Prolimit Mercury Steamer Free-X

With heightened awareness of neoprene manufacturing’s harmful environmental impact, recently highlighted by The Big Sea documentary (which we encourage you to have a look at), the wetsuit industry has had what can only be described as a ‘stiff kick up the arse’ when it comes to sustainability and sourcing. Across the board, we’re seeing a paradigm shift in materials and a scramble into tree-based rubber, water-based glue and various other EU certifications.

Prolimit have always had a solid, hardwearing wetsuit range, with their cold water suits really taking the sting out of a harsh northern hemisphere winter session. Those Dutch winters are savage and the suits really reflect that. We were eager to see how the ‘greenification’ process would go on their top-end winter 6/4 suit. The ‘Natureprene’ is now made from soya bean oil, oyster shells and tree rubber, sounding more like the menu at a hipster café than a petrochemicals plant. We were eager to slide into it and see the difference.

First off, getting in and out is dead easy – the shoulder aperture is firstly pleasantly stretchy, and secondly generously sized for a broad shouldered Viking chap such as myself. They’ve got a cunningly angled YKK chest zip which runs parallel to the asymmetrical seam of the chest panel. This zips from the outside inwards and the zip carriage can be neatly tucked into the track and out of the way.

Externally the suit is completely seam welded; the chest, back and front thigh panels all benefit from a plush Zodiac2 fleece lining, which combined with the almost watertight seams didn’t even get wet during our test sessions. The remainder of the suit has a velvety smooth inner material (recycled PET of course) which slides easily against the skin even when wet, meaning the suit doesn’t have to stretch around the lower leg and ankle so much, reducing a classic wear point. They’ve opted to not use any slick-skin material, which in my book is a massive bonus as it’s often the weaker part of any given wetsuit; again thinking about longevity and life cycle of the suit only adds to sustainability. It’s not often we comment on the external jersey of a wetsuit, but the Neolight textured outer is very premium feeling, doesn’t catch on anything or bobble.

It’s toasty warm in there, fending off the most horrible Cornish hailstorm with ease, and when kiting, that high core temperature is all the more important to keep those fingers from turning into frozen useless stumps of sausage.

The best thing about this now FSC-certified natural rubber suit is you genuinely can’t tell any flexibility difference from a standard neoprene suit, which would normally only be amplified in a 6/4 thickness. All the eco credentials are there without any obvious compromise. Compared to the previous standard neoprene model, in fact, if it wasn’t for the FSC logo on the back you’d barely be able to tell the difference. Prolimit have reacted swiftly to public awareness and produced a benchmark eco suit that will hopefully be the new normal going forwards.