The Echo | Version 3 Wetsuit

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The Ruby Fresh Echo | V3 Women's Wetsuit

The Ruby Fresh Echo | V3 Women's Wetsuit

Regular price $649.95 NZD
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The Ruby Fresh Women's Echo wetsuit.

About the New V3 Women's Echo wetsuit:

Created as a result of feedback from swimmers who don't need the extra float offered by suits such as The Flow (especially in the sea), we are pleased to introduce 'The Echo' model.

Balanced Buoyancy • Warmth • Visibility

The balanced buoyancy provides a great swim posture for proficient swimmers, the Titanium-Alpha membrane enhances comfort in colder water — to keep you warmer for longer and increase swim duration — and lastly, the bright graphics help you to be seen while swimming.

Due to its thinner panels, there is less buoyancy at the prime positions, benefitting those who are already naturally buoyant or swim proficiently in fresh water. A less bouyant wetsuit also has the capacity to create a customer base for 'other' waters — such as the salt water aficionado.

The main body panels are 4 mm & 3 mm. The arms and rear lat panels still keep the 1.5 mm panel thickness. Titanium-Alpha layers perform the heat retention.


    Balanced Buoyancy

    Created as a result of feedback from swimmers who don't need the extra float offered by suits such as The Flow (especially in the sea), we are pleased to introduce 'The Echo' model. It features 4 mm and 3 mm Yamamoto #39 grade in the main body areas.

    Warmth

    Generally speaking, lakes are colder than the sea. At Lake Wanaka in New Zealand, the water temperatures at 265 m above sea level, range from 8.5°C up to 19°C. But that middle range from 11.5°C through to 15.5°C covers a large part of the year. Numbers of active lake swimmers tend to fall away in lower temperatures as 'traditional' swim wetsuits are not really made for any sort of extended time in cooler waters. With Ruby Fresh wetsuits, the whole torso section, plus the arms and the calf panels on the legs, feature a layer of Titanium. This reflects between 35% to 40% of generated heat, further increasing the temperature of the trapped layer of water in the suit between the skin and the inner lining.

    Visibility

    An interesting feature is a need to make the suit as visible as possible for use in busy multi-vessel and user type waterways, but still maintaining the dolphin-like feel of the Yamamoto SCS smooth-skin layer. By using a pattern design of hi-vis Day-Glo water-based ink on one arm and the latissimus dorsi side panel, we have attained an increased level of visibility. The effect is quite striking when in use.

    The best item to enhance visibility however, is a tow buoy. These are visibly obvious from every angle, independent of sun/swimmer position which can sometimes result in the swimmer silhouette making the swimmer less obvious no matter how bright the wetsuit is.

    Original Features

    • Adjusted and refined sizing. Narrower women-specific wrist and lower forearm.

    • Ruby Fresh Grab Tab™ at base of zipper to aid closing your wetsuit. Grab the Tab with one hand, pull up the zip cord with the other. It's genius.

    • Enhanced internal construction; New internal stitching design; Improved cut of the core 4 mm Buoyancy Tray™ Panel.

    • Longer Velcro closing area to better allow for looser/tighter neck closure adjustability making it easier to avoid neck rub.

    The Echo model uses Yamamoto #39 & #38 grade SCS coated neoprene panels, with the main panels being 4 mm and 3 mm thick for a lower level of buoyancy compared to the Flow model. Flexibility through the arm and lats/shoulder blade is still great due to the 1.5 mm panel thickness, but less so than the Flow model. Ease of removal is helped by using a 6006 nylon jersey liner. A 2 mm panel across the calf and heel aids the final and oft tricky foot release. For those wanting really fast removal, the seams on the forearm and below the knee are taped over-length to allow further cropping of the suit to meet personal requirements.

    The Goddess Range

    • The Echo also features all the new Goddess models — The original Women's Medium Goddess {WMG} was introduced with the V2 range. The Medium Goddess has been further refined on sizing PLUS with V3 we introduce the Women's Large Goddess {WLG} and the Women's XtraLarge Goddess {WXLG}. See size chart.

    New Sizes!

