Waterproof W1 5mm fullsuit, 1st impressions

[scubafanatic]

Well, finally bit the bullet and picket up a new (Thanks Scubatoys!) Waterproof W1 5mm Men's 'medium' full suit, just tried it on for fit this morning, and it seems very promising!

I've had a good experience with Waterproof having bought a 7mm fullsuit Aries in 2008, and wanting to 'upgrade' my 5 mm Pinnacle fullsuit that's maybe 5 yrs old, I chose to try the new 5mm Waterproof W1 suit to improve my 5mm selections. I've got nothing against Pinnacle, but the W1 is front zip entry, and has both wrist and ankle zipper seals, which are all features my 'old' Pinnacle doesn't have. (I've never been a fan of back-zip wetsuits, but for some mysterious reason front zip wetsuits seem to be a rarity, which makes no sense to me!)

I'm planning to pool dive it in a couple of weeks or so, thus I can't speak to that real world experience just yet, but the abundance of zippers, and the convienient front zip entry make it easy to don/doff, and the amount of sweat I generated just wearing in the house for 10 min indicates it will be plenty warm for the temp range intended.

I will likely in the not too distant future add a 7mm W1 to the fleet, mainly for the superior front zip entry the W1 offers versus my Aries.

I'll admit I didn't bother to do an incredible amount of research on this purchase, didn't feel it necessary, given my prior experience with Waterproof wetsuits, and quality/intelligent design are more important than pure lowest price...if you're curious, it ran me $ 387 @ Scubatoys. (and was in stock)

Karl

 

[AandFDakota2001]

Hey karl,

How's the WaterproofW1 working for you? What do you think of the fit in comparison to your old Pinnacle? What Pinnacle suit did you have?

Justin

 

[scubafanatic]

Hey karl,

How's the WaterproofW1 working for you? What do you think of the fit in comparison to your old Pinnacle? What Pinnacle suit did you have?

Justin

Hi Justin,

I've only tried on the suit for fit, not actually dove it yet, plan to test dive it in a training pool in a couple weeks or so. My 'old' (which I still have) Pinnacle is a 'Fusion' 5/4mm fullsuit (one piece). The Pinnacle seems a little bit tighter fitting than the W1 in the elbow areas, not baggy, just a bit more room in the W1, otherwise pretty similiar. The Fusion is a 5/4 mm, the W1 is 5mm all over. The W1 is a lot easier to doff/don as it has wrist and ankle zippers (the Fusion doesn't) and the W1 is front zip entry (versus the back entry Fusion). Both suits have a cushy inner lining. The W1 is more modern/stylish looking, but that's to be expected, as the Fusion is approx 5 yrs old. It's possible Pinnacle has new suits that are improved over my 'old' Fusion, however, I just took a quick look at the Pinnacle WWW site, and skimming through all their 5 mm suits, none of them offer BOTH wrist AND ankle zippers...some only offer ankle zippers, and some don't offer any zippers at all on either wrists or ankles. Additionally it appears Pinnacle still only has back entry zippers, and I wanted front entry zippers.

http://www.waterproof-usa.com/pdf/W1-DATASHEET.pdf

Karl

 

[scubafanatic]

OK kids, had my new wetsuit in the pool today....about 3 hrs bottom time....12' max depth...it was an indoor local university fresh water pool......and so far everything worked out great with the wetsuit! Very easy/quick to don/doff, with zippers on both wrists and ankles, as well as a front entry zipper. Computer said pool was 76 degrees, didn't wear any head protection or gloves, just wetsuit, full booties, dive socks.....just lay/sat on the bottom, hovering or orbiting the deep end, so exerting very little energy or calories moving. Wetsuit was plenty warm, but not too much such that I never felt I was too warm...dove an AL80, 12 lbs soft lead, and didn't feel too floaty as in able to maintain depth, no problem, even with an essentially empty tank. I was probably a little overweighted, but close enough, plus I was in fresh water and would need a bit more weight in salt water anyway, so felt pretty good !

 

[beachnik]

OK kids, had my new wetsuit in the pool today.... Very easy/quick to don/doff, with zippers on both wrists and ankles, as well as a front entry zipper.

scubafanatic...
I'd like to hear your comments about the front zip now that you've been in the water with this suit:

• Does it feel awkward or less comfortable as compared to rear zip?
• Do you suspect that you'd get more water intrusion if you were finning through the water (as compared to rear zip)?

