Coasteering in the C-Skins Rewired 6/5 Winter Wetsuit

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You’d be forgiven for assuming that I’m in the Cornish seas 365 days a year, and have total immunity to the cold. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I really feel the cold, even in summer. As a result, I rarely go coasteering in the coldest months. I decided that had to change. But in order to do so, I was going to need to bring out the big guns. Queue this lovely new wetsuit I acquired from C-Skins.

This wetsuit is a 6/5, meaning 6 millimetres in thickness around the body, tapering to 5mm on the limbs. The standard wetsuit worn by surfers and other water sports enthusiasts in winter is a 5/4, or even a 5/4/3. In addition, this wetsuit has a built-in hood. So, you can see that, before we get into any more details, one would expect this to be a warm wetsuit.

At Kernow Coasteering, we’ve been using C-Skins wetsuits since we began operating, 10 years ago. A handful of retailers have gotten in touch during this time to see if I would be interested in their product instead. The bottom line is, that for the same price, I have found no other wetsuit that can handle to rigors of coasteering as well as the C-Skins adventure suit.

So, hands up, I’m loyal to C-Skins. It was a no-brainer that I’d seek out one of their suits to protect me from the winter chills.

The Rewired suit is not quite the top of C-Skins range. That honour goes to the Wired range, and we’ll be comparing the differences between them shortly.

The first part of the winter of ‘22/’23 was exceptionally dreary. We had no particularly violent weather. The storm season amounted to pretty much nothing, leaving storm-watchers disappointed. What we got instead was just endless windy and cold weather, with moderately rough seas. Not really appropriate conditions for coasteering, no matter how keen you are.

Alas, as a result, my new wetsuit sat, neglected in its box. But all that changed one unexpectedly fine day in the middle of January. The skies were clear and the sun was cracking the hedges. Most importantly, the seas were very calm. The time had come to get the wetsuit of, and blow out the cobwebs.

Despite the fine weather, the air temperature was still only 8 degrees Celsius, with the sea somewhere around 10. Perfect conditions for getting this Rewired wet and seeing how it fared.

The next question was where to take it for a coasteering test drive? The answer was simple. I merely asked myself, “What is the most beautiful location I could possibly go to in Cornwall today?”. The answer was Pednvounder beach.

Before we get into the nitty gritty of the coasteering adventure, let’s take a closer look at this wetsuit. Let’s see what features it has to offer. Also, please watch the feature-length video about this coasteering adventure.

• Halo X neoprene upper body
• Dark Matter Chest Panel
• Xtend Isolation taped seams
• FutureFit 2
• 3D Prebent Dura Flex knee pads
• O-Ring Super Seal Glideskin hood
• Enigma 3 Chest Entry with Single Cinch
• Iris II Closure
• Liquid Taped wrist seals
• True Thickness
• Key pocket

Ok, lots of terms, and imaginative names for the individual features of this wetsuit. Let’s break it down and look at what each of these means in plain English.

Halo X is C-Skins’ innovative neoprene. It is a composite material, with face fabrics, foams, and internal linings. Firstly, it looks delightful. On the Rewired wetsuit, it comprises most of the back, the underarms, the entirety of the arms, up towards the hood.

It doesn’t have the Halo X material on the front, as this is taken by the…

C-Skins claim that the Dark Matter material consists of 3D liquid skin technology bonded onto the outer lining. The result is added wind resistance, durability and increased traction.

Added wind resistance is music to my ears. The constant in-an-out of the water in coasteering is one of the factors that can lead to one getting cold ahead of time. Any reduction in this is most welcome.

One of the general criticisms I’ve encountered with a great many wetsuit that feature a comparable material on the chest, is that it inherently causes a point of weakness in the wetsuit. And over time, this can be one of the areas in which the wetsuit begins to fail. Obviously, only time will tell if that’s an issue here.

The Xtend tape apparently stretches with your body, providing extra durability and waterproofing to the seams. Again, this is really good news if it performs as is claimed. The seams are obviously the chinks in the armour of any wetsuit. The less water getting in through here, the better. This becomes ever truer as the wetsuit ages, with many tapes becoming prone to peeling off or, at the very least, not performing as they once did.

Ah, the knees. Coasteering, wetsuits, and knees are an unfortunate combination. Coasteering is a niche activity, and most of the users of this wetsuit will be surfers. Us coasteerers make up only a tiny slice of the market.

