Question for fellow Fusion drysuit owners

[Aqua-Andy]

I was playing with the idea of purchasing a sport skin for my Fusion. When I first purchased the suit I had the Bullet skin and it came with a free Tech skin, so I figured I would try the Tech skin and after one dive with it I figured I would never go back to the Bullet, the Tech skin just felt that much more flexible and comfortable. So for my question, is there much difference in flexibility from the Tech to the Sport skin? From reading most of the reviews when the suit was still in it's infancy there seam to be no reports of anyone damaging the suit using the sport skin but many people (that did not own the suit) were complaining how the suit would not be durable enough for rough use. Now this begs the question of why Whites produced heaver duty skins, was it because they were needed or because the customers perceived the Sport skin to be fragile and Whites felt they were loosing sales and they thought if the consumer want's a more rugged skin we will give it to them. This reminds me of when Fiskars brought there popular 28" handle splitting ax to the US, this tool was a work of art the ergonomics were perfect and it worked great. Well the Americans were used to having a longer handle on a mall or ax an no one was buying the tool. Fiskars figured they would give us what we wanted and came out with a 36" handle version, the feel and ergonomics were not the same and it doesn't feel right but they sell tons of them. So am I risking the durability of my suit by switching to the Sport skin or is it a non issue?

 

[randy88k5]

I have been thinking about the same thing. I borrowed a Fusion with a Sport skin a few years back while my old drysuit was in the shop getting a neck seal replaced. I liked the suit so much, I waited until I found a good deal on one, and I bought it. It came with the Bullet skin. Now, the skin is noticeably heavier, and has been an issue when traveling. I have been thinking about buying a Sport skin for travel purposes. The few times I used the Sport skin, I did not feel it was too fragile.

 

[Potapko]

I never found the sport skin to be fragile, rather it was not possible to mount pockets on it because it is so light. I bought the tech skin immediately after buying the suit because I wanted the pockets. I have the original sport skin I would be willing to trade for the bullet skin.

Size is a L/XL, used for about 20 dives.

I also would not say there is a big difference in flexibility between the two. ymmv

 

[TSandM]

I think the Sport and Tech are very similar, although I've never gone from one to the other in rapid sequence to be sure. The Bullet is very different.

The Sport skin is quite enough to protect the undersuit, except if you are crawling around on your knees on limestone (something I have to do a bit of here in MX). It won't support pockets, and some folks don't like X-shorts, so the Tech skin is the solution to that. The Bullet skin, I think, is a response to people who simply don't believe the oversuit/undersuit system is as damage-resistant as it is. I've said it before -- my first Fusion, which had only the Sport skin, had about 450 dives on it when the zipper went. I had had three leaks -- one I did when I put the p-valve in, one was a huge rent in the suit which occurred when I fell off a dive boat in Florida (and I defy ANY suit to have survived that incident intact) and only one was the typical, "I don't know how this happened," kind of dry suit leak. That's not a bad track record. My Mobby's didn't do that well, and NO DUI suit in my circle of friends has done that well.

 

[cdemith]

I did my drysuit cert in a Fusion with the Sport skin. I only had two dives on it. I just bought a Fusion with the Bullet skin. I now have a whopping 5 dives on it. While I notice the weight difference, I do not feel too much of a flexibility difference. I will say that I am MUCH more confident that the Bullet will survive a lot longer than the Sport. I know that the shell is better protected too. For the minor weight dif, I'll keep the Bullet.

The pockets are a big plus too.

The only downisde is the drying time. Simple solution, stay wet!

 

[altaskier]

I bought a Fusion Bullet with a Sport skin thrown in for free. At first I used the Bullet for all my dives because I felt it would be more durable. However, I swapped it out for the Sport skin the first time I look my suit traveling (in my checked luggage on a flight), and I have not swapped back to the Bullet skin since. The Sport skin dries out a lot more quickly and it doesn't sag down around my legs when walking around after a dive; in the water I agree with cdesmith that there is not so great a difference. I suppose if I did wreck penetration or cave diving I'd worry a bit more about the tougher outer skin, but for what I do (Lake Michigan wreck exteriors, Haigh quarry, Bonne Terre mine, boat and shore dives in Monterey) I feel the Sport skin is quite good. I have about 30 dives on the Sport skin and don't see any wear as of yet.

I suppose if I were doing it all over again I'd look at the Tech skin, but I'm happy with the Sport skin for my diving.

 

[fdog]

I had one of the first Fusions made. I put maybe 150 dives on the Sport skin (because that's all that was made at the time). Then, when the Tech skin was released, I switched to it, because I could add pockets.

I felt the difference between the Sport and Tech skins immediately. When I travel to the tropics, I switch back to the Sport skin because it's so much lighter, dries out seemingly instantly, and is way more flexible.

The Bullet came about because a portion of the market simply didn't believe the Fusion could really be as durable as it is, so, the Bullet certainly has that appearance. The Bullet's cost is a lot of what makes the Fusion so great, in my humble opinion - the amazing flexibility - and the best skin, for all-around use, seems to be the Tech skin.


All the best, James