Are DUI dry suits overrated?

[CompuDude]

Bare may give a lifetime warranty on the seams and workmanship, but I always felt such "lifetime" warranties are a bit disingenuous. Most suits don't fail due to manufacturer defects (which would be covered) except in the first few years, where pretty much ALL drysuit manufacturers would fix them under warranty. After a few years, any seam failures are likely to be a result of wear and tear, which is NOT covered under warranty, including Bare.

DUI has a 7 year warranty on everything except the zipper and valves, which is pretty good (one year on that). Not quite as good as Bare's, no, but then, two things to consider:

1) As I said above, covered "defects" generally don't happen after 7 years of service... they're generally excluded as wear and tear problems.

2) DUI's warranty repairs are done right here in the U.S. (international peeps can ignore that benefit) instead of having to ship the drysuit across the border to Canada.

And then there are zip seals. No one else offers zip seals. That's a BIG factor in my decision, personally.

I can't find any info on whether Bare warranties the zippers and valves, so far. The only info online is the text quoted in the post above... leads me to believe they're not covered. In that case, DUI's one year coverage, limited though that may be, definitely wins for that very expensive item.

Just to close the loop on this, Bare's customer service responded to my inquiry about their warranty:

The Valves, Seals or Zippers are not covered under warranty. Having said that, if something goes wrong with the suit after diving with it for the first time, then we would take a look and make a determination, however no guarantees that it would be covered under warranty. It would be done on an individual basis.

Material defects means that if the stitching came apart, or the seal tape came apart not due to the consumer's fault, and it was found to be a defect in workmanship or materials, then it would be covered.

So Bare will cover manufacturing defects for life. You know, those ones that crop up new and unnoticed for the first 7 years you owned the suit.

They do NOT cover Valves, Seals or Zippers, outside of maybe if there is a spectacular failure from the first time you get your suit wet.

DUI "only" has a SEVEN year warranty on those manufacturing defects. They also give a one year warranty on valves and zippers, which Bare does not cover at all. I believe they also have either a 30 or 90 day warranty on their seals (can't recall which) but I doubt it would cover the usual accidents that tear seals... still, better than Bare.

I'm going to have to give the warranty edge to DUI, in my book, in spite of Bare's "Lifetime" warranty.

 

[Diver0001]

:blush:I've had 3 Bare Dry suits. The first one was a custom "Fitzgerald" suit in about 1985 or so. I replaced the wrist seals a couple of times but the suit was waterproof for somthing like 600 dives until I gave it to a friend of mine because I ..... er ..... outgrew it. :blush:

The second suit was also a Bare. It lasted through multiple sets of seals and many repairs, abuse and rough treatment and finally died, died to a pale blue and scratched, worn and tatterd after something like 1000 dives because the zipper wouldn't close anymore.

My "new" suit is also a Bare. I suspect that it will last for another 1000 dives before letting me down. I've done about 60 dives in it this year and I'll probably do another 40-50 before years end and every single time I get into it I love it. It's not the sexy "tongue kissing" velvet fit of a DUI suit but it's the rough, manly machoism of a suit that has "work with purpose" written all over it. These are the suits made by divers, for divers, for diving. Ice diving in -15C my Bare suit was a "tool" for the job. My buddy's DUI split open and froze to his back-plate, leaving him nealy hypothermic.

On North sea wrecks, my Bare suit took the punishment of crawling through 100 years of bent and rusted steel. My Buddy's DUI suit started leaking at the zip seals at the mere look of the thing.

As I said above, if comfort is your only goal then the DUI suits are right for you. But if you really want to rummage around in the rough edges of diving's "working" dives then you'd better buy a suit that can take it. My guess is taht people who say "my DUI suit doesn't leak" probably haven't done anything interesting in them.....

[ducking... ]

R..

 

[piikki]

:blush: My guess is taht people who say "my DUI suit doesn't leak" probably haven't done anything interesting in them.....

It always seems that people who have the biggest attitude about DUI, never owned a DUI. Their opinions about DUI most often begin with "My buddy who has a DUI..." Makes you wonder what the heck kind of buddies they have and what their buddies do with their DUI suits

 

[Diver0001]

It always seems that people who have the biggest attitude about DUI, never owned a DUI. Their opinions about DUI most often begin with "My buddy who has a DUI..." Makes you wonder what the heck kind of buddies they have and what their buddies do with their DUI suits

Touché. You're absolutely right. Most gear discussions end with one of two statements:

1) I don't have [gear x] and I hate it
and
2) I have [gear x] and I believe in it blindly

I'm not trying to suggest either of those and least of all that DUI suits suck.

The *fact* of the matter is that I don't persoally know anyone who doesn't complain about their DUI suit leaking, aside from people on this thread. The examples I mentioned are real, accurate and irrefutable. I can understand you wanting to say "I have [gear x] and I believe in it blindly" but that's exactly what I was saying and I don't think that your claim is any more valuable than mine. That's not to say DUI Suits suck, I've been clear throughout this thread that if you value comfort above all else that it's probably the best suit for you... my point is that Bare suits (as hard as this is to swallow for DUI owners) are tougher than nails suits for divers who want to make dives that require a little "friction".

R..

 

[piikki]

The *fact* of the matter is that I don't persoally know anyone who doesn't complain about their DUI suit leaking, aside from people on this thread. The examples I mentioned are real, accurate and irrefutable. I can understand you wanting to say "I have [gear x] and I believe in it blindly" but that's exactly what I was saying and I don't think that your claim is any more valuable than mine.

I am not trying to say you are lying about your personal experience. I am however wondering how people with strong opinions about gear are building their opinions (further). I for one do not love everything I have, and am often most vocal about the stuff I hate.

I quote myself from earlier in the thread:

I lurve my DUI but could certainly see shopping around for other stuff too. Should never fixate on one thing just because of brand.

I am bit ahead of you in this game since I have not bought 3 DUI:s yet and solidified my opinion.

I have indeed met people who love DUI, and who hate DUI. I have met people who love BARE, and I have met people who had BARE and then moved onto DUI or some other drysuit. I hope I do not come across biased when I say I have not YET met a person who had DUI and then moved onto BARE. However, I have met people who had DUI and then moved onto some other drysuit

I have PERSONALLY met more people who had something else first and then got a DUI and stuck with it, rather than the other way around. That is my personal experience this far.

 

[Diver0001]

I have PERSONALLY met more people who had something else first and then got a DUI and stuck with it, rather than the other way around. That is my personal experience this far.

Yeah. I actually believe this because I can believe that a lot of people choose for comfort and I really believe that DUI plays, first, foremost, and possibly exclusively, the "comfort" card.

so yes, I can believe a lot of people choose for that. the only point I'm trying to make now is that there is slightly more to diving dry than "comfort" alone.

If you don't believe that then cool. DUI is for you. If you do then maybe some of the alternatives are worth investigating.

R..

 

[El Orans]

My Buddy's DUI suit started leaking at the zip seals at the mere look of the thing.

My guess is taht people who say "my DUI suit doesn't leak" probably haven't done anything interesting in them.....

:rofl4:

 

[Diver0001]

:rofl4:

LOL.... well if you put it like that.....

R..

 

[JFS]

A friend of mine carried the BARE line as well as DUI. He sold hundreds of suits every year. He definately had more warranty related problems with the DUI suits over the BARE suits.

 

[mikerault]

With a Bare suit (or any other than DUI) you have 4 seals to worry over most of the time: 2 wrist, one neck and the zipper. With DUI you have 7: the wrist seals and their zip seals, the neck seal and its zip seal and the zipper. Anytime a system is more complex there is more chance for failure.