Thus, any evolution in ‘knee tech’ will be geared towards flexibility and durability. And that’s fine, indeed it’s important to every user of this wetsuit that it gives maximum flexibility relative to its thickness.

Coasteering is such a hard activity on every piece of equipment taken into the inter-tidal zone (and any scraping that may continue on the rocks above the high tide line). And it’s the knees that get the most abuse. C-Skins adventure suits are great in this respect, featuring a particularly hard-wearing form of neoprene on the lower legs and rear. However, this material is not standard issue on any of their other wetsuits. And with mainly surfers in mind, it doesn’t need to be.

But, short of having hard knee pads integral with the wetsuit, I’ll happily settle for some extra flexibility and, as ever, take as much care as possible not to climb with my knees (it’s very bad form anyway!).

Being a fair-weather coasteerer, I’m not used to wearing a hood. But you can bet that I won’t one included in January! The last thing you need when trying to negotiate any swell-affected obstacle is a punishing ice-cream headache to add insult to injury.

We have yet another material for the hood. Glideskin is purported to reduce chafing and rash, and I can attest that, in practice, it does slide on very nicely. And once on, it has a tight, but comfortable fit around the face, making sure water isn’t flooding in and down your neck.

I have traditionally not been a fan of over-the-head, chest-zip wetsuits. I think that the activity of surfing maybe, for whatever reason, leads to more water going down your back than coasteering does. At the end of the day, chest-zip wetsuits are just more faff, and depending on fit, can be akin to escaping from a straight jacket.

Thus, the Enigma 3 chest zip aims to address this issue by reducing bulk around the shoulders as well as having a lower profile. Good news all round, and probably extra welcome for surfers doing all that paddling.

The Iris II Closure also aims to tackle the traditional problems of chest-zip wetsuits. In this case, it works like a mechanical iris, as in a camera lens, rather than a biological eye.

It’s several auto-interlocking segments aim to ease access and egress from the wetsuit, as well as stop unwanted ingress of water.

The Liquid Taped seals aim, once again, to reduce the amount of water getting in where it shouldn’t. It does mean in practice the wrists (and ankles) of this wetsuit were pretty hard work to get on, but during use, no water ingress was apparent at these points.

Does exactly what it says on the tin. Or so we can only believe unless you get the departments of weight and measures to come and measure your suit individually. Jokes aside, when you buy a wetsuit, the very least you want is that it actually is the thickness it claims to be.

And last, but not least we have (drum roll please)…

Hardly an innovation. Key pockets on wetsuits have surely been around since the 80s. And in this day and age, it’s hard to find a vehicle that doesn’t have an electronic key of some sort. But, there are some of you who maybe use these. Answers on a postcard!

Whilst we’re on the subject, a great solution for stashing your key whilst you’re out coasteering or surfing is a little, combination key-safe. Such as the one below. They’re great for attaching to the underside, or wheels of your van or car. I bought the key safe below after one I paid almost double the price for, broke after just a  few weeks of use.

After hastily unboxing the wetsuit at home, I gathered my gubbins, and made haste to the coast to get in the water and have some fun. This was to be my first coasteering session of 2023, so I was definitely excited!

However, as I also made a video about this wetsuit and this coasteering mission, the truth is actually more akin to this: I spent a couple of hours filming at home. Then I drove to the car park at Treen before going to the coast and taking some video with my DJI mini 2 drone. I then came back to the car park and spent another age filming…

So, by the time I actually was ready to go coasteering, the hour was drawing quite long. However, this made the golden granite of my coasteering location take on the most beautiful golden glow, which only improved as the day went on.

As well as the Rewired 6/5 wetsuit, I was going to need some extra kit to keep me warm during the session.

First off, wetsuit gloves. I opted for my 3mm Legend gloves, also by C-Skins. Whilst 5mm gloves are easily-obtainable, the exponential reduction in dexterity is not a worthwhile trade-off for coasteering, in my opinion.

is adequate for keeping the fingers warm, whilst retaining enough dexterity to be able to pull on small edges to climb. As I’m usually operating various cameras, that extra dexterity is important for me too, to ensure I can press camera buttons.

