Bare Drysuits: Soliciting your opinion; the good, the bad and the ugly

[BoltSnap]

Anyone here has any experience with Bare drysuits, specifically the SENTRY Tech Dry, the Expedition HD2 Tech Dry and the X-Mission Evolution:

SENTRY Tech Dry - BARE Sports

Expedition HD2 Tech Dry - BARE Sports

X-Mission Evolution - BARE Sports

I'd like to know about their reliability, flexibility, fit, features and anything else you think is important please.

Intended use is for recreational and technical diving (mostly wreck with some cave). The SENTRY Tech Dry is for mostly recreational diving with occasional light tech and from mostly diving from shore with long surface swims. the Trilam suits are for mostly for technical diving from boats.

I have no experience with Bare at all so and I can't give any information to my friend who is asking and hence I am asking here please.

 

[azgetaway]

Hey I just bought a Tech Sentry after owning and XCS2 for seven plus years and more than 300 dives on it. I haven't dove my new suit yet, weather just keeps on not cooperating. I did a long post you can find on my thread comparing BARE and why I made the choice to make a second purchase with them. I have tried on the new suit and it feels really good, the ATX tension adjust works really well, and the suspender/bib design is really comfortable, however I'm going to have to come out of my seals to take a leak. Donning and doffing is much improved over my XCS2.

 

[azgetaway]

Here's the link: How do you shop for a drysuit?

 

[Chris H]

I'm on the fence on this one. I had a Bare Tri-Lam HD for many years. That suit is tough as nails. I bought a made to measure X-Mission to replace it. The suit fits great, and the mobility is very good. It was custom made for me, so this should be a no-brainer. I bought it in 2016 and I have 138 dives on it. I just gave Huish Outdoors my CC# to have the suit returned after warranty repair. This is is 2nd time it has been repaired. It had "several leaking seams" that were covered by warranty, and this time they charged me return shipping! If I wanted an expensive damp suit, I would have bought a TLS 350. I'm really not sure I'd get another Bare, but I don't know that any of the other brands are any different. Bare used to be a good value for a solid suit. Now it seems they are priced like all the others. Maybe the X-Mission is just too thin for my needs. I would probably choose the HD2 Tech Dry if I did it again.

 

[BoltSnap]

HD2 Tech Dry

What type of diving do you do? Also, is the Expedition HD2 Tech Dry inflexible and heavy?

 

[Chris H]

What type of diving do you do? Also, is the Expedition HD2 Tech Dry inflexible and heavy?

Mostly cold water quarry, mine, wreck, and cave. My old Trilam HD is heavier than the X-Mission. I'd weigh them both for you, but the X-Mission is in transit. I think either would be comfortable if they fit properly, but the Trilam suit is definitely thicker and heavier.

 

[Bald Wookie]

Every Bare suit I have seen has leaked through the seals. One leak tested at over 30 leaks and it had been in the water once. I would avoid Bare tri/bi-lams personally.
The neoprene suits are slightly better, but the "no stitch" technology is an absolute sham. They glue and tape the seams, with no extra strength from stitching the seams. Again, they leak. The tape peels off. Also, you're basically left pulling off tape until you find the source of the seam leak, then you're doing it again in a different place next dive.

If you're going Neoprene, get an Abyss drysuit (lifetime warranty on the seams) for the same or often less than the Sentry Tech Dry. AND you get a custom fit suit for that price. And colour options. And front or back entry. And choose between 2mm, 4mm, 4mm compressed, or 6.5mm suits. 2mm is extremely flexible (basically a tri-lam with warmth).

If you're going tri-lam, perhaps look at Fourth element, Saanti, or Sea-Skin from the UK.

 

[kelemvor]

I have the Expedition HDC Tech dry; the predecessor to the Expedition HD2 Tech Dry. Mine is custom cut and fits perfectly. No restrictions anywhere on it as far as range of motion.

It's my first and only drysuit so I'm no good with comparisons. I like it. It doesn't restrict movement. It is heavy if you're going to be traveling and need to mind your baggage weight. The suit doesn't feel heavy when you're wearing it.

