Review Seaskin Nova drysuit

[Litefoot]

No D-ring in the large bellows. There are a couple of grommets holes at the top of each side of the pockets where you could tie or girth-hitch a bungee.

 

[SeaIRL]

I ordered the Seaskin short neck hood, which is supposed to be MTM. It is far too small. I’ll try to stretch it, but if that doesn’t work, I’ll offer it up to anyone here who wants it. What dry suit hoods (5mm) do you recommend? The K01 hoods look nice, but $$$$.

I did the same thing - ordered a Seaskin short neck 5mm hood because it is fairly cheap and probably good for summer cold water diving. TBD.

For my main cold water hood (typical ~46-48F waters in the PNW), I have a Waterproof H2 5/7mm w/bib. WP bibs are medium sized and fit easily under the standard neck Nova option. I had used a H1 7mm hood, but got a stiff neck from trying to turn my head in that less flexible neoprene. The H2 material is a little more flexible and thinner, but higher tech which produces more warm without as much bulk.

 

[SeaIRL]

Since this thread has become the de facto clearinghouse for dry suit related questions, I’d like to know how you secure your dry suit inflator hose in case case it pops off the inflator valve and flys off behind you (specifically for BP/W).

I wonder what others have experienced, but my 150g undergarment is really hard to get off. I wish they’d left another inch or so in the crotch area to facilitate this.

I just use the sliding LP hose lock provided on the end of the inflator hose. Never thought of needing to otherwise secure the hose than running the hose under my armpit and BC harness strap on its way to the inflator connector on the suit.

Everything (Nova, 150 250) fits me like it's properly tailored and not 80s rocker leathers Yeah, the lack of give from the material does require patience while pulling one sleeve down and off behind the back and not sweating in the process. Easy. LOL.

 

[SeaIRL]

Under your left arm and strap, then to the inflator. It won't go flying anywhere once on unless you're dicking with it for some reason.

The undergarments fit wonderfully. Full open zip and pull it on like the drysuit. Extra material in the butt to prevent pulling when reaching down, not much extra in length to prevent sloppy fit. That's my experience with both my 150 and 250.

While testing the fit of the 150 and 250, I joked with my wife the excess butt area provided was for people without p-valves and needing to use diapers.

 

[SeaIRL]

FWIW, I sent in my initial Nova order with the zippered pocket option. After more thought in the following month or so, I decided those appeared to be kind of square and bulky w/o option to lay them flatter. I began to worry about snagging the top of the box shaped zipper top on a wreck opening or such, or them getting in the way of sidemount/ccr configs.

My final order change swapped to the Large Bellow pockets. After receiving the suit, kind of wish I had ordered the Expedition pockets which are closer to the pockets used on the Waterpoof D7x Nylotech I've been diving lately.

As it stands, a Large Bellow pocket can hold a 6ft SMB + 150ft reel, so pretty good volume.

Ordering a custom suit remotely and never having the opportunity to touch beforehand definitely has an odd feeling to it.

 

[admikar]

While testing the fit of the 150 and 250, I joked with my wife the excess butt area provided was for people without p-valves and needing to use diapers.

Actually, you might be onto something here.

 

[Litefoot]

You are doing it wrong.
Any tool is to be clipped off, regardless of pockets you have.
That's one thing I am missing from my old Santi, pocket d-rings.

You are right. Me being an ex-tower climber should know better. I now have some bungee and double enders rigged into my large bellows pockets.

 

[SeaIRL]

I called UPS and got the Customs Declaration to see how I was charged. I only ordered the suit and an extra neck and wrist seals. I was charged 4% on the items and a flat brokerage fee of $12.00. A couple of things to consider; the exchange rate today is a bit worse than 3 months ago so that is going to affect the amount. Also, I would bet the broker has some sort of graduated schedule and you probably crept into a higher bracket or something.

Here is what I was told to do in chat with UPS:

Call UPS US brokerage billing department 1-866-493-7140 option # 5 Monday to Friday:8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET

I received the line item information from US Customs and things appear mostly as expected, though I don't quite understand the $21 Govt Exchange Rate fee. No biggie, just sharing...

 

[Badger7]

I received the line item information from US Customs and things appear mostly as expected, though I don't quite understand the $21 Govt Exchange Rate fee. No biggie, just sharing...

They line up on the same line, but I don't think the $21 is a fee for the exchange rate, I think that is a paper processing fee for "entering the data". The exchange rate is listed off to the left so they can take the price you paid in pounds, to convert everything to dollars, so they can compute the duties based on the purchase amount of the various items.

Regardless, I think we can all agree the duties process is kind of a crapshoot that will never make logical sense. You're charged a different rate on your 150 versus 250 undergarments, and a higher duty % on pocket sewn onto the suspenders than the suit itself? Thankfully, they apply the lowest duty % to the most expensive item, and that seems pretty consistent.

I should be getting my Nova in the next next week or two, I'll line my duty sheet up next to yours and we'll see who got slightly luckier in the duty % crapshoot.

 

[vioch]

BTW, for less than two years have already got 2 holes in the crotch area - abrasion of fabric in this area (see one hole on photo), because of crotch reinforcement option I guess.

Just for the record - one more hole in the crotch area