What's inside a wetsuit

A wetsuit is chemistry worn against the skin. Worth knowing which.

Classic neoprene is petroleum-based. Since 2016, Patagonia has made its wetsuits from Yulex natural rubber, sourced from hevea trees on FSC-certified plantations: up to eighty percent less CO2 emissions than neoprene, for comparable insulation.

In 2025, Finisterre released a cold-water Yulex range that no longer restricts movement, and even launched a first recyclable wetsuit. The technique has caught up with the principle. We no longer have to choose between warmth and conscience.

Ecology as a consequence

At RIOT BREAK, we don't sell ecology as an argument. We frame it as a consequence of the model: fewer pieces, a strict selection, the right materials. A natural-rubber wetsuit isn't an act of activism. It's just the right choice once you understand it.

What remains is honesty: no material is neutral. Yulex is still an industrial product. But between two options, we take the one that costs the least to what we love, the ocean.

How to read a wetsuit

Three questions are enough. What is the rubber made of, petroleum or hevea? Are the seams glued and blind-stitched to last? Does the brand take the suit back at end of life? The rest is marketing.