Drysuit Roundtable Q&A

[Duck diver426]

UPDATE: Got 10 dives in the SeaSoft dry suit under my belt. I have resolved the leak issues by keeping a bit more air in the suit during assent so that the wrist and neck seals aren't compromised. Also was sure to tighten the dump valve on the sleeve prior to diving. The water in Florida is still "warm" (71 degrees this past weekend) but being dry during the surface interval was SO nice as the air temp was mid 70s and breezy. {The other non-dry suit divers were shivering in their boat coats.} I'm sold and would recommend SeaSoft to others who are looking for dry suits.

I would never recommend Seasoft dry suits to anyone, especially for commercial use. I have 4 divers who purchased new dry suits and after receiving them about 2-3 later then we were quoted all 4 leaked badly on the first dive. We first returned one that was about 6 inches too long to have the legs shortened and the neck seal reduced. I was told the repair would take 48 hours, we received it 2 weeks later. Bruce was well aware of time crunch as these guys use these suits everyday. 2 of the other suits were sent in for various reasons i.e. bad zipper, leaking dump valve oversize neck seals. After getting them back both of those and the first suit still leaked. The local dive shop actually filmed all 4 of the suits leaking for Bruce at Seasoft. The dive shop refunded 2 of the suits which they ended up eating because Bruce at Seasoft would stand by his product. We had the others "repaired" again but they still leaked. I contacted Bruce myself but all he could do is repeat is resume to me over and over and tell me I was wrong. I will never purchase another suit from Seasoft again. We are not new to this and purchase 10-15 suits per year for our divers. After a good sales pitch from Brock a Seasoft we gave them a chance, but never again. Do yourself a favor and get a suit from High Tide. Best suits on the market period. After weeks of hearing it was our fault that the Seasoft suits did not work one of the divers used his new High Tide for the first time today. Amazingly he came up dry.

 

[Compressor]

Thanks for providing input on Seasoft dry suits. I will steer away from them.

 

[Bruce Justinen]

To Duck Diver426:

As you know by now, I have provided your company with a brand new suit, not a replacement suit but a "we really screwed up" suit. As far as I am aware you and your company are OK with all of the past issues. Often there is more to a story than one hears or even realizes. Like most manufacturers we work hard to deliver a great product and take care of our customers, when you don't we are WELL AWARE that there are scuba forums and discussion groups that are more than ready to trash your company.

We made mistakes with Duck Diver426 but most of them were because of miscommunication or lack of any communication with the middleman in this case, the local dive store. Everything the local dive store asked us to do - we did! BUT we should have been more pro-active with this customer and we ultimately failed as you can tell by his email. I can honestly say that we simply were not aware of all of the issues or we would have addressed them earlier.

Is this typical? It should be obvious to anyone that it is not and considering we sell 200 - 500 different products EVERY DAY. It is safe to say that we rarely have these kinds of issues or we would be out of business.

All companies make mistakes, with the volume of products we make it happens. I want to add something here that I think is important. We could do what most companies are doing - simply becoming distributors. Instead of making products like they used to they are closing their manufacturing here in the US and going overseas, usually to China. By doing so they limit their exposure. All products are made well ahead of time, they are inspected multiple times and the ability to make "custom" suits, or even neck and wrist seals and different boots sizes is lost.

Those of us who still have factories here in the USA and we are one of them have to deal with an employee who has a bad day or screws up the math and puts the wrong neck or wrist seal or boot size on a suit. I remember once about 10 years ago or more I had a technician cross over the boots on a drysuit. They were ready to ship a suit out with the left on the right and vice-versa. Our built in quality control caught that of course but sometimes things happen.

Our goal is to limit issues and mistakes but then to make them right once they happen. With Duck Diver we made mistakes but I am proud that we hunted him down and made it right. That matters to me, mattered to him and should matter to all of you.

Safe diving,

Bruce

 

[Diver-Drex]

I have been resistant to dry suit diving but I may be coming around to it. I'm interested in a Seac Warmdry. Based on the size chart and my measurements (6'2", 215, 49" chest, 38" waist, 33" inseam) in need a XXL. My concern is the boot. I wear a size 10 and the installed boot is a 12. Is this a problem or non issue with heavy socks? Is an overshoe needed? I wear neutral buoyant find with 'regular' foot pockets, will these be ok or am I looking a jet fin type foot pockets to fit over the attached boot?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

I have been resistant to dry suit diving but I may be coming around to it. I'm interested in a Seac Warmdry. Based on the size chart and my measurements (6'2", 215, 49" chest, 38" waist, 33" inseam) in need a XXL. My concern is the boot. I wear a size 10 and the installed boot is a 12. Is this a problem or non issue with heavy socks? Is an overshoe needed? I wear neutral buoyant find with 'regular' foot pockets, will these be ok or am I looking a jet fin type foot pockets to fit over the attached boot?

By the time you add the socks, you shouldn't have any issues with that boot. If you do, we can always swap it inhouse for you. We do all of the Seac Drysuit repairs.

 

[RandomGuy1]

I am getting ready to patch a leak on my fusion drysuit with the patch kit. Do I need an actual heat gun, or will a hair dryer get hot enough?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

I am getting ready to patch a leak on my fusion drysuit with the patch kit. Do I need an actual heat gun, or will a hair dryer get hot enough?

Some people claim success with a hair dryer, I will always use a heat gun though. The most important steps are cleaning the suit AND the patch with Acetone or MEK, and getting enough heat

 

[stuartv]

I am getting ready to patch a leak on my fusion drysuit with the patch kit. Do I need an actual heat gun, or will a hair dryer get hot enough?

If you have a Harbor Freight nearby, they have heat guns for cheap. Or you could order one from them online.