Editing Wetsuit (section)

==History==

===Origins===
[[File:Smoothskin beavertail wetsuit.jpg|thumb|Woman wearing "smoothskin" wetsuit with "beavertail" and twistlock fasteners]]
{{See also|Diving suit}}
In 1952, [[University of California, Berkeley|UC Berkeley]] and subsequent [[UC San Diego]] [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography|SIO]] [[physicist]] [[Hugh Bradner]], who is considered to be the original inventor<ref name=sfc/> and "father of the modern wetsuit,"<ref name=sfc/> had the insight that a thin layer of trapped water could be tolerated between the suit fabric and the skin, so long as sufficient insulation was present in the fabric of the suit. In this case, the water would quickly reach skin temperature and gas bubbles in the fabric would continue to act as the thermal insulation to keep it that way. In the popular mind, the layer of water between skin and suit has been credited with providing the insulation, but Bradner clearly understood that the suit did not need to be wet because it was not the water that provided the insulation but rather the gas in the suit fabric.<ref name=sfc /><ref name=times /> He initially sent his ideas to Lauriston C. "Larry" Marshall who was involved in a U.S. Navy/National Research Council Panel on Underwater Swimmers.<ref name=Rainey /> However, it was [[Willard Bascom]], an engineer at the [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]] in [[La Jolla, California]], who suggested foamed neoprene as a feasible material to Bradner.<ref name=times/>

Bradner and Bascom were not overly interested in profiting from their design and were unable to successfully market a version to the public.<ref name=times/> They attempted to patent their neoprene wetsuit design, but their application was rejected because the design was viewed as too similar to a [[flight suit]].<ref name=times/> The [[United States Navy]] also turned down Bradner's and Bascom's offer to supply its swimmers and frogmen with the new wetsuits due to concerns that the gas in the neoprene component of the suits might make it easier for naval divers to be detected by underwater [[sonar]].<ref name=times/> The first written documentation of Bradner's invention was in a letter to Marshall, dated June 21, 1951.<ref name=Rainey/>

[[Jack O'Neill (businessman)|Jack O'Neill]] started using closed-cell neoprene foam which he claimed was shown to him by his bodysurfing friend, Harry Hind, who knew of it as an insulating material in his laboratory work.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roberts |first=Sam |date=2017-06-05 |title=Jack O'Neill, Surfer Who Made the Wetsuit Famous, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/05/business/jack-oneill-dead-popularized-the-wet-suit.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Carlson |first=Michael |date=2017-06-07 |title=Jack O'Neill obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/07/jack-oneill-obituary |access-date=2024-04-07 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> After experimenting with the material and finding it superior to other insulating foams, O'Neill founded the successful wetsuit manufacturing company called [[O'Neill (brand)|''O'Neill'']] in a San Francisco garage in 1952, later relocating to Santa Cruz, California<ref name=santacruzwetsuits /> in 1959 with the motto "It's Always Summer on the Inside".<ref name="surfline" /><ref name="O'Neill" /> Bob and [[Bill Meistrell]], from [[Manhattan Beach, California]], also started experimenting with neoprene around 1953. They started a company which would later be named [[Body Glove]].
[[File:Georges Beuchat, invention de la combinaison isothermique.jpg|thumb|French diving gear manufacturer [[Georges Beuchat]] wearing the "isothermic" sponge-rubber wetsuit he invented in 1953]]
Neoprene was not the only material used in early wetsuits, particularly in Europe and Australia. The Pêche-Sport "isothermic" suit<ref name="patent1" /><ref name="patent2" /><ref name="patent3" /> invented by [[Georges Beuchat]] in 1953 and the UK-made [[Siebe Gorman]] Swimsuit<ref name="lillywhites" /> were both made out of sponge rubber. The [[Heinke (diving equipment makers)|Heinke]] Dolphin Suit<ref name="heinke" /> of the same period, also made in England, came in a green male and a white female version, both manufactured from natural rubber lined with stockinet. As early as July 1951, [[spearfishing|underwater hunters]] in Australia were experimenting with a natural rubber wetsuit "of a 'wrap on' variety, which does not set out to be 100% waterproof (but it is claimed that) the leakage of water through it is so slow that body warmth under it is maintained for hours."<ref name="Spearfishing news 1951" /> By May 1953, the [[Bondi Beach, New South Wales|Bondi]] underwater equipment manufacturer Undersee Products was already distributing this [[sleeveless shirt|singlet-like]] design commercially to Australian sporting goods stores, where it was described thus: "Made from heavy sheet rubber, the Sealskin suit is most effective when worn over a football jersey. When jersey becomes wet, rubber holds it firmly against body and thus warmth is generated. Water circulation automatically stops and body warmth builds up in moisture-laden jersey. The Seaskin suit provides both underwater insulation and above-water wind protection".<ref name="Spearfishing news 1953" />

