Hi Mates. I have Neilpryde 5K 5-3 from long time ago and it holds well in 5-8 'C air temps. These older wetsuits had full body wind skin: Neilpryde 3K, 5K, Elite. Elite was one of the most amazing wetsuits for cold weather.

iHowever, Neilpryde doesn't produce these anymore. They only have Combat now for colder temps. No more it has full body wind skin. Do you know what's the deal? Is it as good as say Elite used to be or I shall look elsewhere??

I have the Combat 5/4 2019 FZ(same as the 2020 model) since end 2019. It has replaced my 2016 NP Edge 5/4/3 BZ, similar to the Elite, full mesh. Under 10 C, with the Combat I get cold shoulders and when taking a break I need to put on a jacket, this was not needed with the Edge. Core and legs, similar. I don't go out under 5 C, cannot comment on the icy conditions

What Combat is compensating with is the flex and stretch, less restrictive. I put on the Edge once last year and felt like wearing a diver suit.
Also, Combat being a FZ, no more cold water rush down the spine

Have you considered wearing a wind breaker over the top of your wetsuit?
This way you get the best of both worlds - stretchy suit and reduced wind chill.
For example, the Mystic one

www.mysticboarding.com/products/men/tops-layering/windbarrier-kite-spraytop-

It has a hole in the front for the hook.

I switched to Oneill Psycho Tech 6/4 Hooded for Winter temperatures. Still warm at 1dC Air and 5dC water. For colder temps I add another 1mm Neoprene under shirt from Ascan. The freezing hands are the bottleneck.

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t3wind said..
with the Combat I get cold shoulders and when taking a break I need to put on a jacket, this was not needed with the Edge

Thank you for the info. I guess I will have to stick to NP 5K for a few more years patching it a bit util NeilPryde decides to build a wetsuit similar to Elite/5K which used to be warmer wetsuits..

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Faff said..
Have you considered wearing a wind breaker over the top of your wetsuit?
This way you get the best of both worlds - stretchy suit and reduced wind chill.
For example, the Mystic one

www.mysticboarding.com/products/men/tops-layering/windbarrier-kite-spraytop-

It has a hole in the front for the hook.

Good idea, never thought of, thanks Faff, I'll try it

And don't forget about rubber pants too.

Guys, reviving old thread since winter is kicking in. Any more experience with NP Combat versus full skin suits?

Hey Leto,

I've used the combats for 3 or 4 winters in Ireland, down to 4?air 5? water and had an elite before that. As has been already said above unfortunately just not as warm as full single lined suits but definitely more comfortable. Once it gets under the 10? ish mark I add a 2mm hooded vest under and that does the trick.

I hoped to get my hands on an Ion Seek Select with hood but apparently they don't actually exist in the real world, covid, supply chain, blah, blah, blah!

Hey Leto,

I've used the combats for 3 or 4 winters in Ireland, down to 4?air 5? water and had an elite before that. As has been already said above unfortunately just not as warm as full single lined suits but definitely more comfortable. Once it gets under the 10? ish mark I add a 2mm hooded vest under and that does the trick.

I hoped to get my hands on an Ion Seek Select with hood but apparently they don't actually exist in the real world, covid, supply chain, blah, blah, blah!

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Daithidmg said..
Hey Leto,

I've used the combats for 3 or 4 winters in Ireland, down to 4?air 5? water and had an elite before that. As has been already said above unfortunately just not as warm as full single lined suits but definitely more comfortable. Once it gets under the 10? ish mark I add a 2mm hooded vest under and that does the trick.

I hoped to get my hands on an Ion Seek Select with hood but apparently they don't actually exist in the real world, covid, supply chain, blah, blah, blah!

I guess question then is why not a single company now produces full smooth skin kitesurfing/windsurfing wetsuits...? And also why knowingly produce a wetsuit which is advertised as top of the line and make it colder than wetsuits one produced in say 2012/2015..?
Interesting that the Combat wetsuit the waist is covered with smooth skin - exactly the place which is covered with harness and that extra wind protection is not that critical...
Also funny that these super warm wetsuits are mostly advertised by guys/models not wearing any hats or hoods.

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leto said..

Daithidmg said..
Hey Leto,

I've used the combats for 3 or 4 winters in Ireland, down to 4?air 5? water and had an elite before that. As has been already said above unfortunately just not as warm as full single lined suits but definitely more comfortable. Once it gets under the 10? ish mark I add a 2mm hooded vest under and that does the trick.

I hoped to get my hands on an Ion Seek Select with hood but apparently they don't actually exist in the real world, covid, supply chain, blah, blah, blah!

I guess question then is why not a single company now produces full smooth skin kitesurfing/windsurfing wetsuits...? And also why knowingly produce a wetsuit which is advertised as top of the line and make it colder than wetsuits one produced in say 2012/2015..?
Interesting that the Combat wetsuit the waist is covered with smooth skin - exactly the place which is covered with harness and that extra wind protection is not that critical...
Also funny that these super warm wetsuits are mostly advertised by guys/models not wearing any hats or hoods.

