Colby Plus 130 Los Aguajes Avenue, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

"I liked the idea of these wetsuits and brand. I wanted to like them. But... Fit is horrible. XL is tight in shoulder but loose everywhere else. In addition, they have this weird seam that basically is like a boa constrictor on your shoulder. I have never seen a seam placed there probably for that reason. Finally, the top layers separated after just a few uses."

"I’m pretty happy with my purchase, similar quality to other wetsuits I’ve tried from the big name brands but at a lower price point. Where need really excels in my opinion is customer service. I had an issue with the tape on a suit that was about 4 months old and the guys took care of it, no questions asked. Had my suit back in 3 days, thanks James!"

"Just got the 4/3 thermal chest zip and it felt great until I got to stomach deep and almost every inch of seam leaked! Never felt anything like it. Customer service is of now hell told me it’s not a dry suit! I’ve had two year old suits that never lean like that. The neck seal is bad too has a gap at the back of the neck floods even more water. Shame to because they got legit zippers and overall decent rubber. Get a Vissla instead even better rubber and seams that work out the box!"

"I met a guy in the water on Tuesday as I was freezing with my old O'Neil Psycho Tech and hettold me about this company that made top quality wetsuits for way less and he was totally warm. I looked them up that afternoon. I ordered a Hooded 4/3 premium on Wednesday and I received Friday afternoon along with 4 mm boots. Saturday morning I was telling some other guy who was cold about this incredible suit that fits better and was warmer than the O'neil I had enjoyed, but it was $200 cheaper. Very good quality and construction and fit. The shopping experience was easy, the delivery time was ridiculously fast and I am now a Need Essentials fan. I saw a review below from someone that doing a return was hard, but I would not let that stop you. The sizing seems to match O'neil's sizing, so if you are concerned about fit, go to a shop and try on some O'Neil suits and get the size that works."

"I bought a L 4/3 wetsuit with a XL hoodie and absolutely love the suit. The hoodie ended up being too big and I was worried about returning it after reading one review that had trouble. I reached out through email and the owner quickly responded explaining that customer was being unreasonable and it was during the beginning of the lockdown. He instructed me on how to return it and I now have my replacement on the way. Ignore the bad review because these suits are awesome and the return process was smooth"