flareless
Contributor
While it is often common for folks to use these forums to vent anger and frustration at some company or other, far too often they are not used to commend excellence. That's what this post is about.
I'm in the Toronto area and my LDS is in Newmarket. It's an excellent shop and I'm very happy there. I purchased my first dry suit, a Northern Diver, from them and was really pleased. Over the past year I've had modifications done to it to make it just right for me. These mods were done by our local dry suit specialist Scott McArthur, owner of Custom Diving Services in Barrie, Ontario. Everything done to the suit was top notch and I was always satisfied with the value for the service.
During the past year I decided I didn't want to be "the fat guy" in the pictures that inevitably show up after a dive weekend. I managed to shave off 40 lbs. While that was an excellent thing it did pose a problem. Less of me in the drysuit meant more air. Suddenly I'm wearing 10 - 25 lbs of lead when before I wore none. Suddenly I'm experiencing ascent issues as huge bubbles of air can be felt working up the suit and out the valve. For a technical diver - this is a very bad thing.
There's only one solution. As much as I love my "Frankensuit" it's time to replace it. For me there was only one choice; DUI. As my LDS is not a DUI dealer I discussed my options with the owner. We decided that since I'd only be happy with a DUI despite the fact that he could provide me with other excellent suits at a lower price I should contact Scott at Custom Diving Services. CDS is a DUI dealer.
So I book an appointment for a fitting with Scott. I arrive at his shop and we chat about the suits in general, diving, etc.... Down to business. Scott gave me an extensive tour of the various suit models pointing out the differences and letting me feel the various fabrics and materials. He asked about the type of diving I do so that we could put the right feature set together. All my questions were answered clearly and most were answered before I could get them out. In short, by the time I left his shop I wasn't thinking "I wonder if...." or "I forgot to ask".
Once we settled on the main suit and some options the measuring began. I was meticulously measured repeatedly until he was satisfied that the measurements were consistent and I wasn't leaning this way or that while he did it. I felt like I was at a tailor having a fine suit made. In a way I guess I was.
Anyway, we finished up the options (neoprene knee-pads, pockets, overboard discharge valve) and low and behold, the price was what I was quoted. Awesome! All in all, an excellent Tuesday morning.
In three weeks I'll be returning to pick it up. These are going to be a long three weeks.
Custom Diving Services is located in Barrie, Ontario minutes from the 400 (if you're local you'll know what that means). They only do drysuits which makes them unique. They repair all makes and models of dry suits and even do work on firefighter exposure suits. Oh and of course, they are DUI dealers.
So that's my use of the Internet for good and not evil. If you have dry suit needs, check out Scott's shop or at least visit his website at Custom Diving Services
I'm in the Toronto area and my LDS is in Newmarket. It's an excellent shop and I'm very happy there. I purchased my first dry suit, a Northern Diver, from them and was really pleased. Over the past year I've had modifications done to it to make it just right for me. These mods were done by our local dry suit specialist Scott McArthur, owner of Custom Diving Services in Barrie, Ontario. Everything done to the suit was top notch and I was always satisfied with the value for the service.
During the past year I decided I didn't want to be "the fat guy" in the pictures that inevitably show up after a dive weekend. I managed to shave off 40 lbs. While that was an excellent thing it did pose a problem. Less of me in the drysuit meant more air. Suddenly I'm wearing 10 - 25 lbs of lead when before I wore none. Suddenly I'm experiencing ascent issues as huge bubbles of air can be felt working up the suit and out the valve. For a technical diver - this is a very bad thing.
There's only one solution. As much as I love my "Frankensuit" it's time to replace it. For me there was only one choice; DUI. As my LDS is not a DUI dealer I discussed my options with the owner. We decided that since I'd only be happy with a DUI despite the fact that he could provide me with other excellent suits at a lower price I should contact Scott at Custom Diving Services. CDS is a DUI dealer.
So I book an appointment for a fitting with Scott. I arrive at his shop and we chat about the suits in general, diving, etc.... Down to business. Scott gave me an extensive tour of the various suit models pointing out the differences and letting me feel the various fabrics and materials. He asked about the type of diving I do so that we could put the right feature set together. All my questions were answered clearly and most were answered before I could get them out. In short, by the time I left his shop I wasn't thinking "I wonder if...." or "I forgot to ask".
Once we settled on the main suit and some options the measuring began. I was meticulously measured repeatedly until he was satisfied that the measurements were consistent and I wasn't leaning this way or that while he did it. I felt like I was at a tailor having a fine suit made. In a way I guess I was.
Anyway, we finished up the options (neoprene knee-pads, pockets, overboard discharge valve) and low and behold, the price was what I was quoted. Awesome! All in all, an excellent Tuesday morning.
In three weeks I'll be returning to pick it up. These are going to be a long three weeks.
Custom Diving Services is located in Barrie, Ontario minutes from the 400 (if you're local you'll know what that means). They only do drysuits which makes them unique. They repair all makes and models of dry suits and even do work on firefighter exposure suits. Oh and of course, they are DUI dealers.
So that's my use of the Internet for good and not evil. If you have dry suit needs, check out Scott's shop or at least visit his website at Custom Diving Services