    The Echo comes in the full range of sizes. A Women's Medium Tall (WMT), a Women's Large Tall (WLT) and two new sizes in the Goddess range — The Women's Large Goddess (WLG) and the Women's XtraLarge Goddess (WXLG).

    Product images show the Echo Women's Large (WL)

    View full details

    The updates to the Women's Version 3

    Innovative Panel Design

    We've introduced a separate panel for the shoulder area. The reason is twofold. One, we have noticed that having a graphic, of any size, printed on Yamamoto #40 grade, results in the #40 neoprene breaking down over a much shorter time frame than if it didn't have a graphic. The reason for this seems to be the 'fixing' of the screen-printed graphic at the time of printing. 

    The inclusion of the new shoulder panel is not about 'better articulation' or a 'better fit' — it's about the increased longevity and durability of our wetsuits. 

    Having no graphic in this high stretch / high movement / high UV exposure area results in less degradation of the #40 grade and hence longer life by about six to eight months of active use. That's a full season of swimming for many people ... even longer for others.

    The second reason is 'repairability'. The panel is designed such that when the panel does eventually degrade, it can be cut out and replaced by almost any professional wetsuit repair business. Very often the suit as a whole may be in relatively good condition with plenty of life left, which can be realised with the replacement of the deteriorated panel — often the first part to wear out.

    This innovative design feature reduces waste by extending the lifespan of our wetsuits. Our wetsuits are designed to minimise their environmental impact while still providing top-notch performance in the water.

    So, a longer life in two ways ... 

    We could say it's the 'greenest' wetsuit on the market!

    Female Sizing Changes | New Sizes

    We noted that from Version 2 we could enhance many of the female wetsuit parameters to better represent the female form. They are only small changes at certain positions but we feel that this wetsuit, the Version 3, will be the best fitting female wetsuit yet.

    Practically every female wetsuit size has received some sizing modification.

    Plus! Completely new sizes — a Women's Medium Tall (WMT), a Women's Large Tall (WLT), and two sizes in the Goddess range — The Women's Large Goddess (WLG) and the Women's XtraLarge Goddess (WXLG).

    The Goddess Range

    Our Goddess range of wetsuits will, from the V3 models onward, consist of three sizes.

    Our original 'Medium Goddess' is now joined by the new 'Large Goddess' and the 'XtraLarge Goddess'.

    Our Goddess range is based around the many changes women's bodies experience throughout their lives, particularly during peri and postmenopausal stages.

    The female form is a wondrous thing. So much variance across different female body types, especially as age catches up with us and we move from perhaps the inverted triangle form to the apple or pear form.

    We know from feedback that larger female forms have a real difficulty in getting hold of correctly-sized, specifically swim-focused, absolute top-of-the-line wetsuits. Hence our Goddess range, which we are excited to bring to fruition.

    Rejoice in the Goddess

    The Rear Neck Closure

    The neck area at the rear zip flap now sits flush against the skin. This a small but very noticeable improvement. It greatly increases the seal against water ingress and flushing. The reduced overall cross-sectional thickness and thus improved flexibility in this section of the suit also makes it more comfortable. See 'before/after' page link.

    Before / After

    A new logo, a new graphic

    We've freshened up the font but kept the 'Ruby' — Ruby Island, the focal point of the brand, or at least a representation of it — remember, Ruby Island is a real place!

    Customer feedback has also been incorporated, playing a role in influencing the decision to redesign the Ruby Fresh wetsuit logo.

    We have also transitioned from the 'coral' arm graphic to a 'fingerprint' graphic — which is reminiscent of the shapes formed in the sand on the lake bed, or the reflections of ripples from the lake surface. It's what we see, as we swim.

    We've changed the colour

    We've swapped to Neon Aqua Blue for women's suits and removed the pink. 

    Why? 

    Well ... we had a lot of comments on the use of pink. Yeah, many ladies loved it, but at the same time many hated it! It was said to be 'too defining'. The Neon Aqua is certainly on-trend right now! The Hi-Viz Orange and the Hi-Viz Blue work well together across both the men's and women's wetsuit lines.