Custom wetsuits

[glidingray]

Any suggestion on custom made wetsuit?

I found so many manufacturers on the internet... all looks good. Any suggestion? I've been thinking about this for quite some time since I'm very skinny, no wetsuit on the rack ever fits me.

Ray

 

[Warhammer]

I just bought 2 new suits from Liquid Fit. Got a 3mm shorty and 3mm full, both Platinum. I found them to have great service and I like the suits better than any I've seen/wore thus far. The platinum liner, similar to Henderson's Gold suits, is great. Easy on easy off and fits like a glove. Feels as if the entire suit is sealed to my body. Neoprene is good quality as well.

If Rubatex is what your looking for, then Wetwear does that and they have a good reputation, but I've never personally delt with them.

 

[Mario S Caner]

I've dealt with plenty of divers with unique figures... there were plenty of them that tried custom made wetsuits via e-mail or mail order. It looks to me like you've got a 50/50 shot of getting it close on the first try. In saying that I mean that more than likely you will have to send it back at least once after you receive the suit for a correction or two. If at all possible try to find someone that is local, or someone that is willing to foot the shipping bill for errors in sizing "regardless" of who is at fault for the errors.

The advice I generally give is to find an off the rack, quality wetsuit that is oversized for you, and have it tailored down to fit you. You will find the quality of the material to be much higher than the smaller company that uses their own imported batches.

Mario

 

[BillP]

Hi glidingray:

I think that Warhammer has pointed you in the right direction. I haven't ordered a suit from Liquidfit, but I hear nothing but good things about Carolyn and her crew. I have ordered a Rubatex suit from Wetwear. Rubatex is probably a superior neoprene compared to most kinds out there. (Read through http://diverlink.com/gear/aboutwetsuits.htm to get more info on wetsuit construction.) I went with Wetwear for the Rubatex. I don't know if Liquidfit makes any Rubatex suits.

If you want superior customer service, check out Liquidfit. If you're interested in a Rubatex suit, order from Wetwear. Wetwear really knows their stuff when they talk about wetsuits. My suit fit perfectly first time and is very well made. Where Wetwear drops the ball sometimes is in customer service IMHO. Their on-line order form didn't work right and their website was confusing (contradictory in places) when I ordered. When I did finally send in my order over the Internet, they didn't confirm that they'd received it. (When I called, they had received it, but it took them awhile to figure that out.) When they sent the suit, they had forgotten the spine pad I'd ordered. I ordered their more expensive suit with more panels to try to get the best fit possible, but they made (and charged for) their less expensive suit. It turned out fine because the less expensive suit fit great and has fewer seams to fail, but hey, they didn't ask me if it was OK when they made the change. In their defense, they did take my rush order for a last minute trip with no extra charge and finished the suit early. And when I stopped by their shop in Florida at the end of my trip to drop off the suit and have the spine pad added, they stayed open late to accomodate me (and accepted my still wet and maybe a little smelly suit.) They try to give good customer service, I just don't get the impression that it's second nature to them like it seems to be for Liquidfit. It all worked out well in the end.

Like Mario suggested, sometimes you have to be, er, patient with mail order custom suits, but I think getting a custom suit is well worth it. I'm not particularly oddly shaped, but my custom 3mm Rubatex suit keeps me substantially warmer than my off-the-rack reasonably well fitting 6mm suit. Order custom if you can afford it.

HTH,

Bill

 

[SubMariner]

Bill, I agree about Wetware's customer service... it leaves a LOT to be desired. In fact, I find them somewhat belicose/arguementative when all you want is for them to do what they are supposed to do... like it's YOUR fault THEY didn't sew in the zipper correctly on a repair?! And to add insult to insult, they made US pay for the shipping when we had to send the defective repair back to them!

When they have their act together, they seem to do a good job. But their attitude... well.. <shrug>

We're looking into getting a couple of new custom suits and will definitely check out Liquidfit. IMHO Wetware's buildup of Rubatex as "The ONLY Neoprene" is somewhat exhaggerated. Our company uses neoprene in its products that are also worn on the body, and had no problems switching to another manufacturer when Rubatex was on strike.

Just my $0.02's worth,

~SubMariner~

 

[rcohn]

I have a custom 7mm Rubatex G-231N freediving suit (zipperless, skin-in, with waist seal-- so a true semidry) made by Deep Thought and my wife has a Rubatex 2100 full suit from Wetwear. We are both very happy with these suits. Kettenhoffen also has a very good reputation and friends who have his suits are very happy. Contrary to Mario's advice, off the rack suits are made of low quality neoprene, the only way to obtain a high quality suit is to go to a small custom shop. A custom suit will fit correctly, which is very important, and you can select whatever style and features you want and the cost is typically only slightly higher than the overpriced off-the-rack, mystery neoprene suits.

