Dry Suits? Good, Bad? What and Why?
- Thread starter TommyAHS
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I hate waiting for my drysuit to come in.
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Unless they've changed the suit, the Techniflex was trilam with Bioflex panels built into certain locations. The Bioflex is a weird hybrid of trilam/bilam the sealing butyl rubber layer is infused into the nonstretching portion of the fabric so instead of fabric, rubber, fabric like trilam it is fabric/rubber then fabric.
This was at least the case up until 2012, there was a HUGE problem because the breakup between Chris and Oceanic was apparently not all that great, and since the Bioflex material is an Oceanic patent it didn't go over well. Long story short, we're both right on that unless they went to the USIA Technifit from the Techniflex in which case it is 100% Bioflex. They could have changed suits from USIA, very possible, but the last few I've seen were definitely Techniflex's and were a mix of the two materials
This was at least the case up until 2012, there was a HUGE problem because the breakup between Chris and Oceanic was apparently not all that great, and since the Bioflex material is an Oceanic patent it didn't go over well. Long story short, we're both right on that unless they went to the USIA Technifit from the Techniflex in which case it is 100% Bioflex. They could have changed suits from USIA, very possible, but the last few I've seen were definitely Techniflex's and were a mix of the two materials
I have two kinds of suits, and use them for different reasons. I have two Fusions. They are light and flexible and EXTREMELY difficult to damage. I have the SiTech neck and wrist rings in them, which makes them nice for travel, because my day cannot be ruined by a blown seal. They're easy to get on and off with thin undergarments, so again, using them for travel works for me. I have the Sport, which I use with X-Shorts for pockets, and that's my go-to Mexico cave diving suit. I have the Tech, which I used to use at home, but don't any longer. It's now more of a backup suit.
My day-to-day suit in Puget Sound is a Santi. There's almost nothing I don't love about the suit. The fabric of it is heavy and a bit stiff, which makes it a little harder to get the legs on, but when I complained about that, Santi put nylon loops on the heels, which totally solved the problem. The pockets are fabulous, and with the stiffened in the flap, are easy to get into in cold water. The suit was custom and fits me perfectly. I've had it for two years and have not had a single leak through the suit material at all.
I have used SiTech and Apeks valves, and all my Apeks dump valves have leaked. The Apeks inlet valve is also a very crude construction and most made of plastic. I would always use the ST valves if given the option.
P-valves rock.
My day-to-day suit in Puget Sound is a Santi. There's almost nothing I don't love about the suit. The fabric of it is heavy and a bit stiff, which makes it a little harder to get the legs on, but when I complained about that, Santi put nylon loops on the heels, which totally solved the problem. The pockets are fabulous, and with the stiffened in the flap, are easy to get into in cold water. The suit was custom and fits me perfectly. I've had it for two years and have not had a single leak through the suit material at all.
I have used SiTech and Apeks valves, and all my Apeks dump valves have leaked. The Apeks inlet valve is also a very crude construction and most made of plastic. I would always use the ST valves if given the option.
P-valves rock.
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