aaen
Contributor
Well after having picked up the fusion bullet in a hurry the other week as I was in need of a dry suit asap , I must say I overall am rather impressed with a few of the features and a few of the others I am a bit confused as to why they choice was made to go that route.
First dive with the suit was a long one 100 minute run time in 45 degrees water with only the base layer of the MK@ package(suit/undies portion). Must say I was rather surprised at how warm I was, mind you though there was a lot of swimming involved.
Back to the suit. This being my first ever dive in a fusion I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled and also shocked as to how different it was then a normal dry suit Now when I say different I just mean in the feel etc, it is not a bad thing just dives a bit different is all then a normal suit or at least to me it does. Dumping the suit was a breeze, actually I was worried with the skin that it would cause the valve to dump constantly when set to minimum, boy was I ever wrong, the skin just pushed the bubble around in the suit to make it a more uniform layer of air, rather interesting. Dumping was just a slight roll to the right and voila it would dump the air easily, almost too easily at times.
Being on a rebreather I have the joy of not really hearing to many bubbles but when the suit dumped that easily just by rolling I was like what is going on where are the bubbles coming from which had me laughing when I finally figured out the source(my old cf200 was a pain in the arse to dump, DUI put the valve to far forward and I had to chicken wing it to get it to dump, should have had it changed but I didn't know any better at the time I bought it, and had just learned to live with it).
The fusion boots are rather interesting but i grabbed the wrong size based on the recommendations, I should always go with my gut when it comes to footwear and go one size smaller then what is recommended. That is being rectified though and nothing against the boot. The boot though overall is pretty good, very similar to turbo soles, and are comfortable to walk in, etc. The one thing I did not like is the flimsy plastic piece that holds the sock in. This piece of plastic is way to soft and when pulling out your foot it will deform/bend/warp or at least it does in my case. Causing me to have to put it back in each and every time. I would recommend that they change the plastic to something a bit more stiffer to hold in the sock in better. But what do I know, maybe they have already tried and this was the best of both worlds. I intend to cut me a few new strips out of a stiffer plastic to avoid having this happen anymore. Small detail but I am picky!!
The pockets on the skin were actually quite easy to work with, I managed to stuff all my normal DIR junk into the pockets, well not stiff put place them easily into the right pockets. Access was pretty easy, actually easier then my DUI pockets which I have had nothing but problems with the flap on them. These you can just stretch out and jam the stuff back in close the flap and voila you can continue on. Also there was lil to no sagging with the gear in the pockets, which was great news.
The dry core is quite a bit different on it's own. Having come from a normal front zip suit I have struggled a bit getting into the suit, I do suspect that this will change in the near future once i get use to putting it on. The taking of the suit off though is rather interesting. I find that with the skin the zipper is pulled inward over my shoulders a bit and causes me a bit of difficulty in getting out of the suit. What I figured out was to bunch the suit up on my shoulders and place my left arm behind my back and kind of wiggle it down and out. Hard to explain but I think that is the best way to get out of it. Takes me a couple of minutes but this will only get faster with practice.
I did experience the tight crotch situation today and had to get out of the water as it would not allow me to frog kick properly(Basically I cold only move my leg at the hip and minimal at the knee, not sure why this was happening) without being a bit hunched over and I sent my buddies on with the dive as I was not sure what the problem was or how long it would take to figure out. that being said I figured it out within a minute of them going in the water, but did not chase them down, they were on breathers no bubble trails to find them. (this was user error though for not making sure the suspenders were through the slots in the dry core)
Actually I am not quite sure why the slots are made so small in the dry core to begin with and why they are not just plastic slides/buckles the suspenders are put through instead of a strip of the dry core material. I have read that you can prevent this with some tri-glides placed below the opening, or duct taping the velcro on the suspenders so they will slide back into the slot, to me it would make more sense to just attack a plastic rectangular clip/slot and have the suspenders go through there. This will be tried out this coming weekend to make sure that I do not have to bail on anymore training dives with the revo.
Anyways overall I am pretty darn happy with the suit, it will take a while to get use to the doffing(mental note, p-valve must be installed asap, so I dont have to struggle after a 100 minute dive to go to the bathroom) and donning of the suit and the different feeling, some features, but that is nothing new. Each suit I have owned or used has had quirks or a different learning to it, and this one is no different. Except a hell of a lot cheaper with undies then any of the other brands out there.
