Wednesday, April 29, 2009

looking in the future

this little guy wanted an escential suit, i had to deliver




ironic
photo:keith novosel

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

first look

new design, coming soon, and i had to pay for this guy to model the suit






pilgram shoes are not included

Monday, April 27, 2009

a little education

most of the time information allows you to make wiser decisions. i decided to inform anyone that reads this blog about the details of wetsuit construction. those who are not interested in the info, please skip this section. those who are interested, we will start with the neoprene itself. neoprene is rubber comprised of petrochemicals and all kinds of different chemicals. yamamoto is a limestone based rubber that does not have these petrochemicals. yamamoto is just the material in between two pieces of fabric.


smooth skin(on left)
mesh skin (on right)


with the two materials above, there is only fabric on one side of the neoprene. these two types of neoprene are commonly used for wind protection or for aesthetic reasons. escential uses mesh skin on the chest of our suits. the mesh skin is simply rubber pressed with mesh to enclose all the cells of the rubber. if you dont enlcose the cells, the rubber unfinised is very brittle and crumbly. there has to be some kind of binding agent on one side of the neoprene. the smooth skin is pressed with a flat based and finished with a coat to give it a shinny appearance. both have the same stretch if the fabric on the back are the same stretch fabric.

neoprene is classified stretch or non-stretch from the fabric used on the rubber. it is common sense, if you use not stretch material, it won't stretch. this issue has nothing to do with yamamoto or regular chinese rubber. The neoprene is only as stretchy as the fabric you bind to the rubber. escential uses the strethest nylon on the market. stretch is an essential part of a surfing wetsuit, but don't be fooled companies using the word "stretch" or "super stretch." it is most likely that the same stretch material is being used with all companies, they just give it any name they feel would sell the product. xstretch, ostretch, xstend, it is very easy to come up with ways to call something stretch.
the stitch is pretty interesting, if you're not asleep yet. with our suits and most of the industry's, there are two stitches, flat lock and blind stitch. the best way to describe it is with a little image.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

almond joint venture

dave from almond modeling the new design, these suits will be in the first of the month.

they will have an "almond" touch on them


photos: keith novosel

Steve "helper"







steve is out in the oc, he is currently testing out the s/s full, he is definately stoked on surfing.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

keith's travel

keith is out in cali visiting some shops, but he also stopped to get his new Almond Log, sick.



keith is taking some pics out there, soon to be posted

Friday, April 17, 2009

support


two supporters have put an order in for some suits. keep an eye out for Shelter and Almond caring escential suits.
http://www.sheltersurf.com/

http://www.lifeisjustswell.com/
Almond has put their signature touch on some suits, the stripes are going to be "almond" (light tan) no pun intended. I will post a picture of them when they come in, but they will only be offered by Dave at Almond.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

review


photo Keith Novosel

"The water is still cold in North Carolina. Sure, its going to feel like bath water soon, but the holey Rip Curl 4/3 I've had bit the bullet a month or two ago, and during a particularly cold winter afternoon I couldn't deal with it anymore and decided to score a new suit. I heard about Es-cent-ial wetsuits when I was in California recently. Like many folks, as soon as I heard they were making less toxic suits from limestone instead of petroleum I was pretty intrigued. I, however, had heard alot of good and bad. The good... lighter, warmer, more flexible, better for the environment. Right? Ok sold. Not so fast. The bad.... twice as expensive, strange rashes, twice as expensive, in some cases lack of guarantees, twice as expensive, and a few questions. I got my hands on a couple of these japanese yamato suits and put them to the test in various conditions from 40-65 degree weather and 48-58 degree water in small glassy logging conditions along with churning rough punchy beach break over the last few weeks to a month. I was STOKED on these suits. I couldnt believe how light I felt in the water, and better yet no rash to speak of. Even better still, there are a couple of yamato suits now that won't cost as much as a surfboard. Hands down the best wetsuit I've tried is the suit by Es-Cent-Ial. I know these are for sale at Thalia Street Surf Shop in Laguna Beach, but would imagine them becoming distributed in a lot more places soon. They just simply work really well. They are indeed lighter, more flexible, and better tailored than other wetsuits I own. They are also really really warm for a 3/2. No strange rashes , and one of the cheapest yamato suits on the market. The fullsuit I think goes for around $277. Its packed with all the bells and whistles... batwing, hollow threads to help drain water, and reinforced smooth yamato at the bottoms of the legs and arms to help seal out the water. The style is pretty rad too with a white retro stripe across the chest and a small e... minimal logos and branding which I like. (I think they may even come in all black with no stripe but Im not sure). Im not getting paid a dime to say this and I've noticed only a few sites on the web that have reviewed products in an unbiased way. I'm not going to make this blog a surfing version of consumer reports, but this is a damn good wetsuit, and I wanted to endorse it. " ryan tatar from shakasandsinglefins.blogspot.com

Monday, April 13, 2009

joe pulido loggin

joe, in some cool pictures








Saturday, April 11, 2009

two updates




i was fortunate enough to see the premiere of "picaresque" last night. it was a really good film, great waves, different kind of vision, awesome music, and really good sliding. take a look at the upcoming east coast showing tour, it was well worth the trip.




on a different subject, i have been talking with ryan at "shakas and single fins". check out his blog on the suits, i couldnt have asked for more





http://shakasandsinglefins.blogspot.com/








Wednesday, April 8, 2009

jack "helper"

jack is our youngest helper, and he chooses to ride shorter boards. his mind will slowly be opened to logs and single fins. but, until then, here you go

photos: keith novosel




rob "helper"


rob kulisek is really talented kid out of ny. he has got his hands in everything that pertains to surfing and his artistic views. rob is in the upcoming film "picaresque" and he was one of the original "helpers" of escential. check his site out, http://www.robkulisek.com/


picaresque trailer

mikey detemple and keith have put alot of time in this film. there is a film showing this friday in cocoa. see you there


Picaresque Trailer 2009 from High Seas Films on Vimeo.

faz "helper"

faz is a spiritual messanger, ask him what i mean he will definately tell you. he dedicates too much time towards escential development. escential would not be where it is without faz's involvment. he always keeps it real, i promise



keith "helper"

keith novosel has helped escential tremendously. he has taken alot of the photos in this blog and the website. keith has an amazing eye you can see some of his work at
www.knovosel.blogspot.com
and
www.fluidmotionphoto.com

Check him out, it is worth your time



joe "helper"

escential has been sending some suits out to some "helpers." Joe contacted me and was interested in escential, here are a couple of photos of Joe.







getting wet on a florida wind swell

suits for sale, current supporters

escential has become an addition to some select shops out in california.
the first shop that took a shot with us is thalia surf shop in laguna beach.
http://www.thaliasurf.com/





the other is shop is icons of surf in san clemente
http://www.iconsofsurf.com/



both shops have given alot of support, go and check the suits out

we will keep you posted on any new vendors, more are coming soon