Wet Suit

You'll get hundreds of different opinions on this. The recurring theme is that fit is most important. The second recurring theme is that the wetsuit provides some buoyancy, the more wetsuit you have the more buoyancy (less drag...more speed), go full sleeved. Those that argue against this will likely say the sleeves restrict motion. My suggestion is to wander around the internet, determine your budget, and look for coupon codes (Xterra) or other discounts. There are tons of threads on here but basically all boils down to fit and opinion. If there were one particular brand that was definitively better than than the rest then everyone would be using that brand and that is not the case. You'll probably easily count 6-8 different brands at any given race. I'm currently looking myself and recently came across a discussion on the other site where people were raving about the DeSoto T1 which is a 2 piece suit. I don't recall hearing too much about it on this site and I'm not sure why. The 2 piece provides better fitting options so that may be something to look into. My concern is getting the top off in transition, there must be a technique.

^ec said it right. Fit and opinion, definitely. However, I will chime in that I am a smaller guy and I really like the TYR Hurricane line. Others that I've tried choke me. Plus, TYR just released a new version of the Hurricane, which means you can score the older models for really great deals or pick up the newer design and make your gearhead buddies jealous (: