Quiksilver says that the moment you step into its Cell wetsuit, you’ll discover that it has removed, reduced and eliminated all unnecessary materials and seams; and that what you end up with is the warmest and most flexible wetsuit found in any line-up. So how does it do in our test?
To begin with I was a bit wary of donning a silver wetsuit. This is partly because it is pretty conspicuous and partly because I’m riding an Al Merrick – Kelly Slater wannabe anyone?!
But the suit looks good and fits snugly so I broke it out for test number one on a particularly chilly Sydney morning. Don’t you just love the way hardly any water seeps into a new suit?
The Cell felt super light and warm, especially in comparison with the older Rip Curl I had been using. At first I found the neck strap a bit weird. It kept popping open but I later realised I had it a bit tight, so keep things nice and loose ok?
Features
- Liquid flex seal
- One panel thermo flex body, underarm and gusset
- Vapour stretch chest and back; articulated hyperstretch arms
- Gbs (glued and blind-stitched)
- Hydroshield zip water barrier
- Hydrowrap adjustable neck closure
- Short back zip
- Glideskin neck seal
- Iinterloc wrist and ankle seals
- Cyberspace fuse kneepads
The good?
- Lightweight.
- Rather than having 10 panels, the Cell only has six.
- Warm.
- Vapour stretch skin reduces heat loss.
- Love the hyperstretch flex.
What’s not so good?
- The knee pads always slip inwards. Maybe it’s just me but that’s really annoying.
- Slight flush down the back on duck dives.
What we reckon
Overall, I am stoked with the suit. It is flexible, has never given me a rash of any kind and still retains that ‘new wetsuit’ feel three months after the day we began.
Factfile
What Quiksilver Cell CL:SIX
Specs 3/2
Features Thermoflex and hyperstretch technology
Model tested Medium/Silver
RRP $400 approx.