===Development of suit design===
{{Refimprove section|date=June 2024}}
Initially, wetsuits were crafted solely from foam-rubber or neoprene sheets devoid of any supporting material. Such suits demanded cautious handling during wear due to the inherent fragility and stickiness of foam-rubber against the skin. Excessive stretching and pulling often resulted in tearing these suits apart.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 14, 2023 |title=Wetsuits: A Brief History |url=https://www.oceanmagic.co.uk/blog/wetsuits-a-brief-history/ |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=Ocean Magic UK}}</ref> To mitigate this issue, divers resorted to generously applying [[Talc|talc powder]] to both the suit and their body to facilitate smoother sliding of the rubber material.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neoprene: A Brief History |url=https://www.seventhwave.co.nz/blogs/library/neoprene-a-brief-history |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=Seventhwave |language=en}}</ref>

Backing materials first arrived in the form of nylon knit cloth applied to one side of the neoprene. This allowed a swimmer to pull on the suit relatively easily since the nylon took most of the stress of pulling on the suit, and there was less friction between the nylon and skin, but the suit still had the bare foam exposed on the outside and the nylon was relatively stiff, limiting flexibility. A small strip of neoprene reversed with the rubber against the skin could help provide a sealing surface to keep water out around the neck, wrists, and ankles.

In 1960, the British Dunlop Sports Company brought out its yellow Aquafort neoprene wetsuit, whose high visibility was intended to improve diver safety.<ref name="Dunlop" /> However, the line was discontinued after a short while and wetsuits reverted to their black uniformity. The colorful wetsuits seen more recently first arrived in the 1970s when double-backed neoprene was developed. In this material the foam-rubber is sandwiched between two protective fabric outer layers, greatly increasing the tear-resistance. An external layer also meant that decorative colors, logos, and patterns could be made with panels and strips sewn into various shapes. This change from bare flat black rubber to full color took off in the 1980s with brilliant fluorescent colors common on many suits.

===Improvements in suit assembly===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2009}}
The first suits used traditional sewing methods to simply overlap two strips of rubber and sew them together. In a rubber wetsuit, this does not work well for a number of reasons, the main one being that punching holes straight through both layers of foam for the thread opens up passages for water to flow in and out of the suit. The second problem is that the stretching of the foam tended to enlarge the needle holes when the suit was worn. This meant that a wetsuit could be very cold all along the seams of the suit. And although the sewn edge did hold the two pieces together, it could also act as a [[perforation|perforated]] tear edge, making the suit easier to tear along the seams when putting it on and taking it off.

When nylon-backed neoprene appeared, the problem of the needle weakening the foam was solved, but still the needle holes leaked water along the seams.

====Seam taping====
To deal with all these early sewing problems, taping of seams was developed. The tape is a strong nylon cloth with a very thin but solid waterproof rubber backing. The tape is applied across the seam and bonded either with a [[chemical solvent]] or with a hot rolling heat-sealer to melt the tape into the neoprene.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wetsuit stitching and seams explained in detail |url=https://surfing-waves.com/equipment/wetsuit-stitching.htm |access-date=2024-07-18 |website=surfing-waves.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Serong |first=Jock |date=April 28, 2018 |title=The Short History of Wetsuits |url=https://surfingworld.com.au/the-short-history-of-wetsuits/ |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=Surfing World}}</ref>

With this technology, the suit could be sewn and then taped, and the tape would cover the sewing holes as well as providing some extra strength to prevent tearing along the needle holes.