I corresponded with Carolyn at Liquidfit and she didn't give me any detailed info on the neoprene used. Only Rubatex publishes data the consumer can see, showing the compression and neoprene recovery over time. I watched my O'Neil 3mm suit turn into worthless junk (now no better than a 1 mm) after a couple of years of intermittent use. For the Fiji trip I purchased a cheap 3 mm suit from Performance and as expected it lost noticeable thickness and buoyancy after 20 dives or so. I had to drop from 4.5 kg to 3 kg for a safe freediving weight. Note, I wanted a custom 3 mm Rubatex suit but I'm waiting to see if Rubatex will make a coated neoprene like the gold-core stuff so I opted for a cheap suit I knew wouldn't last long. My wife's 5 mm suit has worked so well for her I may not wait too much longer.

Wetwear can improve their customer service but we were generally happy. We visited their shop when we were in Florida a year ago and had our measurements taken. Eight months later after a bit of prodding, they were actually able to locate my wife's measurements. My wife's main complaint was that they were a bit late in making her suit, so they promised to rush it to make the promised date. The made it but shipped the suit to her overnight charging her $50 in shipping costs, second day air would of been fine and half the price. If you use them don't let them talk you into adding too many zippers, and Bill you were lucky, seams tend to leak a bit with age/use, I would always minimize the number.

Ralph

 

[Warhammer]

Just a side note on Liquid Fit. Carolyn and Christine(a Liquid Fit employee), worked dilgently with me on measuring for my suits. Ever effort was made to get it right the first time. Unfortunately we weren't successful and I had to return the suits for re-fitting. I know for sure at least one of those measurements were my fault. I know because they questioned the measurement when I sent it in. Maybe if I had someone that knew exactly what they were doing, this wouldn't be necessary, but I didn't. I'd agree with Mario here that you have probably a 50/50 shot at getting it right the first time. I also had to pay to ship the suits back to Liquid Fit and they paid to ship them back to me. I thought this was fair and never even questioned it. The best thing about it is, even with the extra one way shipping, I still got the suits for within a few bucks of what the Henderson's go for in the local dive shop after tax. As to the long term quality of Liquid Fit's neoprene, I don't know. And won't until I've used the suits for a while. All I can tell you there is it appears to be good and I've never heard any bad things about it. But it isn't Rubatex. To my knowledge, they don't use Rubatex in any of their suits. But Carolyn did say she several happy customers that routinely take her suits to 300' without complaint.

 

[Dee]

Last May I met with Carolyn at Sea Space in Houston. I waited until then with the idea that I wanted her to measure me personally for the fit. (I had been through the measure yourself nightmare once before) I had the opportunity to see all the different thicknesses and patterns of neoprene as well as a wide selection of the different models and designs they make.

I got a 3mil full suit and a 3mil sleeveless shorty and they both were delivered in 3 weeks. There was a couple of very minor adjustments, both I felt was personal preference rather than a bad fit. Carolyn insisted I send both pieces back to be corrected, she paid S&H. I got the suits back in less than 2 weeks, in time for a trip. She, and everyone who works for her, are always available by phone for questions or last minutes details and she ALWAYS answers her email! Customer service is most excellent. Both pieces fit...like they had been poured on. The platinum lining seals against your skin for minimal water exchange and maximum warmth while at the same time os very flexible and comfortable to wear.

I, too, don't know how long this suit will last but so far it's been great. And as someone who is extremely hard to fit and has to have custom suits, I appreciate the cost of these suits. I paid way less for 2 LiquidFit suits than I did for a Henderson 2pc. 3mil 4 years ago.

 

[glidingray]

Thanks' for all suggestion. I love scubaboard.com !

Thanks' for the link, BillP.

 

[Sirena]

LiquidFit is the way to go!

i just recently purchased a suit from LiquidFit and i'm extremely happy with it. i couldn't recommend LiquidFit enough. i got a 7mm full suit with a 3mm sleeveless jacket and 5mm hood, everything platinum, and the fit is wonderful. i got the zippers for both the ankles and writs, and it's very easy on and easy off. overall, the suit fits like a glove. i agree with warhammer that the suit completely seals the body. in fact, i will not be wearing the jacket from now on--i was just a little too warm in it. i will mainly be diving in the monterey bay, ca, so i thought i needed the warmth. however, the 7mm suit with the 5mm hood is more than plenty for me.

carolyn is wonderful and she talked at length with me about the different options and designs available. she was also on the phone with me while i was being measured in case i had any questions. it took less than two weeks for me to receive the initial suit--which i thought was pretty good. i did have to send back the jacket and hood because they were a little too big but i got it back within two weeks as well. now everything fits wonderfully.

i really feel that anyone that deals with LiquidFit and carolyn will be one satisfied customer!