Once again thanks goes out to Doug and the guys/gals at Whites Diving for helping me out on such short notice and for producing some very high quality and innovative suits.
Steve
First dive with the suit was a long one 100 minute run time in 45 degrees water with only the base layer of the MK@ package(suit/undies portion). Must say I was rather surprised at how warm I was, mind you though there was a lot of swimming involved.
Back to the suit. This being my first ever dive in a fusion I was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled and also shocked as to how different it was then a normal dry suit Now when I say different I just mean in the feel etc, it is not a bad thing just dives a bit different is all then a normal suit or at least to me it does. Dumping the suit was a breeze, actually I was worried with the skin that it would cause the valve to dump constantly when set to minimum, boy was I ever wrong, the skin just pushed the bubble around in the suit to make it a more uniform layer of air, rather interesting. Dumping was just a slight roll to the right and voila it would dump the air easily, almost too easily at times.
Being on a rebreather I have the joy of not really hearing to many bubbles but when the suit dumped that easily just by rolling I was like what is going on where are the bubbles coming from which had me laughing when I finally figured out the source(my old cf200 was a pain in the arse to dump, DUI put the valve to far forward and I had to chicken wing it to get it to dump, should have had it changed but I didn't know any better at the time I bought it, and had just learned to live with it).
The fusion boots are rather interesting but i grabbed the wrong size based on the recommendations, I should always go with my gut when it comes to footwear and go one size smaller then what is recommended. That is being rectified though and nothing against the boot. The boot though overall is pretty good, very similar to turbo soles, and are comfortable to walk in, etc. The one thing I did not like is the flimsy plastic piece that holds the sock in. This piece of plastic is way to soft and when pulling out your foot it will deform/bend/warp or at least it does in my case. Causing me to have to put it back in each and every time. I would recommend that they change the plastic to something a bit more stiffer to hold in the sock in better. But what do I know, maybe they have already tried and this was the best of both worlds. I intend to cut me a few new strips out of a stiffer plastic to avoid having this happen anymore. Small detail but I am picky!!
The pockets on the skin were actually quite easy to work with, I managed to stuff all my normal DIR junk into the pockets, well not stiff put place them easily into the right pockets. Access was pretty easy, actually easier then my DUI pockets which I have had nothing but problems with the flap on them. These you can just stretch out and jam the stuff back in close the flap and voila you can continue on. Also there was lil to no sagging with the gear in the pockets, which was great news.
The dry core is quite a bit different on it's own. Having come from a normal front zip suit I have struggled a bit getting into the suit, I do suspect that this will change in the near future once i get use to putting it on. The taking of the suit off though is rather interesting. I find that with the skin the zipper is pulled inward over my shoulders a bit and causes me a bit of difficulty in getting out of the suit. What I figured out was to bunch the suit up on my shoulders and place my left arm behind my back and kind of wiggle it down and out. Hard to explain but I think that is the best way to get out of it. Takes me a couple of minutes but this will only get faster with practice.
I did experience the tight crotch situation today and had to get out of the water as it would not allow me to frog kick properly(Basically I cold only move my leg at the hip and minimal at the knee, not sure why this was happening) without being a bit hunched over and I sent my buddies on with the dive as I was not sure what the problem was or how long it would take to figure out. that being said I figured it out within a minute of them going in the water, but did not chase them down, they were on breathers no bubble trails to find them. (this was user error though for not making sure the suspenders were through the slots in the dry core)
Actually I am not quite sure why the slots are made so small in the dry core to begin with and why they are not just plastic slides/buckles the suspenders are put through instead of a strip of the dry core material. I have read that you can prevent this with some tri-glides placed below the opening, or duct taping the velcro on the suspenders so they will slide back into the slot, to me it would make more sense to just attack a plastic rectangular clip/slot and have the suspenders go through there. This will be tried out this coming weekend to make sure that I do not have to bail on anymore training dives with the revo.
Anyways overall I am pretty darn happy with the suit, it will take a while to get use to the doffing(mental note, p-valve must be installed asap, so I dont have to struggle after a 100 minute dive to go to the bathroom) and donning of the suit and the different feeling, some features, but that is nothing new. Each suit I have owned or used has had quirks or a different learning to it, and this one is no different. Except a hell of a lot cheaper with undies then any of the other brands out there.
Once again thanks goes out to Doug and the guys/gals at Whites Diving for helping me out on such short notice and for producing some very high quality and innovative suits.
Steve