At the other end of my body, I need something for the feet. I opt for wetsuit socks as opposed to boots. Why? I always favour wearing a pair of trainers when coasteering. I think they give so much more protection than wetsuits boots alone. In addition, trainers are going to be much better for climbing in, in my opinion. And, of course, it’s going to be much easier to fit a wetsuit sock in a trainer than a wetsuit boot.

Again, a 3mm sock is perfectly fine for me.

With warmth taken care of, there are some other items necessary for safe coasteering. Top of that list is a suitable helmet.

I usually wear my Gath helmet for coasteering. But as that is not adjustable in size, it was not going to fit over the hood of the Rewired wetsuit. So, I opted for one of the Nookie Equipment Bumper helmets. They’re a no-frills helmet, but very safety, and come certified for use in water sports such as coasteering. If you’re getting in coasteering, they’re a good choice, being adjustable so that one size fits all, and if the adjustable cradle ever wears out, it can be replaced.

(Also known as a PFD, or personal flotation device). A wide range of different style buoyancy aids are available to suit different needs. Most of them are geared towards the various sub-genres of paddle sports. Thus, the needs of a white-water kayaker will be different from someone doing expeditions in a sea kayak. 

Due to its niche status, no coasteering-specific buoyancy aids have been made. No doubt, due to the different backgrounds of those delivering guided coasteering, there wouldn’t be a consensus on what features a coasteering buoyancy aid would have anyway.

Personally, I like a low-profile buoyancy aid, as opposed to a buoyancy aid with a large, protruding front pocket. This, for me, serves no advantage, as I will be carrying a safety bag anyway, and a large buoyancy aid may become a real hindrance if trying to squeeze through something narrow.

I currently use a Pam Hydro buoyancy aid. But any buoyancy aid will do for coasteering. Make sure it is CE or EN marked, and rated to at least 50 Newtons of flotation. This low-profile buoyancy aid from Yak also comes highly recommended.

As for shoes, any old pair of trainers will do. You can’t really predict how grippy the rubber will be until you get them wet, so this may take a little bit of trial and error. There are various shoes designed specifically for the sea, or canyoning. But in my experience, they don’t perform noticeably better than trainers. More importantly, none of them will really hold up long against the abrasions from the rocks and the corrosion by salt water.

Treen is the little hamlet where a small, privately owned car park gives you the closest access to Pednvounder Beach. Actually a continuation of Porthcurno beach, as at low tide they become one. much like Sennen and Gwynver, just a few miles away, and two more of west Cornwall’s finests, golden sandy beaches.

However, none of them compare, in my opinion to Pednvounder. In fact, I’ll go as far as to say, no other beach in Cornwall compares to Pednvounder. This place is simply stunning. The main reason is the incomparable cliff architecture, that forms castellated ramparts all the way along the coastline here, until it finally just out to form the promontory known as Logan Rock (or Tre’ryn Dinas in Cornish). Logan Rock forms the eastern boundary of Pednvounder Beach with Porthcurno being just a few hundred metres to the east.

At low tide, there’s no coasteering to speak of, as the cliffs abruptly meet dry sand, with the occasional tidal lagoon. However, I was there on an incoming spring tide, so pretty soon the sand was gone, and the water depth was increasing, even allowing for a few well-judged jumps into the shallow water.

The first thing I noticed about this wetsuit was that all the claims for flexibility were proving true. The last thing you want when doing coasteering, surfing, or any other activity, is to be fighting your wetsuit to perform basic movements. I must say, this didn’t feel very different to my 5/4.

I hit the first tidal lagoon, and by the time I was up to my chest, the water hadn’t made it to my skin yet, so I took it as a good sign.

After some initial swimming, scrambling, and jumping, I could feel the water was finally in. But it wasn’t cold water, I was feeling snug as a bug. But how long was that going to last?

On this beautiful day, with the sun shining, the water and granite aglow, and feeling unreasonably warm, I was reminded just why I love coasteering so much. I was out there alone, exploring and adventuring my way along the cliffs.

Coasteering is the ultimate tactile way in which to interact with the marine environment, and I think that’s what makes it some much fun. You’re not just there observing, or letting it pass you by, every buttress of rock, boulder-strewn cove and barnacle-filled crevice must be negotiated by hand, allowing you to experience them to the full. Brilliant.

At the end of Pedvounder Beach, as you start to traverse along the promontory of Logan Rock, there is a small cove known as Polpry. A tedious place, simply full of large boulders (the worst kind of coasteering), so I opted for a swim straight across, to get back to the good stuff.

