Frogman drysuit first impression

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Attention to details is great. The seams are glued, than taped like Ursuit, than they apply 2 layers of Aquasure over the entire tape. AFAIK, this is a unique technique. They look and feel very secure
View attachment 636372

Tech and Armor both have these type of seams. You can see the seams on the picture I posted.

Is your basis for that statement that you're looking at it and see glue over the tape? Or did they tell you the Tech seams are done the same as the Armor seams? Just curious on that. Clearly, your picture shows that the tape has glue over it.

Below are pictures of my Seaskin Nova. I was looking at it, comparing it to the pictures of the Frogman.

From what I can see, the Seaskin does not have glue over the internal tape. But, the tape also looks different. The Seaskin tape feels rubberized(?). Do you know something about their tape versus Frogman tape that suggests to you that Frogman tape plus Aquasure is better in some way than the tape Seaskin uses?

I also noticed that it seems all the Seaskin seams are double stitched. From your pictures, it looks like the Frogman seams are all single stitched. Do you think single stitching plus the layers of Aquasure results in a stronger seam or better seam than double stitching without the Aquasure? Just by looks I would think the Seaskin seam is less likely to rip open for any reason. But, maybe the Frogman layers of Aquasure make their seam less likely to leak?

I found 2 spots on my Seaskin that have the 4-way meeting of stitching that you talked about. One is on each side of the waist, where the front/back and top/bottom all intersects. I can see on the inside (didn't photo) that the inside has 2 layers of the tape over it. One going up/down and one going right/left. It is interesting that you said your Seaskin leaked there(?). I will have to keep an eye on that. I've had my Seaskin for almost 2 1/2 years now, but I checked my log and I only have 55 dives on it. So, no surprise that those spots still look good on my suit. 55 isn't very many dives.

They avoided a 4-way seam intersection in the crotch by using a gusset, so it has 4 x 3-way seam intersections instead. Speaking of, any idea why a 4-way seam intersection is more likely to be problematic than a 3-way? It seems like a reliable way to seal up a 3-way intersection would also work reliably for a 4-way.

Thanks for this thread and all the details. I think it's really cool to learn more about the details of these suits and how they compare. Especially for more affordable options. I meet a lot of divers who only dive part of the year because they live where the water is too cold and they feel like a drysuit is too expensive. Being able to share info on high quality suits that are also much more affordable than most people think is great! It gets more people diving more often.

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My Seaskin Nova was about USD$1100. But, I got some options you didn't get on the Frogman or were more expensive - e.g. a Trigon pee valve, and Kubi rings. If I discount those things, to make it more of an apples-to-apples comparison, the Seaskin cost would be more like USD$1000. That is compared to USD$1600 for the Frogman Tech, as you configured it.

You have both now. If one of your suits were lost tomorrow and you ordered a replacement, would you spend the extra $600 again, for another Frogman? Or would you buy another Seaskin?
 
They should choose fabric suppliers more carefully...

The company is rather young and their product has a lot of "childhood diseases"
Hope they will improve in future

I can't tell anything from looking at that FB post. Well, except that apparently that suit is 1 year old and the poster is implying that whoever made it has stated that the condition of the suit is normal and so (I gather) not to be repaired under a warranty claim.

Are you suggesting that those pictures are of a Frogman suit? The suit shown does not look anything like the suit Vlad posted pictures of.
 
Okay, translating a few more of the comments from Russian, I guess it's a Frogman Lady's suit? It is leaking badly?

And the second main comment is from a guy that says that "sealing with thermal tape is evil and for divers suits is basically unacceptable, I've been writing for years. But mice keep eating cactus."

Interesting. I wonder what is bad about sealing with thermal tape.
 
Are you suggesting that those pictures are of a Frogman suit? The suit shown does not look anything like the suit Vlad posted pictures of.
Yes this is Frogrman - the fabric started to split apart but manufacturer refused to do anything under warranty as they claimed it to be still waterproof
 
I've seen this post before getting my suit. This a cheaper version (you can see from the tape). I don't like the thermal tape seams too. Have seen multiple Ursuits with tape falling apart, on almost new suits. I've seen partial trilam delamination before with some suits too, pretty random, it seems to me. I guess all suits have issues. There are few of Frogman suits that made rounds on Russian internet segment. Happens.
 
Is your basis for that statement that you're looking at it and see glue over the tape? Or did they tell you the Tech seams are done the same as the Armor seams? Just curious on that. Clearly, your picture shows that the tape has glue over it.

Below are pictures of my Seaskin Nova. I was looking at it, comparing it to the pictures of the Frogman.

From what I can see, the Seaskin does not have glue over the internal tape. But, the tape also looks different. The Seaskin tape feels rubberized(?). Do you know something about their tape versus Frogman tape that suggests to you that Frogman tape plus Aquasure is better in some way than the tape Seaskin uses?

I also noticed that it seems all the Seaskin seams are double stitched. From your pictures, it looks like the Frogman seams are all single stitched. Do you think single stitching plus the layers of Aquasure results in a stronger seam or better seam than double stitching without the Aquasure? Just by looks I would think the Seaskin seam is less likely to rip open for any reason. But, maybe the Frogman layers of Aquasure make their seam less likely to leak?

I found 2 spots on my Seaskin that have the 4-way meeting of stitching that you talked about. One is on each side of the waist, where the front/back and top/bottom all intersects. I can see on the inside (didn't photo) that the inside has 2 layers of the tape over it. One going up/down and one going right/left. It is interesting that you said your Seaskin leaked there(?). I will have to keep an eye on that. I've had my Seaskin for almost 2 1/2 years now, but I checked my log and I only have 55 dives on it. So, no surprise that those spots still look good on my suit. 55 isn't very many dives.

They avoided a 4-way seam intersection in the crotch by using a gusset, so it has 4 x 3-way seam intersections instead. Speaking of, any idea why a 4-way seam intersection is more likely to be problematic than a 3-way? It seems like a reliable way to seal up a 3-way intersection would also work reliably for a 4-way.

Thanks for this thread and all the details. I think it's really cool to learn more about the details of these suits and how they compare. Especially for more affordable options. I meet a lot of divers who only dive part of the year because they live where the water is too cold and they feel like a drysuit is too expensive. Being able to share info on high quality suits that are also much more affordable than most people think is great! It gets more people diving more often.

View attachment 647106

View attachment 647107

Yes, they told me Tech had the same seams. The spot near the waist is where I had a small leak. Also some seam under left arm. Nothing crazy, I don't consider something like this a problem with the suit
 

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