Over the past 9 years, I've had (hmmm) five different dry suits:
High-Tide (Neoprene) (bought new and sold years ago)
White's Fusion (laminate) (bought new and is my warm water/back up suit)
Bare XDC2 (Compressed Neoprene) (bought new and just sold)
DUI TLS (laminate) (bought very used and is a back up/student suit)
And now, a Santi e.Lite (laminate)
I got the Santi as a result of going to DEMA and talking with a friend who then pushed me into the Santi booth where they proceeded to measure me up - down - and - sideways! I wasn't planning on buying the suit but I got caught up in the DEMA excitement and out came the credit card! What a great decision.
So, my review:
This is a true custom suit, unlike the others I've had (although the High Tide and the Bare were semi-custom and the Fusion fits like a glove). So the first things I realized when I put it on:
a. The "socks" seemed to be a bit snug;
b. The neoprene neck seal was snugger than my others (I've had neoprene neck seals from the beginning).
Last week I finally into the water wearing my Halo undergarment -- 46 degrees.
First impressions:
a. Very easy to put on! I love suits that are friendly to get into -- you shouldn't have to ruin your shoulder to get the second arm in a suit -- the Santi was a piece of cake.
b. My feet, with my fluffy "sockies" (a prototype) fit just fine and the rock boots, well, they ROCKED. Instead of laces that come undone, just two Velcro strips that made them snug but not tight.
c. Neck seal was snug but quite comfortable.
I was good to go (oh, and I have the Sytech replaceable wrist seals with Sytech dry gloves).
Speaking of the dry gloves, on my other suits, there always seems to be a band on the wrist where the cold water hits the seal making me think there's a leak -- nope, not with this suit. Yeah -- warm hands, warm wrists -- no "Oh my God I didn't get the dry gloves on right."
We dropped and dove -- it was a dry suit -- well behaved, dry, flexible, it felt like I'd been diving it forever.
The most important thing I noticed was MY FEET WERE WARM. I was blown away as to how warm my feet were -- something that had been bothering me for quite some time. Who knew you could have 10 toes at the end of a dive? As for the rest of me, warm enough so that an hour in the 46 degree temps taking pictures (that is, not moving much) was fine.
To sum up, I am very impressed with:
a. The fit -- it really was made to order and fits very well;
b. The fit -- while I'm not one who thinks dry suits are fashionable, I was amazed at how many people in the parking lot commented on how good it looked (and, let's face it, looking good is part of the game!);
c. The diveability -- it was easy to dive and had a zero learning curve. Yes, I have quite a bit of dry suit experience but still, my prior experience was that a new suit required a few dives for comfort -- not this one -- comfort from the first moment.
d. Most important, it did what a dry suit is supposed to do -- kept me WARM and DRY -- with an emphasis on WARM.
Next up, trying out the electric vest (which I've had although OceanEdge Outfitters (Santi's USA dealer) graciously replaced my old Santi vest with the new model) and the electric liners TSandM gave me for my birthday!
Would I recommend this suit? Absolutely.
High-Tide (Neoprene) (bought new and sold years ago)
White's Fusion (laminate) (bought new and is my warm water/back up suit)
Bare XDC2 (Compressed Neoprene) (bought new and just sold)
DUI TLS (laminate) (bought very used and is a back up/student suit)
And now, a Santi e.Lite (laminate)
I got the Santi as a result of going to DEMA and talking with a friend who then pushed me into the Santi booth where they proceeded to measure me up - down - and - sideways! I wasn't planning on buying the suit but I got caught up in the DEMA excitement and out came the credit card! What a great decision.
So, my review:
This is a true custom suit, unlike the others I've had (although the High Tide and the Bare were semi-custom and the Fusion fits like a glove). So the first things I realized when I put it on:
a. The "socks" seemed to be a bit snug;
b. The neoprene neck seal was snugger than my others (I've had neoprene neck seals from the beginning).
Last week I finally into the water wearing my Halo undergarment -- 46 degrees.
First impressions:
a. Very easy to put on! I love suits that are friendly to get into -- you shouldn't have to ruin your shoulder to get the second arm in a suit -- the Santi was a piece of cake.
b. My feet, with my fluffy "sockies" (a prototype) fit just fine and the rock boots, well, they ROCKED. Instead of laces that come undone, just two Velcro strips that made them snug but not tight.
c. Neck seal was snug but quite comfortable.
I was good to go (oh, and I have the Sytech replaceable wrist seals with Sytech dry gloves).
Speaking of the dry gloves, on my other suits, there always seems to be a band on the wrist where the cold water hits the seal making me think there's a leak -- nope, not with this suit. Yeah -- warm hands, warm wrists -- no "Oh my God I didn't get the dry gloves on right."
We dropped and dove -- it was a dry suit -- well behaved, dry, flexible, it felt like I'd been diving it forever.
The most important thing I noticed was MY FEET WERE WARM. I was blown away as to how warm my feet were -- something that had been bothering me for quite some time. Who knew you could have 10 toes at the end of a dive? As for the rest of me, warm enough so that an hour in the 46 degree temps taking pictures (that is, not moving much) was fine.
To sum up, I am very impressed with:
a. The fit -- it really was made to order and fits very well;
b. The fit -- while I'm not one who thinks dry suits are fashionable, I was amazed at how many people in the parking lot commented on how good it looked (and, let's face it, looking good is part of the game!);
c. The diveability -- it was easy to dive and had a zero learning curve. Yes, I have quite a bit of dry suit experience but still, my prior experience was that a new suit required a few dives for comfort -- not this one -- comfort from the first moment.
d. Most important, it did what a dry suit is supposed to do -- kept me WARM and DRY -- with an emphasis on WARM.
Next up, trying out the electric vest (which I've had although OceanEdge Outfitters (Santi's USA dealer) graciously replaced my old Santi vest with the new model) and the electric liners TSandM gave me for my birthday!
Would I recommend this suit? Absolutely.
