2 Questions from UK :)

[dpye]

Hi all,

My first post to this board and my first Q, is this board frequented by many Brits?

I have been diving for 18 mths, recently getting into the cold murky UK waters. Now want to buy a dry suit. I would appreciate suggestions of suits to look at in the region of 500-700 UKP. I would prefer trilaminated over neoprene and seem to fit into off the peg sizes. I have done my drysuit course (2002) and have about 8-10 drysuit dives since. I always look for and am prepared to pay a little more for quality hence the price range - oh and the prices in the UK seem to be a lot higher than in the US.

Many thanks for your suggestions.

David

 

[nickjb]

There are a few brits here.

For UK specific stuff I tend to go to forums at divernet, yorkshiredivers, bsac and uk.rec.scuba. This board is usually a nice friendly place, though.

You will find a lot of stuff about suits at divernet.

I've got an Otter. They seem like a decent company but I've only done a couple of dives in it since buying it second hand so I can't really comment yet. Before that I had a Protec Alpha which was pretty good. There are some great second hand deals in the UK if you get lucky and find the right size.

I think drysuits are usually much more expensive in the US.

 

[rdbark]

Yep, another Brit here. I've found this board quite active in comparison to some in the UK.

I'd agree Yorkshire Diver is good and I'm registered on there too. You might also like to check out BSAC Dive Magazine for August, it has a review of Dry Suits, but only a limitied number.

You could probably read through them in the shop , or it's only £3.20 to buy. I think it was one of the Northern Diver suits that came out joint top.

 

[nickjb]

rdbark once bubbled...
I think it was one of the Northern Diver suits that came out joint top.

... along with the Otter

 

[Conor]

Not a brit (Irish) but live in England.

I'm in a similar situation, although I haven't done the course yet, I am doing a bit of looking into Drysuits as I think it is going to be only a matter of time before I need to buy one.

I'm tempted by the Northern Divers suits, but have heard some dodgy stories about their customer service. Any advice on choosing between the true shell and crushed neoprene types and between the ND suits in particular ?

I doubt I am a standard size(skinny wrists and Ankles) so I am preparing to get a custom. If it helps I would ideally like to use the suit year round in the UK (Hopefully) and in the med etc in winter. I would also like to get more into wrecking and see some techy stuff on the horizon.

Cheers all

Conor

PS, Don't know if you guys noticed but a few of us are going along to Wraysbury on Saturday if you want to join us, just join the thread in the UK Wreck Ferrets area

 

[Jonathan]

I actually think the most expensive place in the world to buy a dry suit is the US judging by past discussions on this board.

You should easily be able to find what you want, so long as you are not a hobbit or a troll in the UK in that price range. Have you asked your LDS?

I got a Body Glove for a lot less than that in a cleareance sale that fit me perfect! Lucky I know - but a great suit.

You need to find a Eurpean brand - forget American. Why? Because they tend to do a 1 to 1 conversion rate so you pay the same in sterling as you would dollars which is a 50% mark up. If you are in the States though different matter....

Happy shopping

Jonathan

 

[rdbark]

From what I've read the Otter and Northern Divers both seem good suits. Haven't experienced the customer service so I can't comment. The Otter's are made in Bradford which is just around the corner for me so I'd be able to pop in and check them out.

One alternative I saw which was rated very highly by a dive magazine recently was the Hammond suits. The company is based in Kent. http://www.hammond-drysuits.co.uk/aboutus.html.

Does anyone own a Hammond, any comments ?

 

[dlegros]

I have an Oceanic HD400 (A nice suit that now has Oceanic's Flex material in it), or if you are looking to spend more, I know a lot of people diving in Aerduras (Including one in a fantastic all-black version)

Oceanic are very helpful as well, I bought some braces from Simply Scuba and couldn't work out how to fit them. Talking to the factory they worked out that I had new braces and an older suit and how to make them fit.

Can't reccomend them highly enough.

Dom

 

[Conor]

I am having difficulty deciding what to do next, I don't know enough about Dry Suits to buy before the course and don't have any schools nearby that rent suits for the course. So I don't want to buy a suit only to discover on the course that its not the right one.

The suits I liked in the Diver article all seemed to say 'not for serious wreck diving' which doesn't make sense to me.

 

[rdbark]

Which course are you doing Conor, I'm surprised they don't supply the kit you need.

Sorry if this sounds obvious but have you called all the dive centres in your area that do courses. Chances are if they don't have a course on they'll have spare kit they are willing to hire out.

Have you tried this place, they mention hire kit in some of their news letters http://www.cambridgediveandwatersports.co.uk

Hope this helps