Anyone have the Solafx 8mm semi-dry?

[JenFid]

Hi all,

I ordered the AquaLung Solafx which I received on Wednesday. I tried it on and ran into a couple issues. It fits my legs well enough but I found the arms tighter and kind of difficult to slide into...

Hoping to alleviate this I ordered a lycra skin suit which I received today (thanks Amazon Prime!). The suit definitely went on easier all around but the arms were still an issue. Once it's zipped up with the hood up though everything more or less slides into place and I have good range of motion. I do like the front entry zip style. And while the hood was not difficult to get on, my husband had to help me get it off over my head and had to help me get the arms down too since they seemed to refuse to go easily past my elbows.

Are the tight arms due to the nature of the front zip style? I have worn the AquaLung 7mm standard suit (Aqua Lung 7mm AquaFlex Super-Stretch Wetsuit for 2014 4040 with reviews at scuba.com) same size and had 0 issues with the arms on that one.

I like the suit overall but I'm a bit annoyed with the difficulties of the arms. Maybe I just need to lose some arm flab?

These are the women's style suits and unfortunately I wear the 14 so I can't go bigger without going into mens which I think would fit my curves pretty poorly :/

Should I perhaps go back to the regular 7mm? I do not get cold easily and wore it at about 45 degrees with no issues last week, but the integrated hood and added warmth of the Solafx sounded like a nice touch.

I do also have my eyes on this drysuit...but since I have not done any drysuit diving I am leery of just buying one without trying it out first. Womens Pink XL Drysuit | eBay

Thoughts?

 

[Hatul]

With a suit the fit is almost everything, so if it does not fit right it's no go. I know an instructor who likes this suit but it did not fit me. For me I had to get a custom made wetsuit and it cost not much more than off the rack, and I like the traditional vertical rear zipper jumpsuit with a hooded vest. I would not buy any suit online without trying it in a store.

 

[JenFid]

Hmm. I am able to return it no problem, fortunately. I may go to my LDS and try on the regular 7mm with the lycra and see how much better that is. I did not mind the separate hood. I'll have to look into the hooded vest...I just want to stay away from spending over $500 for now if possible

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

I have one. It fits me perfect and the front zipper works nice, but the front zipper is going to fit a guy a different than a women.

There is a definite technique to donning and doffing a front zip. Removing requires a little shimmy to work it down enough to pull your arms out. The first time I did it, I swear it took me 5 minutes to wiggle out. The other down side is the super stretchy neoprene crushes a bit more at depth, so it is a very warm suit for shallow to moderate (75ft) dives, not so great if you doing 100ft in cold water. BTW: It not really a semi-dry, some people refer to it as such because it has leg and wrist seals and of course no water down the neck, but when I see someone dive with a real semi-dry, their core stays dry at least for the 1st dive. This really just a snug fitting wet suit that is a bit warmer than average.

The big plus of the suit is the stretchy neoprene tends to fit everyone well, a good fit being snug which keeps you warm. I love the built in hood, diving solo, tucking in a thick hood yourself is a pain. Its simple and will never get lost. That said, it is really uncomfortable, its the wrong suit for you.

For $400 the dry suit looks tempting. Being new, you probably want a D/S class (100 or so) and you will spend another 100+ on undergarments. I dive both wet and dry, at 45F most people start getting cold on long dives. The more you dive, the slower and more relaxed you become. Great for air consumption, poor for keeping warm. Not too many people dive wet below 50F for long. There are exceptions of course, but that is a general guideline.

 

[leadduck]

With a suit the fit is almost everything, so if it does not fit right it's no go.
(...)
I would not buy any suit online without trying it in a store.

Couldn't agree more. For a (semidry) wetsuit to keep you warm I learnt it has to fit very tight, so tight that you barely get into it and think it's inconvenient and too small. You can't rely on the vendors' size charts. Always try it on in the store. When I bought mine, after trying on a few, in the end I bought it two sizes smaller than what the size chart in the internet suggested.

Regarding the price, I didn't see much reason to buy my wetsuit online either. Vendors seem to keep an eye on the retail prices for their most recent product line. The cheapest online store had my suit only 12$ cheaper than the retail store in my city. Together with the overvest, bag and gloves as a set, it was not more expensive in the retail store than online.

 

[JenFid]

Thanks all for the replies! I decided to keep the suit. I think with a bit of practice I'll be able to get it on better...when it's actually on and zipped up it fits great.

I hear you regarding the sizing, I bought this one based off the fact that I fit the same size of a different wetsuit of the same brand (the Aqua lung 7mm). It appeared to be on closeout so it was significantly cheaper than the one at our LDS, otherwise I would have bought it from them

Now that I'm no longer sick and injured I'll be hitting the gym again, so that should eventually help with muscling into the suit, lol