 

[scubafanatic]

scubafanatic...
I'd like to hear your comments about the front zip now that you've been in the water with this suit:

• Does it feel awkward or less comfortable as compared to rear zip?
• Do you suspect that you'd get more water intrusion if you were finning through the water (as compared to rear zip)?

Hello,

I MUCH prefer the front entry zipper, I really don't like rear entry zippers, I get annoyed at the way the rear zipper always seems to catch/snag on something as I'm pulling the zipper up to close the suit.....and I hate the way the rear entry zippers, when they catch on something, all too often end up tearing chunks of neoprene out of the soft inner lining of the neoprene...arrgghh !!! With a front entry zipper, no more 'blind' pulling up the zipper, and I can avoid any jams/snags.

I don't feel there is any difference in the amount of water entry front versus rear zipper, so that's not really a factor.

Karl

 

[rickmichaelson]

scubafanatic-

How does the W1 5mm compare with your 7mm Aries in terms of fit, sizing, comfort, ease of donning/doffing, warmth, etc.?

Thanks!
Rick

 

[keithdiver]

Hello,

I MUCH prefer the front entry zipper, I really don't like rear entry zippers, I get annoyed at the way the rear zipper always seems to catch/snag on something as I'm pulling the zipper up to close the suit.....and I hate the way the rear entry zippers, when they catch on something, all too often end up tearing chunks of neoprene out of the soft inner lining of the neoprene...arrgghh !!! With a front entry zipper, no more 'blind' pulling up the zipper, and I can avoid any jams/snags.

I don't feel there is any difference in the amount of water entry front versus rear zipper, so that's not really a factor.

Karl

Karl, i have last years waterproof suit the Aries, what a great fitVery warm and lets in a little water, just to get between you and the suit. I dive mine in Mass. water, which is about 52degrees, let me know how it dives, keith

 

[InTheDrink]

Well, finally bit the bullet and picket up a new (Thanks Scubatoys!) Waterproof W1 5mm Men's 'medium' full suit, just tried it on for fit this morning, and it seems very promising!

I've had a good experience with Waterproof having bought a 7mm fullsuit Aries in 2008, and wanting to 'upgrade' my 5 mm Pinnacle fullsuit that's maybe 5 yrs old, I chose to try the new 5mm Waterproof W1 suit to improve my 5mm selections. I've got nothing against Pinnacle, but the W1 is front zip entry, and has both wrist and ankle zipper seals, which are all features my 'old' Pinnacle doesn't have. (I've never been a fan of back-zip wetsuits, but for some mysterious reason front zip wetsuits seem to be a rarity, which makes no sense to me!)

I'm planning to pool dive it in a couple of weeks or so, thus I can't speak to that real world experience just yet, but the abundance of zippers, and the convienient front zip entry make it easy to don/doff, and the amount of sweat I generated just wearing in the house for 10 min indicates it will be plenty warm for the temp range intended.

I will likely in the not too distant future add a 7mm W1 to the fleet, mainly for the superior front zip entry the W1 offers versus my Aries.

I'll admit I didn't bother to do an incredible amount of research on this purchase, didn't feel it necessary, given my prior experience with Waterproof wetsuits, and quality/intelligent design are more important than pure lowest price...if you're curious, it ran me $ 387 @ Scubatoys. (and was in stock)

Karl

A big wow as I'm looking to order this suit on Monday. My key concern is fit.

I usually go with a medium. I'm 5'9 or 5'10 on a good day and 165lbs. Medium is usually fine for me. But sizes vary with manufacturers - any thoughts on this?

Thanks,
John

 

[InTheDrink]

Sorry to hijack even further but...

How easy are the wrists and ankles to get on and off? Whilst I like seals, the thing I dislike most about diving is wrestling to get into or out of a suit. Last trip I went on I literally started kitting up 30 mins before everyone else because the suit was so tight and hard to get into.

The other thing is my mixed diving. It currently ranges from 17-30C. Do you think this suit works for that range? I appreciate at the 30C it's probably a little excessive but I'm more concerned about the lower range. Any colder than 16C and I'll be diving dry anyhow.

Thanks again and apologies for the hijack - your post was just very well timed for me.

J