Rip Curl Elasto Review

By Richie Fitzgerald

Maybe it’s my age the wrong side of 50 now, or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve worked in surfing my whole life that compels my cynicism when I hear of a game changing product release in surfing, especially when it comes to wetsuits and surfboards manufactures. For surfboards it’s the nonsense phrase of proclaiming this surfboard is ‘a one board quiver’ or a wetsuit company claiming its suits are ultra flexible and ultra warm-both statements are contradictions in terms. In fairness catch all product assertions like the two above are used by manufactures to simplify surf product tech to attract the beginner to intermediate market. Declarations like this surfboard is a 'one board quiver’ can be true-ish if you surf a generic beach break everyday but it’s certainly not true here in Bundoran. I can’t imagine surfing 3ft Tullan Strand and 6ft foot PMPA point on the same board. I know, I know this is a wetsuit review but you get my point, nothing new under the sun, right?

Our surf shop here in Bundoran (Surfworld) has been in business since 1990, that’s 36 years of selling boards and wetsuits to the local and tourist market. So, there isn’t much I haven’t seen in surfing both in and out of the water over those decades. In fact, we sold the original Rip Curl Elasto wetsuits here in Surfworld when it was first released way back in 1995. Rip Curl were the first wetsuit company to come out with the hyper-flex high-stretch neoprene wetsuits. I remember getting our first order of Elastos into the shop back in 1995 and being astounded by the chewing gum flexibility of the wetsuit neoprene.

Within 18 months of its 1995 release every other wetsuit company in the market had copied the Rip Curl Elasto by introducing hyper-flew neoprene to their wetsuit ranges. Fast forward to 2026 and Rip Curl are bringing back the Elasto anew. Did it really go away for 30 years? Well not really it morphed from the mark 1 Elasto to the Elastro 2, 3, 4 and so on into iterations of itself in the E-6,7 and eventually into the E-bomb range. So is this new Elasto something revolutionary and or just clever heritage re-branding. Well, a bit of both really and here is why.

The Elasto 2026 was released globally on October 16th to much fanfare and clever marketing campaign all coinciding with the WSL Rip Curl Pro in Portugal. Only two surf shops in Ireland were chosen by Rip Curl to shock the new Elasto for its limited launch, Surfworld Bundoran being one of the two. Our in-store customer reaction and sales of the ’new’ Rip Curl Elasto have been strong over the last 2 weeks. Me being me I can’t take Rip Curls or anyone else’s word on it so I had to find out for myself and test drive a Elasto. As winter is approaching, we have the 5mm hooded and 5mm non-hooded offerings of the Elastro in stock, I opted to try the non-hooded.

In the post covid world wetsuits and especially high-end wetsuits have had an exponential rise in price. It’s common now in 2026 from most manufactures to see their marque wetsuits retail for €500-600 plus and many creeping much higher. Here is where I feel the Elasto is winning:

1) Its pricing structure for a top end wetsuit. The Rip Curl Elasto is much more affordable and has brought back some sensible pricing with a tag of €390 for the hooded 5mm and €360 for the non-hooded 5mm. Drastically cheaper for a high-end wetsuit than what we have seen over the last 4 years.

2) As I gave one a go at The Peak Bundoran, the revolutionary part isn’t what you think. The tech isn’t new or revolutionary... it's a pre-existing wetsuit technology just refined and improved. As expected from any top end wetsuit it was really comfortable and warm in the water. Ultra -flexibly in a wetsuit always means a compromise on warmth especially after a lot of use. Here is where the Elasto has it right. In the water it’s a perfect balance of flexibility and warmth without overstretch or restriction. I felt it was very light too and didn’t feel clunky like some 5mm wetsuits can.

3) Any global wetsuit company will struggle with sizing to accommodate customers in Asia-The Americas-Europe-Australia-Africa and everywhere in between. Rip Curl have done a brilliant job with the sizing in the new Elasto. Its easy on and off with limited panelling and flex where it’s needed.

For me though it’s the pricing range for a wetsuit of this quality in the current consumer market that’s the revolutionary part. I feel Rip Curl have been listening to the surfers in the water and surf shop retailers on the street. The Elasto is really price competitive and puts the affordability back within reach of where it should be. We have both versions available in store and online. I really look forward to the broader release of the Elasto. I feel the 3mm and 4mm variations will be winners for spring/summer 2027.

Local surfer and current European Champion, Gearoid McDaid sporting the new Rip Curl Elasto wetsuit.

Design to be forgotten - Shop Rip Curl Elasto