Penn 2 piece Bluewater Flotation Suit review

Deciding on clothing is important and often tricky because there are so many options to choose from. This review, by Simon Day, is from 8 months use of this Penn 2 piece flotation suit. Bought online from Marsh Tackle.

I bought this suit in December last year because I wanted a suit that could keep me dry and warm during the stormy and cold winters we have.

I choose a 2 piece flotation suit and I'm really glad I did because in the summer evenings when it's wet but not cold I could still wear this suit without sweating.

(Fishing on a July night in Torquay)

Even in the coldest temperatures I was only wearing jogging bottoms and a jumper underneath the suit and was still snug and warm. During the summer rains I was still wearing the top half and not sweating at all.

The collar and hood provide excellent protection from the rain and even head-on rain couldn't penetrate inside this suit. The hood is normally hidden the collar and uses velcro to keep the hood inside the collar. The only bad thing I have to say about this suit is when the hood is inside the collar you can't zip right up to enable you more protection from the wind. If you want the collar up you have to take the hood out. As you can see from the picture below (Taken in January in a 1 degree temperature and severe gale force winds) once the hood is up there isn't much room for the wind and rain to get in. The hood does go well over your head so you don't get rain dripping inside. Excellent full on protection.

(Hood on and collar up)

With both the top and bottom pieces on you are 100% waterproof and windproof and because the bottoms go so high up your body the double protection on the stomach and chest area really works in keeping your body very warm.

(Wearing both pieces of the suit)

Until this model the padding on the knees was useless but Penn listened and this time added extra padding on the knees. You can't see it but believe me the extra padding makes even kneeling on cold, wet concrete for long periods of time easy. The padding is so good that you can't feel the bumps and small stones when you're kneeling on them.

The wrists and ankles both have velcro straps to really keep out the wind and once both pieces are on their claim of 100% windproof and waterproof really is true.

This summer our weather has been lousy and even in July I was going fishing wearing it. When the zip isn't done fully up it still offers you protection from the rain but you don't sweat inside it. If I had bought the 1 piece suit I would have regretted it because during the summer I could not have worn a one piece suit without sweating.

My suit has been really abused by sand, rock climbs, wind and rain over the last 8 months but it's still as good as new. Nothing has fallen off or come apart. This is a very robust suit yet flexible enough for me to drive in, even when wearing both pieces.

The wrist part of the suit also has a rubber type of material just inside which fully protects you from any wind or rain getting up inside the arms.

Penn really thought a lot about this suit when they made it and it really shows. I was looking at buying either this one or the Shakespeare flotation suit but now, after seeing how flimsy the Shakespeare suit looks compared to this one I'm really glad I went with this option.

If, like me, you still enjoy fishing in sub zero temperatures, severe gale force winds and rain you will be hard pressed to find better protection in today's market.

With a price tag around the £120 mark it will probably be one of the best fishing investments you'll ever likely to make.

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