Kunzmann catsuit review

Like most fetishists, I'm a sucker for EBay. Whenever I'm bored or have time to kill, fire off a couple of choice searches like "latex catsuit" or "lycra unitard" and you've got an hour of entertainment. Of course it also gets expensive!

I've found some great deals on EBay, and I think I've purchased about half my gear that way. Its always nice to feel like you're getting a bargain. House of Whacks often sells items on there (tends to go in spurts) with a reserve price of maybe 50-60% of their retail pricing, quite a deal and good quality stuff.


There's one vendor I've been curious about ever since I stumbled across their site on the internet - Kunzmann rubberwear out of Germany. Germans have a real knack and love for rubber (not sure why...) and Kunzmann seems to be one of the most profilic and creative vendors I've found in any country. They've got literally hundreds of items, it takes a good two hours just to go through their website.


Anyway, I've always been curious, but a bit reluctant to order from them; their website is a bit clunky and its not 100% translated into English, and my German is of the "Ein mas, bitte" variety. So when they started listing some items for auction, I decided to give it a try.


They seem to list just a smattering of their standard catalog items, at a slight discount, with Ebay listings that are a polyglot of German, English, and so on. The prices are not a huge discount off their website, but ordering is a bit more straightforward (paypal rules!). The "Buy it now" price is maybe 10-15% off retail, the reserve price isn't too much lower.


The particular item which caught my eye was a full-coverage suit that was available in green, black, or transparent latex. It had an attached hood with shoulder zips that go up and over the head, which is a somewhat unusual and cool look. The only other place I have seen that is the suit from StudioStrak in Australia. It was also a slightly heavier gauge of rubber than some of their items, which I like. The item also had attached gloves and feet, so it was to be my first FULL full coverage suit, which seemed like fun.


Once I won the auction (I always win!) it was time to place my specific order with them. They have an english-speaking email contact, which was nice. Figuring out the sizing table was a bit of a nightmare, however. It appears to be one of the few things on their website that is NOT translated into english. And the diagrams are not terribly helpful. Check it out and you will see what I mean..

Black full suit with hood from Kunzmann
(mask is not visible due to costume mask over the top, sorry!)


After careful examination, I had figured out how to translate the German sizes (4,5, 6, etc.) to our more familiar S, M, L, XL. Since I wanted a tight fitting suit, I started with what the website listed as the proper fit for my size, and then went down TWO sizes. I did this because on their website, I noticed that most of the models / suits appeared very loose-fitting, at least relative to my taste. I figured this meant the store owners so of prefer that type of fit, so the items are probably on the loose size. The german sizes also have a bit more steps, so it wasn't as if I went from L to S here, but two numerical steps. Since it was a shoulder-zip entry, I figured it would work out OK. I selected black, as well, since the green was semi-trans, and I was looking for a real encased look/feel for this.

I got the suit delivered in about 3-4 weeks--not bad. I anxiously unpacked the bundle and the suit flowed out onto the bed. On first look, it seemed pretty good. The black latex used seemed pretty much standard 4D variety, as best I could tell. One side smooth, one side rougher. An odd thing jumped out at me right away, wherever there was a suit zipper (shoulders, crotch) the zipper was both glued AND stitched into the suit with thread. First time I have seen that. I can see how it gives some strength advantage, although I have never had a zipper pull loose from a suit before.

The attached mask was nicely formed, with reinforced rings around the eyes and mouth, and two small nose holes. The hood fits the face reasonably well, which is tricky with off-the-rack stuff. The glued seams are about a half inch throughout the suit, a bit smaller in the hood. All the zips had generously-size zip protectors inside. The zippers themselves weren't the standard YKK you see on most suits, but they seemed equivalent in every way (plastic with metal runners). Everything seemed sturdy and ready for play!

Before I tried the suit on, I immediately noticed - no gloves! The Ebay listing definitely appeared to have attached gloves, but the suit I received did not. Not a huge deal, but the whole endeavor was to get a total enclosure suit, it was a bit of a let-down. When I tried the suit on, the first thing I noticed were that the attached feet were massive! Way too big for my feet. I wear size 10 US shoes, which seems pretty average. Based on this suit, Germany is a country of Sasquatch! These suckers are at least US 12 or 13. Maybe they mean for you to wear shoes inside the suit?

The overall fit of the suit was still a bit on the loose side for me, even after going down a couple sizes. I expected the opposite to be true. The shoulder zips go well down the sleeves and were easy to pull up unassisted. The over-the-head hood took a bit of experimentation, but went on easily as well, and was a nice feeling. Like the rest of the suit, the hood felt a bit loose, which for me took away a bit from the feeling I was after with a full suit. Another gripe, the wrist seals at the end of the arms (where the gloves should be, grumble..) were a bit loose themselves, which gave the feel of a slight "cuff" to the arms. Generally I like a rubber suit to have tighter wrists to give more of a wetsuit feel.

The crotch zip (don't leave home without it!) worked well; two zipper runners, front and back. Four would have been nice, but two will suffice.

After an email exchange with the english-language mailbox, they offered to send the gloves over in a separate parcel, and they did so in a timely manner. Its not quite as nice as actually having the attached gloves as depicted (or maybe I mis-translated, hard to say for sure), but it was nice they made the effort. If I had a home rubber gluing machine I could make the suit whole, but for now I'll have to settle for the detached gloves. The gloves were very nice, for what its worth, molded but much nicer than the typical cheap molded gloves.

Overall rating, not too bad. A nice diversion, but not likely to take its place among my favorite gear. I wish I had gone yet ANOTHER size smaller to see what a real snug fit would have been. Any fears about the workmanship of Kunzmann were put to rest, but concerns about sizing and fit were reinforced. I would not hesitate to order from them again, armed with the knowledge that I need to order significantly smaller than advertised. They have some very creative designs that I have never seen at another vendor, and after years of browsing rubber vendor sites with nearly identical offerings, its nice to know those kinky Germans are hard at work on some bizarre gear..