Dry suit - if money was no object!

[ElGaucho]

If money is no issue, and you want something that will outlast you ...

SFTech Drysuit

This will give Santi a run for it's money in the endurance department.

The Kevlar Pro is a heavy suit I have to say, but it's nearly indestructible. The Kevlar Trilam might be a better option if you want it lighter. These suits show really fantastic craftsmanship.

And they have a Canadian distributor who also doubles as US distributor:

http://www.oceanequipment.ca/

 

[Shftrdog]

The BARE SB System, breathable and streatchable

 

[Ulfhedinn]

If money is no issue, and you want something that will outlast you ...

SFTech Drysuit

This will give Santi a run for it's money in the endurance department.

The Kevlar Pro is a heavy suit I have to say, but it's nearly indestructible. The Kevlar Trilam might be a better option if you want it lighter. These suits show really fantastic craftsmanship.

And they have a Canadian distributor who also doubles as US distributor:

Ocean Equipment - Home Page

The Kevlar Pro is a pretty cool looking suit. I wonder what that retails for?

 

[Bruce Justinen]

This is Bruce from SEASOFT SCUBA, I know we are small and yes, we had a problem with a batch of glue back in 2009 but take a look at this website. Here is the scorecard from a shootout competition done by SCUBALAB last year with most of the manufacturers competing. Here was the criteria for the test: | Scuba Diving Magazine (this was published) Here is the actual scoring chart: http://ads.bonniercorp.com/scuba/PDF/ScoringChart.pdf (this was not published)

Don't be afraid to look. One of the problems with this kind of forum is it turns into a popularity contest of sorts. See what real divers, instructors, dive masters who dive all the time said when they dove most of the top suits back to back and how they scored all the major brands.

You will be surprised at the results.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

This is Bruce from SEASOFT SCUBA, I know we are small and yes, we had a problem with a batch of glue back in 2009 but take a look at this website. Here is the scorecard from a shootout competition done by SCUBALAB last year with most of the manufacturers competing. Here was the criteria for the test: | Scuba Diving Magazine (this was published) Here is the actual scoring chart: http://ads.bonniercorp.com/scuba/PDF/ScoringChart.pdf (this was not published)

Don't be afraid to look. One of the problems with this kind of forum is it turns into a popularity contest of sorts. See what real divers, instructors, dive masters who dive all the time said when they dove most of the top suits back to back and how they scored all the major brands.

You will be surprised at the results.

I read the review on scuba diving magazine and this made me check out one of your suits at the LDS in Virginia. It was a brilliant suit except for one thing that I did not like. Vent valve was on the wrist instead of shoulder. For most people this may be an advantage of some kind but I dive with a a very heavy DSLR and in order to vent I would have to lift my left arm up. Since this would be the same arm holding a DSLR housing, I figured venting with this for me personally would be a major PIA. With a shoulder mounted valve I can just pop an elbow up and vent while still holding the camera in exactly the same spot. Had it not been for this, I would go out and buy one right now.

One more question: Is the neoprene crushed / compressed neoprene of regular? I wonder how much more weight it would need to sink in comparison with my bi lam.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Bruce, I looked over your site and the statements you make about the two different types of suits and you do make a compelling argument. I would really like to try one of your suits but I have no dealers around me. I have sent you a PM in the past about this issue and heard nothing back, I just can't make a purchase like this on faith alone. What I don't see in your write up is how the suits behave under pressure when the material compresses. One of the major downfalls of a neoprene suit has always been the buoyancy shift in the material itself and the fact that it looses insulation as you go deeper and the more compression cycles it is put through the less it rebounds and you loose the insulation properties of the material. I would like to hear your thoughts on this topic.

 

[dbulmer]

Don't be afraid to look. One of the problems with this kind of forum is it turns into a popularity contest of sorts. See what real divers, instructors, dive masters who dive all the time said when they dove most of the top suits back to back and how they scored all the major brands.

You will be surprised at the results.

With the greatest respect, this is not a wise statement to make.

1) Most divers are neither instructors,divemasters or tech divers. Most divers using a drysuit are committed divers - the cost of a drysuit make them so unless they have well above average incomes.

2) The design of many a drysuit will have had input from a range of divers - very often to assess comfort, fit , additional options and wear and tear - I would expect this from any manufacturer.

3) Word of mouth is often the best seller of a piece of kit where your average diver expresses his experience - positive and negative. In many cases the instructor or whizz bang techie may have been given a massive discount to promote a piece of equipment. Your average diver pays full price mate !

Best thing a competing manufacturer can do is compete on service - reliance on an arbitrary list of reviews in a scuba mag will not cut it - even for the non real divers like me.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Agreed. I don't put any stock in what scubalab says. They don't go out and independently buy what they test. They rely on mfg's (read their advertisers) to supply product. That right there in my mind introduces bias. And they never say anything truly negative. That is just not reality. Anything has some negatives. Yet from their tests you'd think that was not the case. And if you look carefully at what they write and compare it with the mfg's ads and promo material it is often just regurgitated ad copy. That more than anything makes it BS in my book.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Agreed. I don't put any stock in what scubalab says. They don't go out and independently buy what they test. They rely on mfg's (read their advertisers) to supply product. That right there in my mind introduces bias. And they never say anything truly negative. That is just not reality. Anything has some negatives. Yet from their tests you'd think that was not the case. And if you look carefully at what they write and compare it with the mfg's ads and promo material it is often just regurgitated ad copy. That more than anything makes it BS in my book.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

That makes sense Jim. I have exactly the same personal issue with Scubalab in general but in this particular case, a numerical comparison was made that showed certain products to be inferior to others. Unless this whole comparison was funded by SeaSoft, I would give it a little more credibility to it than those extremely subjective, sales driven reviews that we see in magazines.

Having said that, since a drysuit is something requiring proper "fit" what is superior for one person may not be superior to others.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

As for the original question. IF money was no object. This is my ultimate drysuit:
File:JIM suitRoyal Navy Submarine Museum.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia