Bare XSC2

[tech3324]

Where are you currently diving and what are you wearing with your Fusion on an average dive?

I dive southern California, water temps 55F. With the Fusion I wear a lightweight fleece jumpsuit (one piece, sleeveless) for a base layer, a Whites MK2 undergarment (no jacket) on top, and I stay reasonably warm for 3 dives.

With a new drysuit I'd like reduced bulkiness and easier don/doff compared to Fusion.

 

[tech3324]

I can't compare it to any other suit, but it sure seems like I don't have to wear that much underneath it to be comfortable in, for example, 38 degree quarry water.

Just curious, what do you wear as an undergarment for that temperature?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

I dive southern California, water temps 55F. With the Fusion I wear a lightweight fleece jumpsuit (one piece, sleeveless) for a base layer, a Whites MK2 undergarment (no jacket) on top, and I stay reasonably warm for 3 dives.

With a new drysuit I'd like reduced bulkiness and easier don/doff compared to Fusion.

Well, a Neo suit will give you more warmth, be easier to don and doff than a Fusion, and will be close fitting. The problem is what do you define as bulk? A neoprene suit is heavier than any other material. So, it's heavier, that doesn't mean it has a larger profile. Where was your Fusion bulky? They are typically very form fitting if you have the proper size. You might have fit in between sizes though, which isn't always the best.

 

[stuartv]

Just curious, what do you wear as an undergarment for that temperature?

2 pairs of expedition weight wool socks, Lavacore Farmer John (i.e. sleeveless full suit), UnderArmour polyester sweatpants, polypropylene long john shirt, and a lightweight SmartWool pullover sweater or a North Face fleece (depending on how long and how many dives).

Plus a ScubaPro EverFlex 5mm hood and Kubi dry gloves.

 

[olphart]

My suit came, finally, though it was within the time frame promised by the shop, so I can't complain too much.
XCS2 Pro, neo neck, bottle latex wrist seals, cuff rings, hard boots, no pockets.
Since it was a custom fit, I had to get the back zip. Apparently the XCS2 is not available in front zip if a custom fit . ???

I had my first dive in it in a quarry:
Temp 38
Time 39
Depth 46
Single LP85/transpac
30lb of lead

I wore a rash skin, my Thermalfusion undies, 5 mil wet gloves, 5 mil hood, and fleece socks. I wasn't cold though for a bit I felt kinda cool. Oddly enough that was early in the dive rather than later. The wet gloves were a mistake, ( I didn't have my Quiklocks set up yet), and part of the reason the dive was short. I carried an extra 6lb of lead compared to my Fusion setup. I'm pretty sure it was unnecessary, just too lazy to drop the extra off early in the dive.

I was very impressed with the fit of the suit on land, as I should be, since it was custom fit. I had a 7 mil wetsuit once that didn't fit nearly as well. What I did find was that frog kicking was a little limited, as if the crotch was too low not letting me spread my knees out much. I may not have had the suit pulled up enough...we'll see. Other than that, flexibility was excellent, as good as in my Fusion. I could reach my exhaust valve easily, though I still think Bare puts them too far forward on the arm.
It was very easy to don, other than shoving my fat head thru the neo seal, which felt pretty tight until I got in the water...gonna stretch that sucker a bit. This was my first experience with a neoprene neck seal. Sure is different!
Definitely need a buddy to zip/unzip especially if you get the zipper flap. Once I had my head out when taking it off, getting out of it was a breeze.
Oh yes, is it a DRY suit? Yup, dry as a bone inside. I even tried to make the neck seal leak by twisting my head around every which way, and no seepage. If the wrists didn't leak using wet gloves, they won't once I have the dry gloves installed.

Only one dive so far, but I'm happy.

 

[stuartv]

Congrats!

That does sound like a lot of lead. I was in my XCS2 on Sat, in our local quarry. Sounds like almost the same dive. I was 40 minutes at 37 degrees. I was using double steel HP120s and a stainless steel back plate, with no additional weight at all.

I have done that before with wet gloves and it was miserable. With my Kubi gloves and thin Merino wool glove liners, I had excellent dexterity and my hands were cold by the end but never anywhere close to going numb.

Your difficulty with frog kicking makes me wonder if they didn't make the suit with a too short inseam and maybe a longer torso that compensates. I don't ever notice any binding like what you described. And I don't do anything special to pull my suit up or anything. I have had a number of custom leather motorcycle racing suits over the years and I have noticed that measurements for custom suits are very easy to mess up if you measure the inseam the same way most people do for dress pants. It invariably ends up with a measurement that is too short and the crotch of the suit rides too low - which results in the kind of binding you described.