danktex
Contributor
I looked a long time for an alternative to the TLS 350. I ended up getting a really good deal one. So in the end I got what I wanted in the first place.
Drysuit questions
- Thread starter Peter Deveugle
- Start date
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jduncan
Contributor
How about looking at the Pinnacle Evolution II (or I) Trilam? We have two of them and they have been great suits. Very rugged.
You can get the Evolution I on divetank for 1049.00 with lifetime seals and a P-Valve and $10 shipping. You can't beat that. I have never owned a DUI, but personally I think they are overpiced, and IMO not a great looking suit.
https://www.divetank.com/gear/product.php?id=701
J
You can get the Evolution I on divetank for 1049.00 with lifetime seals and a P-Valve and $10 shipping. You can't beat that. I have never owned a DUI, but personally I think they are overpiced, and IMO not a great looking suit.
https://www.divetank.com/gear/product.php?id=701
J
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Here's the advice that I gave the last time that question was asked (normally I'd just link it, but I got so many positive PMs that I that I thought it appropriate to edit it and repost it):
The bottom line is that for dive gear, real information is hard to come by. Most of the opinions that you see on the net are biased either by being the only piece that class of gear that a diver has ever used or being a loaner that the expert tried out on one or two dives. The thing that you need to do is find an expert who is doing the kind of diving that you plan on doing, and ask him or her about the gear. That may well not be an Instructor. Don’t be afraid to bore on in, why … why … why. If you do not get answers that you understand, find another expert. Make sure that the advice makes sense in terms that you understand. When the advice makes sense, buy the gear and never look back.
A short tale to illustrate the point:
I issue a very detailed equipment list before each class that students where were accepted into the class need to purchase and show up with at the first meeting. Each item is specified as closely as possible (and you thought DIR divers all dressed alike!).
The suits we were using at the time were, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, 5mm, skin two side, Rubatex GN-231N, attached hood, farmer johns, no zippers. I send my list to all the LDSs in the area and give the students copies of the “bids” that they send back (this is a big deal, twenty full sets of gear with no selling or inventory required: take the order, take the money, deliver in two weeks).
One student did not go to one of these LDSs, but rather, to a shop near her home (about a hundred miles away). I got a call from the Instructor in the shop telling me, in a rather emphatic tone, that, “No diver could possibly wear this suit. They could not put it on without, at least, an inverted chest zipper.” Now, please understand that I’ve been diving this suit design since the mid sixties, and the only people who need such a zipper are incredibly curvaceous women that are of petite statue. This woman was just shy of six foot and she was what some would call, “a javelin.”
Having nothing better to do (and considering that the woman in question was one of the brighter marine geologist grad students), I drove up to the shop later in the day, bringing my suit with me. I showed the Instructor how easy it was to put on and take off, etc. We solved the problem, but the bottom line was that this Instructor, well meaning as she was, had not yet worn out here first suit and was just repeating what her Instructor’s had told her (trusting that said Instructor knew his butt from a hole in the pavement). It wasn’t a marketing issue; the LDS could and did supply the gear (and nicely matched the prices of the LDSs that had sent fliers). So be careful the advise that you pay attention to, all too often, when your dealing with multi-thousand dollar pieces of gear, “Well … I think this is the best” loosely translate to, “I spent twenty-five hundred dollars on this and it have better be the best, but I have no way of actually comparing.”
The bottom line is that for dive gear, real information is hard to come by. Most of the opinions that you see on the net are biased either by being the only piece that class of gear that a diver has ever used or being a loaner that the expert tried out on one or two dives. The thing that you need to do is find an expert who is doing the kind of diving that you plan on doing, and ask him or her about the gear. That may well not be an Instructor. Don’t be afraid to bore on in, why … why … why. If you do not get answers that you understand, find another expert. Make sure that the advice makes sense in terms that you understand. When the advice makes sense, buy the gear and never look back.
