lavacore vs sharkskin vs thermoprene

[jallen013]

My 3 mil has gotten a bit too big and I'm considering adding a thermal skin (for lack of a better word) to the mix to wear on it's own as well as under the slightly-too-big 3 mil. It seems that Lavacore, Sharkskin and Fourth Element's ThermoCLINE full suits are all pretty similar. Looking for opinions on the difference between the three as well as overall impressions of thermal skins.

Thanks.

EDIT: ThermoCLINE, not Theremoprene. Sorry.

 

[Anilaodiver]

I have the same question, but Lavacore is no longer available in the USA. That leaves the others.

 

[tc]

I've used all three and the lavacore was by far the best. It looks like it's still available on Amazon.

 

[flyboy08]

I only have dove with the sharkskin pants recently. I like them, but to use as an undergarment seems overkill unless under a dry suit IMHO.....use was in 78-80 degree water.

 

[Scott]

I have the same question, but Lavacore is no longer available in the USA. That leaves the others.

According to the Lavacore website, there are plenty of US dealers

 

[Anilaodiver]

A couple of reputable Scuba dealers ordered a Lavacore thermal for me two months ago, and their order was not filled.
They told me the distributor was gone. But Amazon today said it has my size, so I just ordered one, keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Damselfish]

I was at what seemed like a fairly major Lavacore dealer in CA last December hoping to try on a few shirts and they had little or no Lavacore, said everything was long backordered. (I wound up checking out Sharkskin shirts instead.) They said nothing about Lavacore being discontinued, but it there's clearly something going on. I bought a pair of Lavacore pants at Leisure Pro early last year and my husband got a full suit. Their stock seemed somewhat random at the time, and if you look now most sizes of things are listed as discontinued and the remainder is closeout.

 

[Trailboss123]

I am a big fan of the neutrally buoyant Pinnacle Inferno V-Skin Merino. I have had mine for 2.5 years. I wear it as a wetsuit (equivalent to a 3mm) for tropical diving to temps down to 78 degrees. I also use it as a drysuit undergarment in temps down to the low 60's. Pinnacle Inferno V-Skin Woman's Full-Suit

 

[Marie13]

I tried getting Lavacore through DRIS (my LDS) maybe 6-8 weeks ago. Told it was no longer available at all (they had tried to order my size).

 

[Yancey M]

I got myself and my wife lavacore tops back in January because they were marked down crazy cheap on scuba.com which to me seemed like they may be discontinuing them. They were like 60 or 70 percent off.

So far all we have done is try them on but they seemed to be pretty good thermals. Going to try to get them wet soon if these on shore winds would finally die down and the water would warm up a few degrees.