Hi anyone had any experience with the wip neo or flow wing vest.
Does the plastic hook work alright for hooked in. Is the material very strong puncture wise if someone were to fall on the foil or stabiliser. Looks like minimal back padding compared to the original wip impact vest. (This one Maybe better and with a separate harness?). I'm thinking back padding would help with shock when hitting water backwards after a failed Gybe.
Im currently using a ripcurl PFD a bit bulky but works OK.

I saw this vest first Mathis Ghio using it - what is a good sign to me.
With a pocket for snacks and a drink bladder system integrated, it is superior to others and it also fulfills 50N buoancy rescue standards.The reason I did finally not buy it is, that the hook is fixed in the middle, complex to remove at all, but not slippable to the sides, what I mandatorily require for my swim out and in sessions.

Take a look at the new impact vest 50N with hook! I had the old one (same vest but without hook, slider and board ring on back) and now have this one. It is amazing and worth the upgrade on the NEO/FLOW vest. The location of the hook by itself is (for me) already worth the upgrade! Why better position for hooked in riding and makes it possible to still paddle out without problems. Also the fit and finish is way better in my opinion. It falls quite large though! So if you are normally a large, order a medium and so on.

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Robert211 said..
... The location of the hook by itself is (for me) already worth the upgrade! Why better position for hooked in riding and makes it possible to still paddle out without problems. Also the fit and finish is way better in my opinion. It falls quite large though! So if you are normally a large, order a medium and so on.

That hook position looks pretty good to me...don't know why this isn't more universal to have it up on your chest...the Wingman version seems a bit overkill to me (for what I'm doing at least), the Ion Rush looks like something similar (bummed there are no leash loops it seems), but both have hooks in about the same position...progress?

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kook123 said..

Robert211 said..
... The location of the hook by itself is (for me) already worth the upgrade! Why better position for hooked in riding and makes it possible to still paddle out without problems. Also the fit and finish is way better in my opinion. It falls quite large though! So if you are normally a large, order a medium and so on.

That hook position looks pretty good to me...don't know why this isn't more universal to have it up on your chest...the Wingman version seems a bit overkill to me (for what I'm doing at least), the Ion Rush looks like something similar (bummed there are no leash loops it seems), but both have hooks in about the same position...progress?

Doesn't the hook get in the way when padding out or starting to get up.

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dkeating said..

kook123 said..

Robert211 said..
... The location of the hook by itself is (for me) already worth the upgrade! Why better position for hooked in riding and makes it possible to still paddle out without problems. Also the fit and finish is way better in my opinion. It falls quite large though! So if you are normally a large, order a medium and so on.

That hook position looks pretty good to me...don't know why this isn't more universal to have it up on your chest...the Wingman version seems a bit overkill to me (for what I'm doing at least), the Ion Rush looks like something similar (bummed there are no leash loops it seems), but both have hooks in about the same position...progress?

Doesn't the hook get in the way when padding out or starting to get up.

Agree - I always ride with a hook, but I always need to paddle through shore break and it would drive me crazy if I couldn't push it to the side for paddling.

Soorooz also offers this one, with "beltloops" to add a belt. You can also skip loops to slide the hook to the side.
surfwear.sooruz.com/webshop/en/protections/4692-24546-watervest-homme-wing-1018530016582.html#/11-color-black/26-size-xs/1373-thickness-13_mm

I feel like there isn't a perfect vest/harness solution out there. Some of them are way overbuilt and seem to be built for racing (can't slide hook out of the way). The two piece vest/harness setup doesn't work great and my harness always winds up under my vest or twisted around. Room for improvement.

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Velocicraptor said..

dkeating said..

kook123 said..

Robert211 said..
... The location of the hook by itself is (for me) already worth the upgrade! Why better position for hooked in riding and makes it possible to still paddle out without problems. Also the fit and finish is way better in my opinion. It falls quite large though! So if you are normally a large, order a medium and so on.

That hook position looks pretty good to me...don't know why this isn't more universal to have it up on your chest...the Wingman version seems a bit overkill to me (for what I'm doing at least), the Ion Rush looks like something similar (bummed there are no leash loops it seems), but both have hooks in about the same position...progress?

Doesn't the hook get in the way when padding out or starting to get up.

I feel like there isn't a perfect vest/harness solution out there.

This^^^ we've got a ways to go...also need to have more hi-viz colors and a decent pocket

Select to expand quote

kook123 said..

Velocicraptor said..

dkeating said..

kook123 said..

Robert211 said..
... The location of the hook by itself is (for me) already worth the upgrade! Why better position for hooked in riding and makes it possible to still paddle out without problems. Also the fit and finish is way better in my opinion. It falls quite large though! So if you are normally a large, order a medium and so on.

That hook position looks pretty good to me...don't know why this isn't more universal to have it up on your chest...the Wingman version seems a bit overkill to me (for what I'm doing at least), the Ion Rush looks like something similar (bummed there are no leash loops it seems), but both have hooks in about the same position...progress?

Doesn't the hook get in the way when padding out or starting to get up.

I feel like there isn't a perfect vest/harness solution out there.

This^^^ we've got a ways to go...also need to have more hi-viz colors and a decent pocket

Yes this, Hi Vis colours and some sensible pockets for beacon or a phone. I also haven't found a vest with a good combination of features for winging and modest downwind adventures.
I had the earlier Forward WIP vest and didn't like it, the hook worked OK but the belt didn't offer much support and the foam padding bunched up inside the outer fabric. I have tried the new one on but the fit wasn't great for me, very loose in the shoulders and the side zip is a PITA.