Just finished the Dry Suit course earlier this month and am looking to get a drysuit for local diving. From what I have read, heard, and tried at Beneath the Sea, the following two seem to be the best values for what I am looking to do:
1. Bare XCD2 Pro (Back entry) - This one was by far the most comfortable suit I tried on at BTS, I liked the stretch / fit / feel, the material seems durable enough for wreck diving, the ring dry glove system was as good as any other I saw. I do have slight reservations about hearing this is "hyper-compressed" rather than truly "crushed" neoprene (according to DUI's website, but I doubt they are actually comparing it to this specific suit), and while I will probably not be bothered by the heavier weight or the longer drying times, I have heard these are harder to clean from dives in less sanitary waters, but otherwise I am leaning towards this one...
2. Whites Aqua Pro BE - Haven't actually tried this one on, but I tried on the Catalyst at BTS, and mostly liked it except for the self-entry; the Aqua Pro seems to be made of the same material with a back-entry. The tri-lam / multi-lam / quad-lam definitely seems like a good material on paper, but I wonder if it will be less comfortable (it certainly was on land, but I've only been with a tri-lam in the water) or less durable than crushed neoprene, or can anyone comment that this is an overall better suit than a comparable crushed/hyper-compressed neo? Oh yeah, and another reason I mention White's is that the LDS seems to think they're clearly the best.
Primary use of the suit would be local (New York Area) wreck diving (nothing super deep or extreme, at least not yet), although it would be nice to be able to take the suit to Canada, the Galapagos, and the Antarctic eventually, so versatility is as important as durability.
Vulcanized rubber actually seemed like the best material "in the textbook", but my LDS seems to be strongly discouraging them, for understable reasons of their being more expensive and heavy than even the c. neoprene, and I haven't altogether ruled it out, although the two suits above seemed like better values so far.
Anyone have any experience / opinions with any of these suits or other suits that I most likely am overlooking? Really I am looking to get past what the "textbook" and manufacturer's websites say, and hear some personal views.
Thanks in advance.
FWIW, did the drysuit course in a Diving Concepts Z-flex, which was good, except I didn't like the diagonal self-entry zipper.
1. Bare XCD2 Pro (Back entry) - This one was by far the most comfortable suit I tried on at BTS, I liked the stretch / fit / feel, the material seems durable enough for wreck diving, the ring dry glove system was as good as any other I saw. I do have slight reservations about hearing this is "hyper-compressed" rather than truly "crushed" neoprene (according to DUI's website, but I doubt they are actually comparing it to this specific suit), and while I will probably not be bothered by the heavier weight or the longer drying times, I have heard these are harder to clean from dives in less sanitary waters, but otherwise I am leaning towards this one...
2. Whites Aqua Pro BE - Haven't actually tried this one on, but I tried on the Catalyst at BTS, and mostly liked it except for the self-entry; the Aqua Pro seems to be made of the same material with a back-entry. The tri-lam / multi-lam / quad-lam definitely seems like a good material on paper, but I wonder if it will be less comfortable (it certainly was on land, but I've only been with a tri-lam in the water) or less durable than crushed neoprene, or can anyone comment that this is an overall better suit than a comparable crushed/hyper-compressed neo? Oh yeah, and another reason I mention White's is that the LDS seems to think they're clearly the best.
Primary use of the suit would be local (New York Area) wreck diving (nothing super deep or extreme, at least not yet), although it would be nice to be able to take the suit to Canada, the Galapagos, and the Antarctic eventually, so versatility is as important as durability.
Vulcanized rubber actually seemed like the best material "in the textbook", but my LDS seems to be strongly discouraging them, for understable reasons of their being more expensive and heavy than even the c. neoprene, and I haven't altogether ruled it out, although the two suits above seemed like better values so far.
Anyone have any experience / opinions with any of these suits or other suits that I most likely am overlooking? Really I am looking to get past what the "textbook" and manufacturer's websites say, and hear some personal views.
Thanks in advance.
FWIW, did the drysuit course in a Diving Concepts Z-flex, which was good, except I didn't like the diagonal self-entry zipper.