It was then that I realised: I was hot! Genuinely hot, on the too warm side of comfortable. I was having to do something I only occasionally do on warm summer days – regular dip my face (the only part of me not clad in neoprene) in the water to cool down. If that isn’t a mark of endorsement, I don’t know what

No coasteer is complete without a few narrow squeezes, and as I journeyed on, I found a few tasty little ones. Both with just the right amount of swell to make them exciting, but not gnarly. Both at sea level and on dry land above, Logan Rock is the part of west Cornwall most similar in its appearance to the Isles of Scilly. Logan Rock’s deeply gouged cracks, and innumerable rounded pinnacles and balanced blocks are very reminiscent of Peninnis Head on the isles of Scilly’s mina island of St. Mary’s.

If you didn’t know, Kernow Coasteering is the only provider of coasteering on the Isles of Scilly, so you can found out more about our coasteering at this amazing location here.

Finally I reached the most seaward point of Logan Rock. Just offshore is the barren, rocky island of Horace. I swam across the gully and climbed to its highest point, and was king of the castle for a brief moment.

Rounding the headland, I was no heading into the shade. I was certain that things would take a chilly turn here. But if the air and sea was colder here, it certainly wasn’t noticeable. I’d been in the water a good while now and there was no sign that I was begin to feel at all cold. The wetsuit was holding up incredibly well.

A few minor battles with wave—washed platforms and narrow gullies ensued before I finally made for an exit. It made a nice end to the adventure. A hidden route that winds it’s way up through a jumble of giant boulders, with a distinct speleological feel to it.

Finally I was back on grass, now stood directly below the Logan Rock itself. Logan stones are names given to perched rocks such as this. It is thought that in a ancient English dialect, the word means ‘to rock’. And thus, this rock, and many like it, have the property of being able to rock, often quite freely, but ultimately remain in situ.

However, one man thought he’d test this theory to its limit. Queue Lieutenant Hugh Goldsmith, who in 1842, in an act of unjustifiable vandalism, took to the rock with crowbars and levers, until it was finally unsettled and toppled from its perch into the grassy saddle below.

This, understandably caused outrage locally. And in no small part because the Logan Rock was a considerable tourist attraction. Such was the level of wrath aimed at Goldsmith, that he was compelled to devise a scheme to return the 80-tonne stone to its original position. Remarkably, this he achieved, and six months later the rock came home.

To this day, various drilled holes remain in the crag at the foot of the logan stone, a reminder of Goldsmith’s heinous crime. More heinous, perhaps, was that the rock couldn’t be exactly seated, and thus never rocked in the same way it once did.

As I was once again on dry land, walking back to Treen, I was suddenly aware of the chill in the air. Sunset wasn’t far away, and we must remember that the air temperature forecast for that day was fairly chilly 8 degrees. It was a stark reminder that I should have been feeling really cold, and desperately hurrying to get changed and back to warmth.

But no, I was still as comfortable as when I’d started. At that point I felt I could probably have bivvied under the stars with no problems!

So what did I think of the C-Skins Rewired 6/5 wetsuit? First and foremost, warmth: As I’ve stated, throughout my coasteer I ranged from being totally comfortable to actually feeling hot at times.

Despite the advertised temperatures, it was a calm, sunny day. So, sitting out back in a biting easterly wind may have been a sterner test. However, I felt that given how warm I felt, there was still a huge amount of headroom to go out in colder, harsher conditions, and still feel absolutely fine.

The raft of possibly gimmicky-sounding features turned out not to be gimmicky at all. Openings, i.e., wrists, ankles, chest/zip area, and hood all worked remarkably well at keeping water out.

The expected counter to wearing such a thick wetsuit would, of course, be a distinct sacrifice in terms of flexibility. Not so! I really didn’t feel encumbered at all. Swimming and climbing were all executed as normal.

So, in essence, C-Skins have really hit a sweet spot here, delivering maximum warmth, whilst maintaining a high degree of flexibility. You don’t think about the stated features when you’re doing your activity, whether it’s coasteering or surfing, you simply get on with it. Perfect.

Obviously, beyond the scope of this review is how well this wetsuit continues to perform as it ages. Of course, only time will tell. But if you’re in the market for a 6/5 wetsuit, this wetsuit comes highly recommended.