bad, new yulex very good

 

[Dawnpatrol]

Great review. Had an older R-5. If I peeled the hood back, it bunched at the back of my neck creating a literal pain in the neck. Hope they improved this little issue. The suit was warm but it was like taking a shower in a condom! I went back to O'Neil. I wear a 4/3 although I don't even think about paddling out if it's below freezing. Kudos to the fools that do.

 

[PeakMaster]

Good review. I've been running with Xcels Gor the last few years for Winter. They are flexible once you're in them...its getting there that's the challenge. Will look at Patagonia. For 3/2s and Spring and Summer, I'm not so brand loyal or particular.

 

[changeissimple]

I would love for some of the above reviewers to chime in on this years suit after using for 30-40 sessions. I am a big supporter of Patagonia but haven't had good longevity with their suits. I went back to Xcel two seasons ago, I am looking for a warm suit that will last 2_ full seasons of November to May frigid New England ice berg sessions.

 

[GregC]

I love that i'm picking up this thread after @changeissimple . HA!

Last season, I purchased a brand new R5. I used it for less than half a winter and realized toward the end of the season that the crotch was leaking (bad). I reached out to Patagonia and made arrangements to ship to Ventura for repair. Meanwhile I had to incur the cost of a new suit ($400) while I waited for the repair, which was ok because I needed a backup suit regardless. After receiving the "repaired" suit, I wore for 2-3 sessions before noticing the leak in the crotch was back. This time even worse. IMO, this should warrant a full replacement of the suit, given that i've not worn the suit for a little over half a winter season. After contacting the team in Ventura, they started out by offering me 40% off a new suit ($579) upon receipt of my old suit. After a lengthy back and forth, they bumped it up to 60%, which was still not enough in my book since I would have to shell out another $231.... My argument is that I did not think it was fair to make me pay anything for a clearly defective suit. After all, i've had much cheaper suits last me 2-3 full seasons. Needless to say, they will not offer me a full replacement until they "see the suit" and I just don't believe that would offer the full replacement. To which point I would have them ship the suit back for the third fourth time across country...

I'm still not sure what to do, and may just try to slather wetsuit cement on there, but wanted to make as many people aware of my experience as possible. As you can imagine, I would not recommend these suits to anyone....

 

[changeissimple]

I agree with Greg. I have never had good experiences with patagonia. Boots, gloves, full suits, they all fall apart long before their counterparts by Xcel and others. At one point I had a suit for 2 months and it began to fail. I mailed it back with a repair form. They sent me a new suit, which is cool for me, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of their "environmental" stance. I live very sustainably so I was pretty disappointed. For those reading the above post by Greg C. I know him pretty well, he takes care of his stuff, he doesn't do the parking lot stomp to get out of his suit. I am the same way. Not user error, it is 100% product failure.