A short tale to illustrate the point:
I issue a very detailed equipment list before each class that students where were accepted into the class need to purchase and show up with at the first meeting. Each item is specified as closely as possible (and you thought DIR divers all dressed alike!).
The suits we were using at the time were, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, 5mm, skin two side, Rubatex GN-231N, attached hood, farmer johns, no zippers. I send my list to all the LDSs in the area and give the students copies of the “bids” that they send back (this is a big deal, twenty full sets of gear with no selling or inventory required: take the order, take the money, deliver in two weeks).
One student did not go to one of these LDSs, but rather, to a shop near her home (about a hundred miles away). I got a call from the Instructor in the shop telling me, in a rather emphatic tone, that, “No diver could possibly wear this suit. They could not put it on without, at least, an inverted chest zipper.” Now, please understand that I’ve been diving this suit design since the mid sixties, and the only people who need such a zipper are incredibly curvaceous women that are of petite statue. This woman was just shy of six foot and she was what some would call, “a javelin.”
Having nothing better to do (and considering that the woman in question was one of the brighter marine geologist grad students), I drove up to the shop later in the day, bringing my suit with me. I showed the Instructor how easy it was to put on and take off, etc. We solved the problem, but the bottom line was that this Instructor, well meaning as she was, had not yet worn out here first suit and was just repeating what her Instructor’s had told her (trusting that said Instructor knew his butt from a hole in the pavement). It wasn’t a marketing issue; the LDS could and did supply the gear (and nicely matched the prices of the LDSs that had sent fliers). So be careful the advise that you pay attention to, all too often, when your dealing with multi-thousand dollar pieces of gear, “Well … I think this is the best” loosely translate to, “I spent twenty-five hundred dollars on this and it have better be the best, but I have no way of actually comparing.”
dbulmer
Contributor
Peter,
ClayJar came up with a very valid point as does Thalassamania. Opinions on dive gear will vary from person to person.
For the recreational dives I do in the UK I'm not in the water long enough to warrant dry gloves. If I were doing longer dives and/or lengthy deco dives particularly in the winter then I would look at drygloves as a serious alternative. I prefer the dexterity of 5mm gloves but again as Thalasassamania intimates this is a personal choice and may/may not be suitable for you. Ultimately only you can decide.
From reading your post I got the impression that your travels suggest a wide variety of diving and that your choice of exposure kit is a compromise. I've had a poor fitting Otter (it's very heavy when wet BTW) and learned to rue the day I didn't listen to some advice I got.
The choices I suggested are simple effective and lightweight options. They are also expensive but good quality. The Xerotherm Arctic can and is worn by a large number of people - some use it under other undersuits. I use a 400g Thinsulate B undersuit and a standard Xerotherm - it's a good combination but as you may be travelling the undersuit may be a burden to carry. The Xerotherm is light to carry and is washable - the DUI undersuit in contrast is heavy and cannot be easily washed. I could go on but I have a better idea - why don't you PM me and perhaps we could arrange for you to see my suit? I'm in Windsor so it shouldn't be too difficult to meet up.
One more point - I'm not posing as an expert nor do I have any financial motive - feel free to take up the offer but keep your thinking hat on
ClayJar came up with a very valid point as does Thalassamania. Opinions on dive gear will vary from person to person.
For the recreational dives I do in the UK I'm not in the water long enough to warrant dry gloves. If I were doing longer dives and/or lengthy deco dives particularly in the winter then I would look at drygloves as a serious alternative. I prefer the dexterity of 5mm gloves but again as Thalasassamania intimates this is a personal choice and may/may not be suitable for you. Ultimately only you can decide.
From reading your post I got the impression that your travels suggest a wide variety of diving and that your choice of exposure kit is a compromise. I've had a poor fitting Otter (it's very heavy when wet BTW) and learned to rue the day I didn't listen to some advice I got.
