isotherm donning

[newjack06]

i just purchased last year's isotherm. im struggling with the zipper. first is there a way to zip in without help.
also i tried the suit on with a tee shirt. can i dive with a thin shirt underneath for extra warmth.
one more question for the road. how do i wear the hood, do i stuff it in the suit or wear it on the outside?

 

[Zak OHara]

Jack,

Good choice on the Isotherm. You will need help with the zipper. Unless you should practice a lot of yoga, and have a hyper mobility disorder (extremely flexible and double jointed).

As for the t shirt, it's up to you. You can wear what ever you like under the suit. I'm not really sure a cotton tshirt is going to provide you with extra warmth though. In fact most likely after the dive, it may contribute to you getting colder.

The hood will lay over the neck seal on the outside, no stuffing allowed. Make sure you roll in the neck, ankle, and wrist seals, so the rubber part of the neoprene is making contact with your skin. This is why the suit is so warm; the seals really minimize water flow coming in or out.

Hope you enjoy your new purchase!

 

[fusioncruiser]

....... The hood will lay over the neck seal on the outside, no stuffing allowed. Make sure you roll in the neck, ankle, and wrist seals, so the rubber part of the neoprene is making contact with your skin. This is why the suit is so warm; the seals really minimize water flow coming in or out....

Hey Zak, I have a question about the neck area... I just bought three of these suits. one for me and 2 for my twin 13yr old daughters that are getting certified with me. We dove them on the weekend and I really had good luck with mine but with theirs the ankles, wrists and mostly the neck are too loose (we are rolling them in as mentioned) to provide a good seal for them. Is there anything that can be done to make them snugger up there? Is there a product that Mares sells that is like that metal skin in tensor bandage style that we could wrap a couple of times around their legs, wrists and neck prior to donning the suit to fill up the void? Or, is it a matter of having them cut and re-sewn? I am a little concerned about altering the suit as the rest of it is comfortable for them so I want to do this without affecting the suit if possible. Also, we noted that the hood has the silver metal skin on the neck so we thought that mabe the hood goes on first and then the neck piece goes over to get a tight fit. There was no information sent with the units so we have just been doing what looks right to us.

side question for you... I bought them from LeisurePro but my LDS suggested that there may be warranty issues with mares items bought there... I hope that isn't the case as I also bought three Dragon AT weight integrated BCDs and a proton 42 metal regulator from them too.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

[Zak OHara]

Hi Shawn,
Thanks for being such a patron of Mares. We appreciate it! Unfortunately there is no real product to solve your situation. The way I see it is you have two options. 1 is to cut and resew or glue. It is not that complicated of a process, although anytime you cut and glue the integrity of the neoprene is compromised. Although, neoprene cement works really well. Should you cut, use a very sharp pair of scissors or exacto knife and cut a wedge out and reglue. This will effectively tighten up the seals. Alternative 2 is to get a velcro type strap (like a wrist watch) and gently cinch up the extra material. Maybe there is a local wetsuit alteration company? If you think their bodies will not change too much before the life of the suit expires, I prefer alternative 1.

Hood goes on last. When neck collar is rolled under, there should still be some of the "metal skin" material exposed. This is what the metal skin seal of the hood should come in contact with. Skin on skin so to speak.

Your warranties are in effect do not worry about this. Although if you go Dr. Frankenstien on the seals of the suits, we can't cover your handiwork under warranty. Be sure to save all receipts as this is most important to us.

Sincerely,

 

[Chewie07]

I'm glad I read this! I've always pu my hood on first and then put my head through the neck (it's always been kinda tight, yet comfortable at depth). Would probably explain the accumulation of water, not a lot, in the bottom of the suit.

Skin on Skin should certainly be easy enough to remember!

As far what to wear under the isotherm? I've been wearing the mares 0.5m/rash guard shorts and top and have been extremely comfortable donning, wearing and doffing the suit.

 

[fusioncruiser]

Hi Shawn,
Thanks for being such a patron of Mares. We appreciate it! Unfortunately there is no real product to solve your situation. The way I see it is you have two options. 1 is to cut and resew or glue. It is not that complicated of a process, although anytime you cut and glue the integrity of the neoprene is compromised. Although, neoprene cement works really well. Should you cut, use a very sharp pair of scissors or exacto knife and cut a wedge out and reglue. This will effectively tighten up the seals. Alternative 2 is to get a velcro type strap (like a wrist watch) and gently cinch up the extra material. Maybe there is a local wetsuit alteration company? If you think their bodies will not change too much before the life of the suit expires, I prefer alternative 1.

Hood goes on last. When neck collar is rolled under, there should still be some of the "metal skin" material exposed. This is what the metal skin seal of the hood should come in contact with. Skin on skin so to speak.

Your warranties are in effect do not worry about this. Although if you go Dr. Frankenstien on the seals of the suits, we can't cover your handiwork under warranty. Be sure to save all receipts as this is most important to us.

Sincerely,

Thanks for the reply Zak. I think we will try the cut / re-glue method as it sounds like the best option.

So far, all our Mares stuff has been really good. We are happy to recommend Mares to friends for sure. We have and love: 3 x isotherms, 3 x trilastic boots, 3 x dragon AT BCDs, Proton 42 Metal, Proton Octo, 2 x plana avanti fins and 1 set of Raptor fins. We are just trying to decide on the purchase of regs for my daughters... we are thinking we will likely go with 2 more 42 proton metal and 2 Mission 3 consoles.

Thanks again,
Shawn

 

[tracy_from_oz]

Shawn

You will love the isotherms and so will the girls.

I have had mine a lot of years when they were originally red in colour 90% all over.
Back then when you ordered one in Aussie it was made to order and sent from Italy.

Shawn how are you finding the Raptors?

NewJack

The zipper is hard to master by yourself. A bit of wet suit wax helps too keeping it easy to move I have found. After all this time I still need help doing it up but thats what the dive buddy is for.


Overall a great suit and I have done over 1000 dives in mine.

 

[fusioncruiser]

Shawn

Shawn how are you finding the Raptors?

So far the raptors are super easy to find... I just look down

Ok, seriously... I got to demo them first and was also demo'ing the volo powers. Here is what I thought (remember... TOTAL rookie here). The Volo's collapse very quickly when you kick hard (like trying to launch out of a pool for instance) where the Raptors don't. The raptops where definitely easier to straight line swim for distance than a normal 4 channel Mares fin and I thought they were almost as easy as the Volo powers. It felt like I could swim all day with the powers as they are an easy going fin but the raptors were not far behind AND they had that extra power that was missing on my demo of the volo's. For me it was an easy choice.
Now however... I must make a quick additional note... I have nowhere near mastered the frog kick but from what I tried on the demo, the power might (I repeat MIGHT) have had a Super slight advantage there. I tend to think that someone who had mastered the frog kick, would not have problems with either of these though. Modified frog kick for caves, might be a whole other topic but I dunno, I sure liked these raptors for what I hope to be diving over the next 10 years.

Cheers!
Shawn

 

[tracy_from_oz]

Thanks Shawn for the review. Much appreciated.