Best bang for buck 3mm full suit

[loady]

Hi @Couv,

Thanks for the post, and first off nice icon - Aqualung is an old favorite of mine.

Jon, Martha and Jeff (JMJ) and the team have been making suits for a long time (see About JMJ) and they can make just about any suit you're after. The styles so far shown on the website are just the most popular.

We can source materials from a number of places and are not exclusive to any supplier. In general we use what we find to be the best materials for the job given the requirements. As you may know, new sheets of Rubatex are pretty hard to find these days, but regardless, if you need something specific just call the shop to discuss: 310-212-3040. Likewise with stitching, we can do flatlocked suits but as mentioned on the individual suit pages on the website, we offer glued & blindstitched seams as we've found this to be the best approach. Note that we also do repairs on all brands, so we have a really good idea of what construction lasts and what doesn't.

What else? Well firstly since the OP asked about best bang for the buck, I'll say that JMJs are built extremely well and last for a long time. When shopping, keep in mind that a single JMJ might outlast 2-3 other suits. I think you'll hear the same from anybody who has owned one. Personally, I bought my first JMJ many years ago and it had over four hundred ocean dives on it and was still in good shape when I retired it.

In short I'd offer that the main advantages of a JMJ are:
Custom fit for maximum warmth and comfort
Expert craftsmanship and warranty
Tried and true styles that work and have kept divers warm and comfortable for many years
Local repairs done in our factory in Torrance
Made in California

If I can provide any more details please feel free to ask.

Thanks again and kind regards,
Derek & JMJ

How does JMJ compare to Henderson and Wetwear as far as still being warm as when new after 100 or more dives?

 

[Searcaigh]

How does JMJ compare to Henderson and Wetwear as far as still being warm as when new after 100 or more dives?

I would state that's an almost impossible question to answer without doing some specialised double blind study with divers who all have the exact tolerance to cold. In reality you are only going to get one person's point of view over a couple of dives over several days because you can't do a dive in a JMJ and then the next one in a Henderson without a decent SI for the body core temperature to return to normal, which would be no more than say 24 hours.

At best you will only get an approximation that one suit is better than another, but the key point of a good suit is the fit and maintaining a decent seal to keep water inside of it to maintain the warmth.

I think that the best way to compare suit material would be to use one make that is a standard suit and the same make built as a semi-dry and find the optimum temperature where it doesn't make any difference.

 

[JMJ Wetsuits]

How does JMJ compare to Henderson and Wetwear as far as still being warm as when new after 100 or more dives?

Along the same lines of what @Searcaigh said, to be fair I don't think there's a fact-based way to answer this question accurately without doing some serious research comparing apples to apples and not based on brand alone.

What I can say is that I went diving in Laguna with an old friend a few months ago, and for fun he brought his 19-year-old 7mm JMJ fullsuit along, which had somewhere around 100 dives on it. He reported that he was warm and comfortable in the 60 degree water, though he did say the suit was a little bit stiffer than it was back in the day. My personal experience has been much the same during 350+ dives in San Diego on my first JMJ. They are very well-built and durable suits.

Thanks for the question and let me know if we can help further,
Derek & JMJ

 

[loady]

Yes it’s true that it would be best for many people to rent and dive various suits and have a research study. Short of doing that I have to ask for opinions. Henderson says their Thermaxx is warmest. Thats hard to find for sale . Since scuba.com and leisurepeo merged half of inventory is gone. I don’t know if Sporteque ships to USA? The next question is which is warmest after 100 dives when the neoprene is compressed. Separating marketing hype from reality with exposure suits is hard. Maybe undercurrent does suit reviews?

 

[JMJ Wetsuits]

Separating marketing hype from reality with exposure suits is hard

Glad to hear someone actually say that! Please do post what you find out...I bet it will be an interesting and educational discussion.