I’m trying this thread again, as the last one seems to be really bugged out.
I was going through my vintage stuff yesterday, and was wondering about this Jacobs wetsuit jacket. I picked it up years ago as it was the only one I’d ever seen and I thought it was, for lack of a better word, neat.
The neoprene is still supple, the zippers functional, the logo faded but readable. Any ideas? Year, manufacturer… commercial or team? I had always figured late sixties/early seventies, but have no clue really.
Sleeves. Came into vogue in the late sixties early seventies. They were worn under a sleeveless Long John.
There was a wetsuit company, actually a couple of them that would put the surf shop’s name on the suits.
I remember visiting one of the factories in Orange county somewhere when I worked for G&S. Circa 1970-71. I had them build some suits with our Wavecraft brand name.
It was around this time Grant Reynolds had taken over the Jacobs store in Hermosa and was building the boards and glassing for a lot of other shops: Weber, Chuck Dent…
I remember sleeves. I still have an O’Neill pair that use. Mid 80s vintage.
Those are even older. The rubber was known as shark skin neoprene because of the texture. Might be made by Surfer House wetsuits, as they were a big proponent of the sharksin. First pair I’ve ever seen with sleeve zippers, though. Pretty odd.
Was nice when the sleeves came out. Prior to that we were using the old beavertail tops that were thick and heavy. They were hard to paddle in, but still much better then freezing your as off, especially on those early off shore winter mornings.
Thanks for the comments. The time seems about right then compared to what I thought, but it is a bit of an oddity… All kinds of bits and pieces of surf culture out there that don’t always seem to fit in a specific slot.
One of my favorite anecdotes is from a camping trip to San Onofre in the early 80’s with a buddy - one of my first “longboard trips.” There was an older guy with a balsa Simmons - two half-moon skegs - insane. And he was taking crap from two young “experts” (well, they seemed old to me then, but I was about 15) for having screwed up his board by “turning it into a twin fin like a kook.” After all, everyone knows the old boards were all singles…
Surfer House. Yes. That was one company. And then there was another in Orange County too. Both of them used a rubber that was a different brand than Rubatex, which was what the major brands used.
The upstart companies, Surfer House and the other were cutting prices and it went from wetsuit shortage in 1969 in SoCal to a flooded market and shops cutting the prices and slitting each other’s throats just to sell a set of sleeves. It was the low prices that made room for middle men and private labeling too.
There was a price war on boards about this time too.
Remember, prior to this in Southern California it was uncool to wear a wetsuit. Especially a full suit. I remember my friend from New Jersey walking down the stairs at Swami’s in his Parkway 1/8" full suit and taking some crap from the assembled. Of course a couple hours later he’s still out and they’re standing around the fire ring. I got a full suit not too long after that.
But in the late sixties everyone wanted a full suit. Boards were shorter and harder or impossible to knee paddle and you’re spending more time in the water. Before that you could paddle out on your knees and surf and hopefully never get wet.
Does look like the “Kirkhill Rubber” that “Surfer House” used for their suits, they were in Fullerton, and “Sea Suits” were made in Costa Mesa. Sleeves were the next evolution of a wetsuit top, and was a major leap from the “beaver tail.” I had pretty much the same suit for my long johns, and in the summer often just wore the sleeves, and those metal zippers were the cause of much grief not only when they would seize, but would often catch the handle and rip my skin apart when trying to remove the suit, and the zippers in the ankles on the long johns were any more comfortable.
