Frequently Asked Questions

Q What is a Waterparka?
A: A Waterparka is made only by Surf-fur. It is a unique, multifunctional coat designed for surfers, divers, swimmers, and any water sportsmen. The soft coat is made of lightweight recycled polyester fleece with a special inner membrane allowing it to be completely wind-proof, water-proof, and breathable.

Q: What are the special features that set the Surf-fur Waterparka apart from other dive parkas, swim parkas and boat coats? 
A: The Waterparka, Surf-fur's original swim parka featuring a design that is uniquely ours, is made of specially engineered fabric just for our designs. The cool-looking, reversible, hooded boat coat is completely wind and waterproof. The garment’s long, generous cut allows people to change in and out of their wetsuits and other apparel comfortably and in privacy. The coat has “Zen” changing pockets which allow the wearer to reach through and pull down suits or pull up pants. The Surf-fur is machine washable, and has stainless steel reversible snaps. We are the only reversible parka on the market. We are the original "change coat" designed for Surfing and SCUBA. We are also the longest boat coat/swim parka/ dry robe on the market.

Click here for Surf-fur comparison chart

Q: Am I going to sweat in any of Surf-fur’s fleece products?
A: No, the membrane has small holes that allow vapors to go through, but not large droplets or wind. Therefore, your sweat escapes through the fabric. It’s almost like magic!

If you want to test our theory, place the fabric over a cup of boiling water and wait a minute. You will see the vapors come through the fabric.

Q: Who does Surf-fur specifically design for? 
A: It started out that we wanted to design a warming coat to wear before and after surfing. That evolved into a warming/changing/protecting from wind/keeping water off the car seat/too f@#king cold to change at the beach next to my car-garment. Over the years, we evolved even more into an essential piece of gear for SCUBA divers, freedivers, Surfers, Kayakers, Outriggers, Kiteboarders, and open water swimming. Then we got really crazy and added a hoodie that outshines any other hoodie you can find anywhere and THEN added a water repelling slicker for those Hurricane conditions. We are out of control.

Check out our post here The Many Faces Of Surf-fur. You’ll get the idea.

Q: How is the Waterparka utilized? 
A: The Waterparka is an all-around protective utility garment that offers comfort, warmth and safety. Because the body loses heat 10 times faster in water than in air of the same temperature, prolonged periods in the water may produce long, slow cooling and undetected hypothermia, even in tropical water. PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) suggests that water sportsmen, especially divers, use protective garments to heat up before, in between, and after dives to insure that the body heat has been restored. Besides keeping warm and dry, the Waterparka can be used for changing, wrapping and storing wetsuits in the car, and wearing over a wetsuit to keep the car seats dry.

click here to see the Waterparka in action …in Palau!

Q: Is it necessary to wear the Waterparka in warmer areas? 

A: (The video above was taken in Palau during a warm day on a windy boat ride. We heard she was the only one warm.) Because water has a specific heat approximately 1000 times greater than that of air, and a thermal conductivity 24 times greater than that of air, the body loses heat much faster in water than in air of the same temperature.

Using a diver as an example; repeated dives over several days may produce long slow cooling and undetected hypothermia even in tropical water. At the end of a dive, PADI suggests a cold diver should overdo the re-warming until sweating occurs, which indicates that body heat has been restored. This is when the Waterparka would become a diver’s best friend. The diver could put it on immediately following a dive, change under it, reverse it then continue to wear the coat until they were completely re-warmed.

Q: How do I figure out my size for Surf-fur products? 
A: Whatever size you normally take in a wetsuit (or t-shirt) would be your size. All of our products are true to size. Here is a style breakdown:

Waterparkas: Go with wetsuit size. It is cut to go over other garments and give you room to change under. If you like things a little more “roomy”, go a size up (especially if you plan on wearing a dry suit and/or dive gear under it.) If you are an outrigger or swimmer, wearing less clothing during your sport, go down a size. You can also check out our sizing chart on our website.

SurfCheck Hoodie: Go with your t-shirt size. If you are inbetween sizes, go a size up only because this hoodie is designed to be snug to keep the heat in and the wind out. It is not as wide as the Waterparka.

Slicker: These do run a little small. If you are a true Large or whatever, stick with that size. If you are inbetween sizes, definitely go up a size. If you plan to wear this over thick gear or sweaters, go up a size.

Q: Can I embroider or screen print on Surf-fur products?
A: The Waterparka is embroideryable (is that a word?). However, when reversed, the embroidery will be noticeable from the other side. We suggest using a team patch or embroidering fabric and sewing it on the coat. Screen printing is an option and so is embroidery (which will make it non reversible) and patches are a good idea. If you are applying a iron on patch, please be careful to use a thick cotton cloth as a barrier between the iron and the fleece as the iron will melt the fleece. It is best to put the patch upside down on the hot iron and let it warm up then attach it to the garment. Put the cotton fabric over all then continue to iron it on medium to get it fully stuck. We have special instructions for screen printing on our fleeces, so please get in touch with us at Customerservice@Surf-fur.com

The hoodie is embroiderayable since it is not reversible. The slicker shouldn’t be embroidered at all.

Q: What color choices do you have? 
A: Surf-fur decided to go “color neutral” and stock black with gray interior for all of our products. We currently have black with grey available in all sizes in the Waterparkas. For the SurfCheck hoodie, we have black with cream interior and a special run of red with cream interior for the 2015 Fall collection.

Check back for new color offerings.  Periodically we do a special color run.

Q: Is the Water Parka machine washable? 
A: Yes, wash in cold water, no bleach, in the express cycle and hang dry. The more you wash it, the softer it becomes. The softer it becomes the more you need to wear it. …it’s a vicious cycle! Do not use fabric softener.

Q: What if the size I bought on your website doesn’t fit?
A:  Please email customerservice@surf-fur.com. Please include your order invoice and the size you would like to have.