4th Element Halo 3D - SHIPPING

[asha]

TSandM: it DOES rock in Southern California!

I've finally gotten to dive mine some and I really can't say enough good things about it. I did five hour-ish dives on San Clemente Island with it this weekend and was so warm that I left my hood on the boat after the first dive. Temps were 55-57ish. On the last one I accidentally jumped in with my drysuit unzipped about an inch (surprise!) and the Halo got pretty wet during my frenzied swim back to the ladder to re-zip. I did the dive anyway (still without a hood) and still wasn't cold at all. Having been hypothermic in CA up to the point where the Halo arrived, this is a groundbreaking change. I previously dove the MK1 (the two-piece system, not the Glacier), and not only am I so much warmer in the Halo, but I have better flexibility.

I'm guessing that if I put the hood back on, I could be comfortable diving the Halo to the low 50s, and maybe even lower with dry gloves, and I am NOT cold-tolerant at all. It's just incredible to finally be *warm* for the first time in my (admittedly short) diving career.

Like TSandM, I do wish it had hand pockets! The only pocket is on the right shoulder, and it's good for stowing little things (car key, chapstick), but I ended up peeling it down between dives and putting on a sweatshirt with pockets.

Edit: It turns out the fifth dive (the wet one) was actually 52 for most of the dive.

 

[aaen]

After deciding to keep the suit as I could;t find anything else, I have slowly fallen in love with my Halo. So I am taking back my earlier one and saying tho suit has one me over. I've had a few floods and been warm, well not warm but bearable to finish off deco. I am a bit baffled as to why people are saying the suit is crap when it gets wet. What suit works when it is wet? The thermal values are drastically reduced as its like being in a wet suit again, so they all suck when they are wet, keep in mind some will be worse then others obviously. Anyways, enough of that.

The non-compressible padding in the chest/leg area is proving to be a little gem for me, I like to keep the suit shrink wrapped to me, easier for wreck penetration, etc and using the wing for buoyancy. Anyways it's allowing me to just keep enough air in the suit to stay warm, not toasty, who the heck likes to be toasty warm, I prefer a bit of cooling anyways, as I am moving and generating heat. Now on deco I just dump the air from my wing and use my suit, warm as pee, or maybe that was due to catheter failure? That would explain the salt crystals in my suit the other week!! Hmmm

The only really draw back is I wish it had some napoleon pockets to put items into, I am not a fan of the pant leg pocket stuff as typically in this type of gear you sit down and it falls out, well that is my experience. I'd prefer a small little zippered pocket on the chest I can place a wallet/cash not while diving but if I am wearing the suit around, etc. oh and I'm still a bit miffed about the p-valve hole location, makes suiting up a chore and I have just started putting it through the lower zipper on the suit, this seems to work, but ever now and then the tubing will push the zipper open and my stomach will get chilled, so I need to figure out a better solution, but that happens once ever few dives anyways.

So my verdict as it now stands is this suit was worth the money I paid for it, I was a bit skeptical at first but decided to stick with it and I am glad I did. six months later and I am diving when I can and don't get chilled anymore, although I credit that to a better layering system as well from what i had been using before, apparently my cold tolerance has disappeared from before when I dived in Calgary.

Regards

Steve