Bare vs. Henderson

[capybara]

I have both a Henderson 3 mm Gold core & Hyperstretch core warmer for tropical and a Bare 7mm Arctic SGS for California diving. I'm very happy with both of them. The Henderson is stretchier (esp the hyperstretch) so it's good if you don't exactly fit the measurements, but consequently compresses more and isn't as warm as a Bare suit of the same thickness. The hyperstretch also retains a lot of water & doesn't dry for a long time. The Bare is very well made and has held up just fine (I have a hole near the knee in my Henderson, but other than that it's OK too). I would go with Henderson Gold Core or Bare SGS if you can, because they both have the slick lining (faster dry, less smelly, easier to put on). You should see which one fits better. Both Scubatoys and Divetank are easy to order from and they may let you order both and return the one that you don't want.

 

[reefugee]

Of course the counter argument could be that Henderson is so poorly made that it needs to go back for restitching several times during the first year of ownership.

My wife has a Henderson 3mm and I have a Bare 3/2mm. I would probably rate her suit at a higher quality. I just ordered a Bare Alpine. It may not be as nice as the Hendeson, but I got it for a great price. Beside - I just also ordered a DUI CLX450 drysuit - and that should be my main diving suit in California.

Minh

Of course there is a reason why... Henderson has a very good warranty program and based on as many times as my Dive Diva's 3mm Henderson Hyperstretch has been back for stitching repairs during the first year of ownership, I suspect they are fortunate if they even have a profit margin on this wonderful product. They certainly would not be able to offer such a superior product if they tried to match the low price of the inferior Bare brand...