High end drysuit comparability

[OsirisPan]

Hello.

I am in the market for a custom/MTM drysuit and would like to know peoples opinions on comparability between drysuit brands.
I live in Vancouver Canada so have Bare as a local company with a 8 week lead time for the MTM X-Mission. Its coming out at about similar price points to the SEAL, SF Tech, DUI. I have been told that the SF Tech is the best in terms of quality but have no actual basis for that. I have been told Bare is lower quality than the others so dont want to spend that money on a "lower quality" suit when I could get a better suit but want to make sure thats actually the case before ordering a suit from abroad with less support here. My intention is cold water diving around canada, cave diving around the world (including tight squeezes and potentially sumps) and warm water divin around the world. I would like a suit that can do everything so I can only buy one but if not possible dont mind purchasing two.

Does anyone know if any brand is actually much better at this range and price point and if so would they recommend one over the other if spending in the 5000 CAD range .

 

[tbone1004]

recommendation is not to spend that much money in the first place.

I would do one of these for about $3k which is as good as it's going to get for durability, just heavy for travel

Deep 6 Makara Custom Drysuit

A durable, high quality, custom cut only drysuit made in Europe. See full description for modifications

www.deep6gear.com

and one of these for local stuff

Ri 2-100 Drysuit | OThree Custom Drysuits

The Ri 2-100 Drysuit has been specifically designed for technical divers. Hyper compression ensures virtually no buoyancy change at extreme depth.

www.othree.co.uk

both are true top quality drysuits, and IMO though I'm a textile engineer so what do I know, better than DUI by quite a bit

 

[OsirisPan]

recommendation is not to spend that much money in the first place.

I would do one of these for about $3k which is as good as it's going to get for durability, just heavy for travel

Deep 6 Makara Custom Drysuit

A durable, high quality, custom cut only drysuit made in Europe. See full description for modifications

www.deep6gear.com

and one of these for local stuff

Ri 2-100 Drysuit | OThree Custom Drysuits

The Ri 2-100 Drysuit has been specifically designed for technical divers. Hyper compression ensures virtually no buoyancy change at extreme depth.

www.othree.co.uk

both are true top quality drysuits, and IMO though I'm a textile engineer so what do I know, better than DUI by quite a bit

Hello. Thanks for the reply. Are you associated with these brands in any way ?

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

I have the bare xmission. It’s my current favourite suit. Bought 2021. It’s taken a Beating. I also have a DUI clx 450 which is tougher and i like it a lot I recently picked up a used whites fusion with bullet skin. It’s OK as a spare.
No suit is perfect and they all end up leaking if you dive enough. I’d buy another bare. I dove the previous version of the high end bare trilam for 5-6 years before i added the dui.

 

[OsirisPan]

I have the bare xmission. It’s my current favourite suit. Bought 2021. It’s taken a Beating. I also have a DUI clx 450 which is tougher and i like it a lot I recently picked up a used whites fusion with bullet skin. It’s OK as a spare.
No suit is perfect and they all end up leaking if you dive enough. I’d buy another bare. I dove the previous version of the high end bare trilam for 5-6 years before i added the dui.

Is yours made to measure?

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

Is yours made to measure?

I fit a ladies stock like a custom. My dui is custom. $5k is hosing you. Shop around.

 

[OsirisPan]

I fit a ladies stock like a custom. My dui is custom. $5k is hosing you. Shop around.

Yeah the suit is like 3800 but when adding the neck, wrist and made to measure, pee valves, tax make it close to 5k

 

[ChrisMBC]

I’m in Victoria so similar local diving environment. I’ve had a 4th Element M2M suit for 2 1/2 years now, and I have no complaints whatsoever with it. They have a service center in Vancouver, which is a huge plus IMO as leaks/repairs can easily be sorted.

I also have friends locally who have Bare X-Mission and SF Tech suits, and they all love theirs. I honestly think all the brands you’ve named are good; I’d prioritize going with a suit that has all the features (seals/ring systems/pockets) that you want, and one that has a good local logistic/service chain. Having to ship a suit away for service sucks from Canada.

 

[R.Chisholm]

Hello.

I am in the market for a custom/MTM drysuit and would like to know peoples opinions on comparability between drysuit brands.
I live in Vancouver Canada so have Bare as a local company with a 8 week lead time for the MTM X-Mission. Its coming out at about similar price points to the SEAL, SF Tech, DUI. I have been told that the SF Tech is the best in terms of quality but have no actual basis for that. I have been told Bare is lower quality than the others so dont want to spend that money on a "lower quality" suit when I could get a better suit but want to make sure thats actually the case before ordering a suit from abroad with less support here. My intention is cold water diving around canada, cave diving around the world (including tight squeezes and potentially sumps) and warm water divin around the world. I would like a suit that can do everything so I can only buy one but if not possible dont mind purchasing two.

Does anyone know if any brand is actually much better at this range and price point and if so would they recommend one over the other if spending in the 5000 CAD range .

Hi,

I own an SF Tech TNT PRO trilaminate suit with about 150 dives on it now. The suit is durable and quite heavy. Unlike many other manufacturers the seams are sealed on the inside with aquaseal rather than tapped. In some suits for instance the 4th element argonaut I owned previously the tapes over the seams can become de-bonded.

The suit per se has been good. I have had problems with the following two areas:

- the metal zip has material at the edges that frays quite easily. I need to check the zip very frequently and burn off the excess threads or they get trapped in the zip and the suit leaks.
- I can't really recommend the SF tech heating & inlet valve - I have had suspected leaks, broken cables and a broken back plate while attaching. I now use an Ammonite 360T and have had no problems with that.

If you want to get one they are MTM and cave cut - ensure you get measured while wearing the thickest undersuit you are going to use. Furthermore if you go for integrated boots they only seem to do full and not half sizes - in my case I needed to go for the larger size but then use inserts.

regards, Rory

 

[AJ]

Have bought three dry suits during my diving career. Santi E.Lite (about 150 dives), Mares XR (about 90 dives) and SF Tech (hundreds of dives). I threw the first two in the bin, the SF Tech will probably last me the rest of my diving career (which I hope will be very long). Only thing replaced was the neck seal because I lost a lot of weight and it started leaking.

The slogan of SF tech is: you can have everything double, except your dry suit. It's a real comfort to know you have a good suit that keeps you warm and dry during long and demanding deco dives.