Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I Heart Vests



I don't know why, but I haven't had a vest for a few years now. I used to always wear them from late spring into early fall, but I've been wearing a jacket for a while since I've been fried on the shoulders a fair amount of times in life. But, I decided it's time again as I'm sick of having tan hands and nothing else. I know, a vest tan isn't much better.

Anyway, I was on a mission for a thicker vest with smoothie, and I was kind of hot on the O'Neill O'riginal series vest. Not to be all retro, but I can't hang with so many vests and the disco logos they have going on. Yeah, I'm weird that way. Anyway, I could not find my size in any shop. Finally I did, and it fit great except for the big chunk taken out of the back, most likely from someone's fingernail. No thanks. So, I was about to give up when I happened into a random shop and found the Nine Plus vest above. Now, these things run pretty small, and I was bummed to see they only had an XXL size. But I tried it on, and it was perfect. Plus, it has a zip instead of being a straight pullover like the O'Neill. All happened the way it was meant to. And, Patagonia was completely sold out until next year, so that wasn't an option.

Why am I writing so much about a vest? The thing is 3 mm, super comfortable with the Yamamoto smoothie, and my favorite vest so far. I have heard of some durability issues with the Nine Plus fulls, but I take really good care of all my shit, so I have high hopes that this one will last a while for me.

A few fun days of surf early in the week and the end of last week. All in all, not a bad summer for surf around here other than the wind.

Hope you're all enjoying yours.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you about these. Well someday Ill create a blog to compete you! lolz.

Anonymous said...

Post how it's holding up in a few months. I've been looking at those Nine Plus fulls but don't know anyone who has had any of their stuff. From what I've read the Yamamoto rubber is buttery smooth and super flexible but requires a bit more care and finesse when putting them on and off.

slidelines said...

i have a nine plus shortie with no arms and a long sleeve jacket that i got from richard both work really well, but the rubber is very fragile compared to other suits and i have seen lots of rips etc. so care is needed when pulling on and off especially if u are a heavy handed ape like myself!!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, the Yamamoto is so nice even in something as minimal as a vest. It does seem a little fragile, and it's always interesting getting a vest off your back, even with a zip. I'll talk about how it holds up after summer/early fall.

Thanks for checking in.

unidentified said...

The nine plus 3/2 full is great. My buddy has had one in use for 2 years with no rips. It just means taking care of good things like yu said.
The big issue is the Pat and Matuse suits rubber failure. (thank god for the guarantee)