Wintermission: Quiksilver

Three surfers, ten wetsuits, one cold water testing ground. Welcome to Wintermission, the ultimate examination of new season rubber.

This Tech Makes The Highline The Fastest Drying Suit On The Market

No excuses for not hitting the second session, el jefe.

Or, Quiksilver’s Highline Plus 3/2 (Shop now)

Welcome to the modern era of cold water surfing, where the unpleasantries of shedding your warm cotton cocoon to slide into a still-wet suit and icy waters are no more!

The Quik Highline was hung out after the very first evening session at our mysto wedge, thrown over the line when we returned to our AirBnb at nightfall, the same time Mr Crews lit the fire and Jack distributed the first round of Cascade Draught. Let’s call it 7:00pm.

A little pre-trip research lead us to believe that the Quik suit had a secret weapon on its competitors, some tricky proprietary fast-drying material. What Quik referred to as ‘Warm Flight Far Infrared Heat Thermal Lining.’

By 6:00 in the morning it had laid out in the teeth-chattering Tasmanian air for 11 hours. We emerged from bed, hopefully peering out at our local zone before grabbing the suits for another day of field testing.

Sure enough the Quik’s bright red, diamond-patterned interior was bone dry, while the rest lay still-damp. Impressive.

Benny Reed stayed wrapped in Quiksilver’s steamer the longest. Consistently pulling a dry suit out of a bag full of soaking alternatives might’ve been the primary appeal, but warmth and performance also played their part according to the Skegss frontman.