Is it true that Henderson Hyperstretch wetsuit only good for shallow diving?

[mfalco]

I hate my HH suit , if i would have known i would have never bought it . I get cold easy , so 70 degree water with the 7mm i still froze.

7mm in 70 degree water and you get cold? That sounds a little crazy to me. I wear a 7/5mm in 50 degree water and it keeps me warm.

 

[xiSkiGuy]

I frequently wear a 7/5mm HH in 48-55F water at 120-150ft. I stay quite warm.

Wetsuit thickness and compression is only part of the equation. How well the suit fits you and minimizes water exchange is very important, too. IMO, HH wetsuits excel at an off the rack fit.

 

[nyprrthd]

*snipped*.. In addition to that the nylon laminate is an "open weave" type fabric like nylon stockings causing the laminate to be stretchier but less durable than other styles. HH in the presence of velcro will show "pilling" and "runs" much more quickly than others. The 200 to 250 dive lifespan is less on an HH.

My 3mm Hyperstretch is comfortable, and easy to get on and off. However, after only 26 dives in it, it has pilled wherever the velcro has touched it. The seat and lower back has also pilled terribly from the abrasion of sitting on boats on the way to dive sites. Threads have come loose in many of the seams on mine and my wife's. We treat our gear with respect, so it's not as if it's been abused. She has a 5mm HH, which looks as bad as mine.

 

[ClevelandDiver]

Thank you everybody for sharing your experience/opinions/knowledge. Now I know that the HH wetsuit really shrinks more than others. If I really can't find a wetsuit that fits me, I may have to go with HH. I have a lanky body. All wetsuits I tried at the LDS were too big around the waistline. It almost like they were made for chubby people. :-(

One of my friends who has been diving for many years told me that I should get just a decent suit. Don’t spend a lot of money on the expensive one because I’ll get fatter as I age. He claimed that he changes his wetsuit every five years (he’s been diving for about 30 years). What do you think? Is it typical to change wetsuit every five years because you get bigger?


Patrick

Patrick,

I have an unconventional solution for you. Buy an old sharkskin style suit off ebay. You can get most of them for $5 -$50 plus shipping. They are very warm and built for skinny divers. Vintagescubasupply.com sells a few as well. Bonus: they are very cool looking.

If you want to go the custom route, diveskin.net will make you a custom suit for $240 including shipping to the US. Total time to make and ship is about 3 weeks.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[mfalco]

My 3mm Hyperstretch is comfortable, and easy to get on and off. However, after only 26 dives in it, it has pilled wherever the velcro has touched it. The seat and lower back has also pilled terribly from the abrasion of sitting on boats on the way to dive sites. Threads have come loose in many of the seams on mine and my wife's. We treat our gear with respect, so it's not as if it's been abused. She has a 5mm HH, which looks as bad as mine.

I was warned by the dive shop that the pilling would happen where the velcro touches it. It is just asthetic, and shouldn't effect the functioning of the wetsuit.

if it really bothers you, light a lighter and pas it by the pilling quickly.

 

[padiscubapro]

using "of the rack" and custom suits for years, i cant really agree. yes the custom might fit better, especially if you are sized in a way thats usually kind of in between the usual sizing. by not overstretching material from start it keeps you warmer. beside that, sofar every suit was more or less "done" within a year. if you have a high quality of the rack or a good custom your 5mm will be about equivalent to a 3mm if it is substandard material it might be insulating like a 2mm. still usable as an undersuit or warm water suit. while having used billabong and camaro for years, i dont see any "out of normal" probs with the HH suits. of the rack fits me great, so no real point to waste money on custom suits (well give me a good deal and i take it). good suits are not cheap period, nothing to do with fitted or not, neoprene comes in many qualities and gets expensive fast if you dont use cr*p. as example a custom camaro cost not much more than a standard (we talking $50 to 100) same material, maybe a couple more zippers and stuff at your choice.

by the way, if the shallow side of your deep dives is at about 200 to 250ft - you might wanna consider drysuits considering deco times, total divetime and the usual heatloss. i couldnt imagine, even here in the caribbean, to do any dives where the shallower end is in the 200ft range to use anything less than a semidry (and thats getting friggin cold in the end).

I use my DS in cold water and for long dives (anything over about 4 hours).. I'm quite confortable in 80ish water for at least 3 hours in my current suit.. Depending on what the water temperature is, I sometimes add a "skull cap". It fits correctly so there is very little flushing of the suit.. Its very tightly tailored and contoured.. Without the zippers on the arms and legs it would be impossible to get in/out of..

 

[padiscubapro]

no probs here with it here. dive 5mm and it seems as warm as my old 5mm. beside the above mentioned compression / less insulation issue you have with nearly all suits it sounds like a bunch of bs to me. if you wanna get around / minimize compression look for a crushed neoprene suit. denser material = less compression = less insulation loss at depth. or go for (semi)dry . poss overkill.

The "air" bubbles is what makes neoprene a good insulator, get rid ofthe bubbles, the insulation factor drops...

 

[CompuDude]

I hate my HH suit , if i would have known i would have never bought it . I get cold easy , so 70 degree water with the 7mm i still froze.

Yeesh. Hyperstretch may not be the warmest suit out there, but if you're freezing in a 7mm wetsuit of any make in 70 degree water, it's time to invest in a drysuit.