When colorful double-backed designer suits started appearing, taping moved primarily to the inside of the suit because the tape was usually very wide, jagged, black, and ugly, and was hidden within the suit and out of sight.

Many 1960s and 1970s wetsuits were black with visible yellow seam taping. The yellow made the divers more easily seen in dark low-visibility water. To prevent needle holes from leaking, O'Neill fabricators developed a seam-tape which combined a thin nylon layer with a polyester hemming tape. Applied over the interior of the glued & sewn seam, then [[Annealing (materials science)|anneal bonded]] with a hand held teflon heating iron produced a seam that was both securely sealed and much stronger.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar Jain |first1=P. Ajith |last2=Sattar |first2=S. |last3=Mulqueen |first3=D. |last4=Pedrazzoli |first4=D. |last5=Kravchenko |first5=S. G. |last6=Kravchenko |first6=O. G. |date=2022-03-01 |title=Role of annealing and isostatic compaction on mechanical properties of 3D printed short glass fiber nylon composites |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214860422000070 |journal=Additive Manufacturing |volume=51 |pages=102599 |doi=10.1016/j.addma.2022.102599 |issn=2214-8604}}</ref>

====Seam gluing====
Another alternative to sewing was to glue the edges of the suit together. This created a smooth, flat surface that did not necessarily need taping, but, raw foam glued to foam is not a strong bond and still prone to tearing.

Most early wetsuits were fabricated completely by hand, which could lead to sizing errors in the cutting of the foam sheeting. If the cut edges did not align correctly or the gluing was not done well, there might still be water leakage along the seam.

Initially, suits could be found as being sewn only, glued only, taped only, then also sewn and taped, or glued and taped, or perhaps all three.

====Blindstitching====
Sometime after nylon-backed neoprene appeared, the [[Overlock|blind stitch]] method was developed. A blindstitch sewing machine uses a curved needle, which does not go all the way through the neoprene but just shallowly dips in behind the fabric backing, crosses the glue line, and emerges from the surface on the same side of the neoprene.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Wetsuits Work |url=https://www.lomo.co.uk/how-wetsuits-work-2/ |website=Lomo Watersport |date=March 7, 2022 |publisher=Lomo Industries Ltd}}</ref> This is similar to the [[overlock]] stitching used for teeshirts and other garments made from knitted fabrics.

The curved needle allows the fabric backing to be sewn together without punching a hole completely through the neoprene, and thereby eliminating the water-leakage holes along the seam. Blindstitch seams also lay flat, butting up the edge of one sheet against another, allowing the material to lay flatter and closer to the skin. For these reasons blindstitching rapidly became the primary method of sewing wetsuits together, with other stitching methods now used mainly for [[decorative]] or [[Fashion|stylistic]] purposes.

===Further advances in suit design===
Highly [[elasticity (physics)|elastic]] fabrics such as [[spandex|spandex (also known as lycra)]] have mostly replaced plain nylon backing, since the nylon knit fabric cannot be stretched as much as when elasticised with lycra fibres. Incorporating lycra into the backing permits a larger amount of stretching that does not damage the suit, and allowed suits to be stretched more to fit while remaining acceptably comfortable, making the tailoring less critical.

After the development of double-backed neoprene, singled-backed neoprene still has its uses. A narrow edge strip of smooth surfaced single-backed neoprene wrapped around the leg, neck, and wrist openings of the suit creates a more effective seal against the skin than the knit fabric backing, that reduces the flushing of water in and out of the suit at these places as the person moves. Since the strip is narrow, it does not drag on the skin of the wearer much and the lining makes the suit easy to put on and remove. The strip can also be fitted with the smooth side out and folded under to form a seal with a small length of smooth surface against the skin and slightly greater contact pressure. This type of seal can also be used on neoprene dry suits as it is sufficiently watertight when properly designed. 

