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O'Neill Psycho 1 4/3 or O'Neill Heat 4/3 Thoughts Please
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donwh



Joined: 10 Apr 2000
Posts: 140

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 11:20 am    Post subject: O'Neill Psycho 1 4/3 or O'Neill Heat 4/3 Thoughts Please Reply with quote

Trying to decide between the 2 for my Fall/Spring suit. Hoping for advice regarding the better suit for windsurfing...Thanks!
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 3:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Old non flexible fart.
One look at the opening I have to jam my size 35 hips into a M zip less suit tells me I need a wide open hole to jump into.
This revelation came in 1984, and hasn't changed.
Zip less is warmer and more flexible.
OTOH, I've surfed winter San Francisco in a 4/3 back in for 25 years, and it was fine. 50-53 degree water, mostly colder air temps.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I know nothing about their Heat, but Big Winds Hood River has long rated the Psycho as their warmest suit (and cautioned customers to buy bigger than what O'Neill's size charts suggest).

Once mine is on, it fits like spray-on lycra, it moves like my own skin, it keeps me quite dry and very warm, and I'm tired. BTW, WTH's wrong with back- or chest-zip, jump-in suits, wet or dry?

That said, here's my as-yet-unposted classified ad for my unused new Psycho:

O’NEILL PSYCHOFREAK TECHNOBUTTER 3
NEW … STILL IN FACTORY BAG ... O’Neill PsychoFreak 4/3 mm ZEN Zip SSW. Size chart says this 2XL is for 6’-6’2”, 210-230#, 46-48.5” chest, 37-39” waist. Fits me at 5’8.5”/170# but too long*. Fantastic, very light, soft but tough, WARM suit. Custom inner flap pull-up lanyard greatly helps entry. IF you can find this size, it runs $530.

* However, a guy much shorter than I and with a very pronounced belly LOVES the one (in this size) I used twice and sold to him. Check out O'Neill's size chart at
https://us.oneill.com/pages/mens-wet-suit ,
go up a size or three, keep in mind their material's great stretch, and see whether mine might fit and interest you. I'm not eager to sell mine, but I am downsizing my entire gear collection and cherry-picking my sailing conditions.
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windyjoe



Joined: 04 Jul 2008
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 5:49 pm    Post subject: Suit choice Reply with quote

Buy the Phycho way warmer Mikes right I’m 5-11 185 lbs XXL fits like glove been wearing them for years get better all the time don’t pay attention to charts
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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The big difference to me is the zippered back entries. The ZEN configuration was impossible for me, and I think that it designed for surfing and a lot more in the water time. Windsurfers are out of the water most of the time and usually not pushing through waves. A simpler design like the one offered in the Heat wa s far better for an older guy like me. I bought the Heat and saved some too. Great suit.

Last edited by swchandler on Sat Oct 02, 2021 9:44 pm; edited 1 time in total
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 9:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Technobutter III is so extremely stretchy that mobility, whether sailing, swimming, waterstarting, or doing yoga or Pilates, you don't notice you're wearing a suit. It's putting it on that drove me to buy an oversized suit. I have since watched videos that make it look easier and delayed my posting of that ad ... so far.

Like you, I far prefer a back (or full chest a la Kokatat) zipper. People who take off their steamers every time they switch sails, or pee, or hydrate, or a cloud passes by, or just need a lawn chair break would be better served by a BIG, bulky, fall-off-your-body dry suit, even if it does hamper sprinting for a board. But if, like me just a few years ago, they wear their neoprene, harness, rib armor, et.al. all day, they'll overlook the downside of "wrist" entry suits.

Then, of course, there are many sailors so new to wetsuits that all they know is wrist entry suits. Poor guys!

OTOH, I just bought a very stretchy, easy on and off, 3/2, great fitting, backzip fullsuit for $120 that -- beyond ANY expectations -- kept me almost completely dry for half an hour of thrashing in the water, then came off my ankles without dislocating either thumb.

Ya just never know.
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capetonian



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 1196
Location: Florida

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 9:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Re: sizing - I’m 6’2, 194 lbs with an “athletic build”. The XL was so baggy around my backside and stomach. LT a better fit. Caveat emptor - there’s no substitute for trying on a suit before buying it.
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capetonian



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 1196
Location: Florida

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another observation from trying on about 7 different wetsuits recently. All were either chest zip or zipperless. Chest zip suits are for the most part so much easier to get into than 5 years ago. But some brands are still really hard to get into. One brand was so difficult to get into and then out of afterwards that I was drenched in sweat and exhausted afterwards. Plus my forearms were in cramps because the wetsuit was so tight on my arms (size XL).
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 10:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

5'10 1/2" 160 lbs.
Can get into ST, but regardless. L is perfect.
LS is too short at ankles and wrist.
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donwh



Joined: 10 Apr 2000
Posts: 140

PostPosted: Sun Oct 03, 2021 10:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

capetonian wrote:
Re: sizing - I’m 6’2, 194 lbs with an “athletic build”. The XL was so baggy around my backside and stomach. LT a better fit. Caveat emptor - there’s no substitute for trying on a suit before buying it.


Would love to but no shops nearby have these suits, like to give my business to local stores if possible.
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