Review Seaskin Nova drysuit

[jiggly]

Ordered a whole set (undergarments, suit, gloves, hood) and got hit with the duty bill today. $101.66, order total was ~$1000 (1100 with shipping). The undersuit is what killed me, taxed at 28% for a total of $49. Another $10 for the base layer top+bottom and the rest was the suit at 4% (got the ultra if that matters).

I'm not sure splitting orders to get under $800 to avoid duties would help in most cases as the shipping is so freaking expensive, would probably come out behind.

 

[great_white]

Well, thanks to this thread, I am officially joining the Seaskin club.
Just got the order confirmation for my Nova with January 14 as proposed dispatch date.
The cost of the suit pretty much fully loaded, along with 250g Undies, 150g Shorty, 150g Thinsulate Knee high Socks, tech base top and bottom, Kubi Gloves, merino Kubi glove liners, spare neck seal, wet notes book, catheters etc was just under $2500 CAD shipped.
Will have to see what the import charges will be upon arrival.

Suit build major components are as follows:
- Telescopic
- Allowance for Thick Undergarment
- Plastic Zip w Cover
- Quick Neck
- Standard Warm Neck
- Trigon P
- Sitech Valves
- DIR valve option
- Kubi Dry Glove system
- Tech Boots
- Kevlar Knees + All PU reinforcement pads
- Expedition Pockets both sides
- 40mm Braces

Now I patiently wait...

 

[elZub]

from those pics

I see trilobite pouch stitched on the reflective patch, does it for real?

Finally remembered to get a couple pics today..
View attachment 561055 View attachment 561056

 

[admikar]

For the people that already have the suit, should I order zip cover? Heard that zip cover doesn't go all the way back and makes doning/doffing somewhat hard. Photos would be nice too.
Thanks.

 

[stuartv]

I have the zip cover and it does go far enough to allow me to open the waterproof zipper all the way.

 

[ferdv]

For the people that already have the suit, should I order zip cover? Heard that zip cover doesn't go all the way back and makes doning/doffing somewhat hard. Photos would be nice too.
Thanks.

I have a zip cover and yes, even when fully open, it does cover a bit of the dry zipper underneath. There's maybe about 2cm / less than an inch of the zipper hidden at the shoulder. However, I personally don't find it makes donning and doffing hard for me - fully open, it still gives me enough room to get out of my suit.

(I might take a photo or two once I find my damn phone...)

 

[admikar]

Last question before ordering: Trigon or Tinkle P-valve?
Only thing that slightly concerns me is that Trigon is only one check valve to prevent leakage to suit side from the outside. Tinkle can be closed off completely. Am I worrying too much?

 

[mwerle]

For the people that already have the suit, should I order zip cover? Heard that zip cover doesn't go all the way back and makes doning/doffing somewhat hard. Photos would be nice too.
Thanks.

Zip cover is definitely a plus and doesn't impact donning/doffing. In retrospect, I would have ordered a plastic main zip instead of the metal one. Apparently you can always "upgrade" from plastic to metal if you change your mind, but not the other way around.

Just had my drysuit in for servicing (I wanted to have some changes made) - replaced integrated boots with socks, replaced main zip (my fault, don't walk around with the suit unzipped when it's warm above water as it places strain on the bottom part of the zipper), and added a "warm neck" mostly to protect the plastic neck ring from my sidemount harness (I found the various clips and bits tended to get snagged on the neck ring).

Seaskin did an awesome job and turned around the work for me in under 2 weeks, which is all the time I had while I was back in the UK. Excellent customer service there, shout-out to Peter and the rest of the team.

 

[lexvil]

Last question before ordering: Trigon or Tinkle P-valve?
Only thing that slightly concerns me is that Trigon is only one check valve to prevent leakage to suit side from the outside. Tinkle can be closed off completely. Am I worrying too much?

Over thinking, both are good but I prefer the trigon as it’s pretty trouble free so long as you don’t over pressurize it when rinsing.

 

[stuartv]

Last question before ordering: Trigon or Tinkle P-valve?
Only thing that slightly concerns me is that Trigon is only one check valve to prevent leakage to suit side from the outside. Tinkle can be closed off completely. Am I worrying too much?

I have Trigons on both my drysuits and would put one on my next suit.

The Trigon has 2 check valves. One keeps water from outside coming into the body of the pee valve. If that one failed, water could come in, run through the pee tube and come out the end of the pee tube. If you're plumbed in, that's not really a concern. I use a dry break female QD on the end of my pee tube, so if I'm not plumbed in, nothing in that line will leak out into the suit.

The other check valve is what allows air in the suit to equalize into the body of the pee valve. If it fails, urine in the pee valve body would leak into your suit.

For outside water to get into the suit, both would have to fail (or come out the end of the pee tube).

Or, of course, water could come into the suit by going around the pee valve. But, that is true for any pee valve.