LG Diver
Guest
I thought I'd pass along some quick notes on a custom 200 weight one-piece undergarment I bought from Janice at Softwear recently. I bought it as a 'middle' layer, between my Patagonia Capilene base layer and the Whites Mk2 undergarment. I have a few dives in this combination now with my new Fusion DS, and it's awesome. I can't speak to the warmth of the Softwear UG by itself, since it's just one of many layers, but this combo is significantly warmer than my prior USIA Powerstretch UG's in my CF200 DS. My last two dives have been in the 70-80 minute range in 46-48 F water (with no argon) and I've been nice and warm.
As many others have already written, Janice's service is nothing short of amazing. I placed my order at 11:00 PM on a Sunday night, received a confirmation e-mail from Janice early the next morning, and the suit was in the mail by Monday afternoon. A CUSTOM suit, produced and shipped same-day. Try to find that anywhere else.
As Mo2 has mentioned in another post, there's fleece and then there's Polartec. This does not appear to be the whole story, though, as there appears to be two-way stretch Polartec and four-way stretch Polartec. Janice appears to use the former, while the USIA undergarment I have is the latter. The suit is laid out so that the stretchy direction is around the circumference of the limb or torso, and the non-stretchy direction runs the length of the limb or torso. The net impact of this is that the arms, legs, and torso are cut longer than needed to provide good range of motion since there's very little stretch lengthwise, while circumferentially the suit is cut nice and close so there's very little bagginess. This threw me off initially, when I pulled the suit out of the box and it looked like it had been made for someone about a foot taller than me. When I examined the fabric I realized why it was cut this way, and in use the suit provides amazing range of motion. Credit to Janice for her expertise in knowing exactly how to cut these things so they fit well while diving, not just when standing in the living room.
There are a couple of new features that Janice incorporated into my suit. The first is a logo patch on the right breast. It's very nicely made and very tastefully done. I have no issues advertising the fact that I'm wearing one of her suits. The second feature is a stretch panel in the small of the back that further aids range of motion when bending forward at the waist. Janice mentioned that someone had requested this as a custom feature on a suit recently, and she thought it was a nice touch and has incorporated it into her standard design. It's very nicely done and I feel no restriction at all when bending forward in this suit.
All in all, the suit is fantastic. It has excellent workmanship, and it serves perfectly as a middle layer that's washable, provides great range of motion, and gives me a lot of layering options.
Count me in as another very satisfied Softwear customer.
-John
As many others have already written, Janice's service is nothing short of amazing. I placed my order at 11:00 PM on a Sunday night, received a confirmation e-mail from Janice early the next morning, and the suit was in the mail by Monday afternoon. A CUSTOM suit, produced and shipped same-day. Try to find that anywhere else.
As Mo2 has mentioned in another post, there's fleece and then there's Polartec. This does not appear to be the whole story, though, as there appears to be two-way stretch Polartec and four-way stretch Polartec. Janice appears to use the former, while the USIA undergarment I have is the latter. The suit is laid out so that the stretchy direction is around the circumference of the limb or torso, and the non-stretchy direction runs the length of the limb or torso. The net impact of this is that the arms, legs, and torso are cut longer than needed to provide good range of motion since there's very little stretch lengthwise, while circumferentially the suit is cut nice and close so there's very little bagginess. This threw me off initially, when I pulled the suit out of the box and it looked like it had been made for someone about a foot taller than me. When I examined the fabric I realized why it was cut this way, and in use the suit provides amazing range of motion. Credit to Janice for her expertise in knowing exactly how to cut these things so they fit well while diving, not just when standing in the living room.
There are a couple of new features that Janice incorporated into my suit. The first is a logo patch on the right breast. It's very nicely made and very tastefully done. I have no issues advertising the fact that I'm wearing one of her suits. The second feature is a stretch panel in the small of the back that further aids range of motion when bending forward at the waist. Janice mentioned that someone had requested this as a custom feature on a suit recently, and she thought it was a nice touch and has incorporated it into her standard design. It's very nicely done and I feel no restriction at all when bending forward in this suit.
All in all, the suit is fantastic. It has excellent workmanship, and it serves perfectly as a middle layer that's washable, provides great range of motion, and gives me a lot of layering options.
Count me in as another very satisfied Softwear customer.
-John
