“Easy” and “necessary” rarely align. 14 years ago, we looked at our wetsuits and pledged to make them without neoprene—the universal and most harmful ingredient, at the time. We teamed up with Yulex, and after four-and-a-half years of R&D, in 2012, we released our first neoprene-free weed-based wetsuit. We also shared Yulex® biorubber with the wetsuit industry at large, hoping it would spread beyond Patagonia into the wetsuits of every major player in surf. At first, adoption of the material was slow. But within the last three years, we’ve seen Yulex® natural rubber* make its way into the wetsuits of @Billabong_europe, @needessentials, @Oxbow, @Finisterre, @SRFACE and more—because finding less harmful ways to make the products we need, to do the things we love, is more important now than ever before. Let’s get together and wean off ’prene. We don’t care who makes your Yulex® wetsuit—if you’re not wearing neoprene, we’re thankful. Learn more about Yulex® wetsuits through the link in bio. ⁠ Photos: @nathanoldfield @sa_rips