The telescoping torso is very nice when you're wearing the suit. It does make the suit challenging to hang for drying as fully extended it's probably 8 feet tall.

It's definitely abrasion resistant. I've worn it in caves and during cave class. We did stuff like loss of buoyancy exit drills where there was LOTS of contact with the cave floor. Not a scratch on it.

Re: warranty. I broke the zipper about 9 months after buying the suit. LDS sent it back to bare, who replaced the zipper and sent it back to me. Took a few weeks if I remember right. No cost to me, including shipping. I was very happy with their warranty.

I can't tell any difference between the HDC and HD2 except that bare mentions a redesigned neck seal of some sort.



Re: features. This suit is a caddilac. It comes with everything. The only thing I had to add was the p-valve. I paid for it at purchase time and bare installed that for me as well. Silicone neck seal. Ring system for quick-changeable silicone wrist seals. Ankle gaiters which make bubble management a lot easier. The gaiters are integrated into the suit so you can't forget them. Integrated booties are nice to wear, but they do mean that there's a little more effort required to dry the inside after cleaning.

I use my suit primarily in spring water that is 72f/22.2c year round. I wear either a lavacore or shorts and t-shirt under the suit. There's plenty of room for a thicker undergarment if I went crazy and decided to dive some frigid 65f/18.3c degree water (and monkeys might fly out of my butt that day).

 

[BoltSnap]

I have the Expedition HDC Tech dry; the predecessor to the Expedition HD2 Tech Dry. Mine is custom cut and fits perfectly. No restrictions anywhere on it as far as range of motion.

It's my first and only drysuit so I'm no good with comparisons. I like it. It doesn't restrict movement. It is heavy if you're going to be traveling and need to mind your baggage weight. The suit doesn't feel heavy when you're wearing it.

The telescoping torso is very nice when you're wearing the suit. It does make the suit challenging to hang for drying as fully extended it's probably 8 feet tall.

It's definitely abrasion resistant. I've worn it in caves and during cave class. We did stuff like loss of buoyancy exit drills where there was LOTS of contact with the cave floor. Not a scratch on it.

Re: warranty. I broke the zipper about 9 months after buying the suit. LDS sent it back to bare, who replaced the zipper and sent it back to me. Took a few weeks if I remember right. No cost to me, including shipping. I was very happy with their warranty.

I can't tell any difference between the HDC and HD2 except that bare mentions a redesigned neck seal of some sort.

View attachment 643116

Re: features. This suit is a caddilac. It comes with everything. The only thing I had to add was the p-valve. I paid for it at purchase time and bare installed that for me as well. Silicone neck seal. Ring system for quick-changeable silicone wrist seals. Ankle gaiters which make bubble management a lot easier. The gaiters are integrated into the suit so you can't forget them. Integrated booties are nice to wear, but they do mean that there's a little more effort required to dry the inside after cleaning.

I use my suit primarily in spring water that is 72f/22.2c year round. I wear either a lavacore or shorts and t-shirt under the suit. There's plenty of room for a thicker undergarment if I went crazy and decided to dive some frigid 65f/18.3c degree water (and monkeys might fly out of my butt that day).

Thank you so much for the info. Have you done surface or underwater long swims with it? Have you notice any restriction or increased drag or restriction in your kicking? (I know that it is expected to have more drag and restriction with a drysuit but I am concerned about "more than normal" since the suit is advertised to be heavily fortified than their lower suits).

 

[kelemvor]

Thank you so much for the info. Have you done surface or underwater long swims with it? Have you notice any restriction or increased drag or restriction in your kicking? (I know that it is expected to have more drag and restriction with a drysuit but I am concerned about "more than normal" since the suit is advertised to be heavily fortified than their lower suits).

I've never done a long surface swim with it. I've used it exclusively for cave diving in springs. Plenty of experience swimming against the flow in a cave, but unfortunately I have no frame of reference for comparison. I bought the suit immediately prior to cave class so it's all I know. There's definitely more drag than a wetsuit (or just shorts) but I can't compare it to other drysuits as its' the only one I've ever used. I've never found myself being bothered by the drag.