The choices I suggested are simple effective and lightweight options. They are also expensive but good quality. The Xerotherm Arctic can and is worn by a large number of people - some use it under other undersuits. I use a 400g Thinsulate B undersuit and a standard Xerotherm - it's a good combination but as you may be travelling the undersuit may be a burden to carry. The Xerotherm is light to carry and is washable - the DUI undersuit in contrast is heavy and cannot be easily washed. I could go on but I have a better idea - why don't you PM me and perhaps we could arrange for you to see my suit? I'm in Windsor so it shouldn't be too difficult to meet up.
One more point - I'm not posing as an expert nor do I have any financial motive - feel free to take up the offer but keep your thinking hat on
OP
Peter Deveugle
Guest
Thalassamania, dbulmer,
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply - you all raise good points. Which is exactly why I decided posting the initial questions: to get some extra input or views that might not have come up between the people from the 2 UK & 1 US clubs that I dive with on a semi-regular basis (and have been bothering freely with questions and fondling of gear). The more views (and preferably differring), the better and from time to time something pops up that I hadn't heard before - such as clayjars suggestion on latex seals.
dbulmer, you are quite right when you say my drysuit wil have to be a compromise. I would like to get a good quality compressed neoprene suit suitable for long, cold dives (ice-diving does attract me, caves not), but due to lifestyle will have to get something that's transportable (realising too late that I should have gotten in to marine geology instead of sedimentology, d'oh). Anyway , all extra suggestions still welcome and I'll be testing them all out at my LDS this afternoon (again )
P
Edit: I might add that I would prefer to test out my drysuit in the water before purchasing and not go by recommendations from LDS's and (internet-)divers alone (as indeed I have done with all my other gear - except wetsuits). Unfortunately, at 6'5"/180 lbs I can prety much garantuee that I will be uncomfortable in any rental suit and I haven't met that many divers with the same physique yet. So, hence the attempt to cover as many corners as possible before buying and the slight hesitation to go straight to the DUI TLS 350 ...
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply - you all raise good points. Which is exactly why I decided posting the initial questions: to get some extra input or views that might not have come up between the people from the 2 UK & 1 US clubs that I dive with on a semi-regular basis (and have been bothering freely with questions and fondling of gear). The more views (and preferably differring), the better and from time to time something pops up that I hadn't heard before - such as clayjars suggestion on latex seals.
dbulmer, you are quite right when you say my drysuit wil have to be a compromise. I would like to get a good quality compressed neoprene suit suitable for long, cold dives (ice-diving does attract me, caves not), but due to lifestyle will have to get something that's transportable (realising too late that I should have gotten in to marine geology instead of sedimentology, d'oh). Anyway , all extra suggestions still welcome and I'll be testing them all out at my LDS this afternoon (again
)P
Edit: I might add that I would prefer to test out my drysuit in the water before purchasing and not go by recommendations from LDS's and (internet-)divers alone (as indeed I have done with all my other gear - except wetsuits). Unfortunately, at 6'5"/180 lbs I can prety much garantuee that I will be uncomfortable in any rental suit and I haven't met that many divers with the same physique yet. So, hence the attempt to cover as many corners as possible before buying and the slight hesitation to go straight to the DUI TLS 350 ...
danktex
Contributor
At 6'5" and 180 pounds you definitely will have trouble finding a stock suit to try that will fit you. I am 6'5" and 230 pounds and all the stock suits I looked at that were cut for my height were way too wide and the arms were short. I guess there are a lot of tyrannosaurus shaped divers out there.
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So that's what the three-finger mitts are for!danktex:
lowridersvt
Contributor
danktex:
Hey danktex im 6.6 250lbs and i fit in a dui cf200x large .Fits perfect would never dive nothing else give it a shot
danktex
Contributor
I went with a TLS 350 signature. How do you fit in a large? It only goes up to 5'10".lowridersvt:
danktex:
The telescoping torso on a DUI means that a 7 footer could probably get into a large if he was skinny enough. might not be a perfect fit but he could wear it.
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