Buy or rent?

I rented for my first one.  It's a big purchase so I wanted to see what this OW Swim thing was like before I decided on going full steam with tris.   I did the race and felt much better for having it - would recommend it if you're at all nervous and it's wetsuit legal.  I am a new swimmer so the extra buoyancy is a big deal.

I wasn't good in the swim but i decided i would go buy a suit after that. I tried on one but i have to go back and try some different brands.  It's a bit of a quick decision for me but I have two things that sway me in the direction of buying: 
1. the buoyancy - i am hoping that by having one I can get lots of OW practice and i'll get over my nerves 
2. my boyfriend is an iron distance triathlete so i am in good shape to continue and have lots of support at home for spending the $.  He likes that i want to tri.

For you, its up to you. I would rent first to see if you like/need it. maybe you aren't a nervous nelly like me. Or you might even live in an area where lots of races won't be wetsuit legal so there isn't a point if you won't be able to use it in many races. 

Best of luck getting ready for that tri!!!  

where do you live?  there will be no wetsuit legal races here in VA come the middle of july...check race reports and see if your tris usually have wetsuits allowed!  (of course this changes year to year but you can get a good idea if you need to drop the money this summer at all)

I am in the exact same boat and was looking at wetsuits online today. I am doing 2 tri's, one where they are not legal and one where wetsuits are recommended (water temp low 70's). Because of that I am thinking of renting for the second tri and then make a decision on buying later.

I went with the buying it option before my first tri. I did my homework though and tried on and found a great entry level suit for me for $200 dollors at my LTS. Loving it so far and can never quite wait to get in the water again once done with a swim in it. couple of things that influenced my decision...it is almost always colder water here even in mid summer so never have a non legal race and two I love to swim and play anyway and so this just makes me able to do it for longer and more efficiently even if I was not going to keep trying (but I am)I would think you would be fine renting though and then buying if you loved it

neosport suits on ebay as low as $89 bucks to buy, i use a neosport sleeveless for most training and races and it works well.

Good luck!!!

I live in The Great Northwest.  From what I can tell it is wetsuits almost year round.

yep, wetsuit legal all the time. . i have an old suit that i would sell for cheap - i am 5'5ish and 145, it would probably fit someone up to 5'7 and 155-160, if you fit those dimensions.  PM me if interested.

Rent one from this place...


http://speedforrent.com/


The owner is a friend and BTer.  She'll help answer your questions.

x2 for Neosport sleeveless. Works fine and hard to beat the price!

I also went with the option to purchase a wetsuit before my first tri (I'm new this year), and am really happy I did.  I hadn't planned on purchasing one, and had not done much research prior to the purchase.  I was planning to rent a suit for several events this summer (3 tris, 1 open water swim race, and some open water training), but I was able to get purchase an entry level suit for less than the total cost of those rentals would have been. 

One of the biggest benefits for me in having purchased the suit, is that I have a lot of time to get comfortable in it.  The first couple of times that I used it, it felt really uncomfortable.  I would hate to think that I'd have to adjust to a new wetsuit with each tri.  And I've been able to use it for training on some OWS, which has increased my confidence in the swim.  And since I live in Portland, I can use the wetsuit year round which is great.

6'1" ond 205.  Thank you though.