I think smoothskins are too fragile and maybe the companies just didn't want to deal with warranty claims. FWIW, I had a smoothskin Ion and it didn't last.

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leto said..

Daithidmg said..
Hey Leto,

I've used the combats for 3 or 4 winters in Ireland, down to 4?air 5? water and had an elite before that. As has been already said above unfortunately just not as warm as full single lined suits but definitely more comfortable. Once it gets under the 10? ish mark I add a 2mm hooded vest under and that does the trick.

I hoped to get my hands on an Ion Seek Select with hood but apparently they don't actually exist in the real world, covid, supply chain, blah, blah, blah!

I guess question then is why not a single company now produces full smooth skin kitesurfing/windsurfing wetsuits...? And also why knowingly produce a wetsuit which is advertised as top of the line and make it colder than wetsuits one produced in say 2012/2015..?
Interesting that the Combat wetsuit the waist is covered with smooth skin - exactly the place which is covered with harness and that extra wind protection is not that critical...
Also funny that these super warm wetsuits are mostly advertised by guys/models not wearing any hats or hoods.

I agree with you. I exchanged my old fantastic elite (that had about 50 repairs) last winter with a combat, but it was way too cold for a danish winter !. The combat is def. more flexible, but its super heavy and not really a winter suit. I used it on a sunny day in Spain yesterday, and was surprised that it wasnt warm at all. NP market it as a wintersuit (0-9 degrees C) !!! Flexible but heavy and cold ! They should make a better wintersuit! A lot of people are using ION Seek or Amp for winter. I never tried them, but apparently its more flexible, lighter and warmer than the NP combat!

I hear you guys and agree with what you said. Contrary to Faff however, I think that NP could still produce Elite type suits and make warranty shorter. It's a gold mine for companies if something breaks faster and needs to be replaced. I would buy new Elite any day if it was available. And these were super expensive suits. :)

I have my NP 5K 5/4 series full suit since maybe 2012/2013 (was stupid enough not to get Elite ) and it doesn't have a lot of repairs, all around crutch area mostly where they used materials of diff flex. However, a friend of mine recently gave me old Prolimit Global full skin from likely same period, which is smallish for me (my wife will use) but doesn't have a single crack and looks almost new. So somehow it's possible to make skins last longer. I also remember partial skin scuba suits which are bomb-prof..
In fact, in my profile pic I'm wearing the JetPilot 2mm/3mm scuba top with front skin layer. I remember, I bought it around 1998. I cut it to fix some other wetsuit this year but that top didn't have a single scratch on it and could last another 20 years.
Also bones don't bend so when making full skin wetsuits only certain areas need to be made more flexible: knees, elbows, shoulders..

Hi Leto
i totally agree with your comments about the warmth of the later NP suits.
Even in the summer I had to wear a wind proof top over my winter np suit to keep it warm enough.

apart from trying to find another elite.. I'd suggest adding a NP STORM ARMORSKIN TOP 0.3 MM which is thin enough not to weigh much, but more importantly is wind proof.
it works for me.

not sure why NP have changed their suits.
if you think it's difficult trying to find a decent warm single lined suit... you should try finding a singlelined ladies version suitable for windsurfing in the winter.
Apparently it appears as though all sporting ladies either don't go out in the winter months or sail in strange long arm and no leg wetsuits.

That's absolutely logical. LOL There are windsurfers and then there are women..
We always want women to look beautiful hence female winter suits are made following Santa's female assistant who wears fur coat barely covering her butt. So we have 6/5 hooded long arm suits with bikini bottoms. You just need to pretend you are warm. :) I'm surprised they are not making high heel surfing booties.

I have had all the suits you mention, actually I have had 1 x 5000, 2 x elite and 3 combats. I have still got two combats.

Out of them all my elites were my favourite. I find it annoying that sailors on Maui tell us which suits are best.

Combats - The armour skin is not very stretchy but it does prevent wind chill.

The biggest area to consider is the arms on the combat suits. They are super soft and stretchy so feel great. However on the 5/4/3 suit the arms are very thin so you do feel the cold in your arms and shoulders. I think the suit is good down to about 8c air temp. below that you need the thicker arms of the hooded suit.

I would/will get another combat but for Scotland it is a spring and autumn suit compared to many other "winter suits".

Longevity has improved with the newer suits as you get a extra season out of them before the dreaded leaky crotch.

I can't really comment on the effectiveness in very cold conditions as I only have the 3.5 version of the combat and don't sail in winter, but what I can say is the combats amour skin is far more robust than the old smooth skin suits that I seemed to get "fin" nicks in every few sails. 3 years on the combat suit and only one nick in it.