In the early 1970s [[Gul (watersports)|Gul Wetsuits]] pioneered the one-piece wetsuit named the 'steamer' because of the visible condensed water vapour given off from the suit when taken off, allowing heat and water held inside to escape. One-piece wetsuits are still sometimes referred to as 'steamers'.<ref name="Gul" />{{clarify|Is this a regional terminology? if so, which regions? (Not where I live)|date=January 2022}}

As wetsuit manufacturers continued to develop suit designs, they found ways that the materials could be further optimized and customized. The O'Neill "Animal Skin" created in 1974 by then Director of Marketing,  E.J. Armstrong,  was one of the first designs combining a turtle-neck based on the popular Sealsuit{{clarify|what is a sealsuit?|date=January 2022}}  with a flexible lightweight YKK horizontal zipper across the back shoulders similar in concept to the inflatable watertight Supersuit (developed by [[Jack O'Neill (businessman)|Jack O'Neill]] in the late 1960s).{{cn|date=December 2021}} The "Animal Skin" eventually evolved molded rubber patterns bonded onto the exterior of the neoprene sheeting (a technique E.J. Armstrong developed for application of the moulded raised rubber Supersuit logo to replace the standard flat decals). This has been carried on as stylized reinforcing pads of rubber on the knees and elbows to protect the suit from wear, and allows logos to be directly bonded onto raw sheet rubber. Additionally, the "Animal Skin's" looser fit allowed for the use of a supplemental vest in extreme conditions.{{cn|date=April 2020}}

More recently, manufacturers have experimented by combining various materials with neoprene for additional warmth or flexibility of their suits. These include, but are not limited to, [[spandex]], and [[wool]].

Companies, such as Patagonia, have been recycling the material made from older worn wetsuits and remodeling them into a low-carbon wetsuit.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-05-02 |title=Patagonia Is Cracking the Code on Endlessly Recyclable Wetsuits |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-05-02/patagonia-is-cracking-the-code-on-endlessly-recyclable-wetsuits |access-date=2024-12-03 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref>

Precision [[Computer Aided Manufacturing|computer-controlled]] cutting and assembly methods, such as [[Water jet cutter|water-jet cutting]], have allowed ever greater levels of seam precision, permitting designers to use many small individual strips of different colors while still keeping the suit free of bulging and ripples from improper cutting and misaligned sewing. Further innovations in CAD (Computer Aided Design) technology allow precision cutting for custom-fit wetsuits.

===Return of single-backed neoprene===
As wetsuits continued to evolve, their use was explored in other sports such as open-water swimming and [[triathlons]]. Although double-backed neoprene is strong, the cloth surface is relatively rough and creates a large amount of [[Fluid resistance|drag]] in the water, slowing down the swimmer. A single-backed suit has a [[hydrodynamics|smoother exterior surface which causes less drag]].{{cn|date=October 2021}} With the advances of elastic Lycra backings and blindstitching, single-backed neoprene suits could be made that outperformed the early versions from the 1970s. Other developments in single-backed wetsuits include the suits designed for [[free-diving]] and [[spearfishing]]. Single lined neoprene is more flexible than double lined. To achieve flexibility and low bulk for a given warmth of suit, they are unlined inside, and the slightly porous raw surface of the neoprene adheres closely to the skin and reduces flushing of the suit. The lined outer surface may be printed with [[camouflage]] patterns for spearfishing and is more resistant to damage while in use.{{cn|date=October 2021}}

Some triathlon wetsuits go further, and use rubber-molding and texturing methods to roughen up the surface of the suit on the forearms, to increase drag and help pull the swimmer forwards through the water. Extremely thin 1&nbsp;mm neoprene is also often used in the under-arm area, to decrease stretch resistance and reduce strain on the swimmer when they extend their arms out over their head.

Wetsuits used for [[caving]] are often single-backed with a textured surface known as "sharkskin" which is a thin layer where the neoprene is less expanded. This makes it more [[Wear#Abrasive wear|abrasion]] resistant for squeezing between rocks and doesn't get torn in the way that fabric does.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

Another reason to eliminate the external textile backing is to reduce water retention which can increase [[evaporative cooling]] and [[wind chill]] in suits used mainly out of the water.{{cn|date=October 2021}}