I sure wish 4th Element were making these in women's sizes . . . I had an opportunity to look at a small the other day, and it's two feet taller than I am (even trying to distribute the material as best I could) and too narrow around the hips. Foo.
4th Element Halo 3D - SHIPPING
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Rainer
Contributor
Is this just all fleece?
No, the insulation on the front of the suit feels like a sponge. I don't know what it is made of, but it is very different.
Rainer
Contributor
What's the material against your skin? Having had a few floods in cold water (for extended periods), I've become pretty partial to Thinsulate undergarments. Would love something less bulky, though.
OP
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Dove it all day today helping with the Whites Demo Days.......REALLY impressed. Extremely warm, without making you hot, I didn't have any flexibility issues or buoyancy issues. Not much of a suit squeeze either. Diving it again tomorrow and will do some deeper and colder stuff. Today, I was more shallow, no hood or gloves for most of the day. The last dive of the day was about 48degrees for 45 minutes with hood and gloves and I was perfect. I figured I would be cold after not wearing anything on the other dives of the day and losing core warmth....kept me perfectly warm!
I am going to dunk the entire undergarment after one of the dives, do my surface interval to simulate an actual flood, and then go for another dive. I will let you know what I find with some pics
Had a great day and so far I really like the undergarment!
I am going to dunk the entire undergarment after one of the dives, do my surface interval to simulate an actual flood, and then go for another dive. I will let you know what I find with some pics
Had a great day and so far I really like the undergarment!Attachments
ColdH2O
Contributor
So would rather use this over the MK2 Mike? Or do they each have their own benefits?
Did you have to adjust your weighting for this over the MK2 (assuming you were using a MK2 before). Temps around here are mainly from 50* - 65* . Would this be overkill in the 58* + range?
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The MK2 and the Halo are totally different. If I had to choose, Halo....but the halo is a lot more expensive. Although, my dives were REALLY comfortable, and to me, worth every penny. The nice thing is, unlike heavy undergarments, the Halo isn't heating you up, it is insulating you and keeping your heat in. So you don't really worry about overheating. You have a nice air layer around you, keeping you from the cold water, therefore keeping you warmer...longer. Whether I was at the surface (warmer), or down 80ft (colder) I didn't notice a difference of being cold or too hot. I really think this is a very versatile undergarment due to using the air for warmth vs. more layers of material (which would overheat you).
As for weight- I have a DRIS Wing, Hollis Backplate, and Hollis harness. When I wore my Arctic, I didn't need any weight when diving my Steel HP71s (single tank diving). When Ice diving, I would add a Body Fleece, and 6lbs.
With the Halo, I kept the 6lbs..but could have dropped a few. I just didn't mess with it.
I only have 9 dives on it...but COMPLETELY impressed so far.
As for weight- I have a DRIS Wing, Hollis Backplate, and Hollis harness. When I wore my Arctic, I didn't need any weight when diving my Steel HP71s (single tank diving). When Ice diving, I would add a Body Fleece, and 6lbs.
With the Halo, I kept the 6lbs..but could have dropped a few. I just didn't mess with it.
I only have 9 dives on it...but COMPLETELY impressed so far.
HenrikBP
Contributor
Sounds nice ... hmmm.
djcheburashka
Contributor
Since we're all using nicknames not sure if I was part of that group, but...
A few weeks ago I got my halo and found it incredibly bulky around the shoulders, and restrictive of my valves. I'm 5'9", and was in a size medium, which is the correct size per fourth elements chart. The same weekend, someone else was trying one out in the "correct" size for him and experienced the same problems. For experimentation, I lent mine to a famous tall GUE instructor whose name isn't Jared. I won't use his name, because that's for him to do. He's like 6'2", and of the three of us, the only one who could reach his valves was the GUE instructor wearing my size medium.
I swapped my medium out for a medium short, which should be too small for me. It did resolve the problem, though. Except you have to be very careful to pull the leg material up and stretch it out before putting on your harness. Properly stretched before the dive it does not restrict the valves.
With that fixed it's quite comfortable and toasty. Took it in the ocean for the first time this weekend. In mid-60s water in a cf200, I didn't even notice the water temp until 55 minutes into the dive. And then the chill went away with a shot of argon.
So that's my experience fwiw.
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