leaky Santi drysuits?

[Rollin]

The Santi Emotion is a fantastisc suit to wear, it is light, flexible, easy to take on and off. I can walk around with it all day long.

But it had a major leak, after less than 20 dives over the full length of the zipper. New zipper was placed in by Santi, but they didn't want to do it under warranty. My local dive shop paid for it (heard it afterwards). This zipper was fine for 3 years, but is leaking now after 280 dives at the base, some small piece of plastic came loose. It may be user error, maybe not using enough lubricant? I don't know.

In those 3 years, I had to fix at least 50 puncture holes, leaking seams and crotch-strap wear. I dive in challenging waters, and touching a rock with a barnacle or oyster is enough. The fabric is extremely vulnurable. Also the seams and crotch area however are not what you would expect of a 2000 $ suit. Good to hear they have reinforced this suit in the mean time.

Anyway, I ordered a Ursuit Cordura FZ last week. I hope this will work better for me. If you need a suit that is light, flexible and you will never touch anything? Maybe this Santi is for you. Otherwise, stay away from it.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@Rollin, the E-motion was never marketed as being a tough suit. It was marketed as a light weight and flexible suit, good for travel, etc. Why did you not consider the E-lite, which is a heavier weight suit that appears to be marketed as more capable of withstanding abrasion and punctures?

 

[Rollin]

Bad advice from the dive shop I guess.
Before, I had a Camaro drysuit, which was even more prone to puncturing. I asked for a tougher suit, and got the Emotion.

Like I said, the vulnerability is one thing, I should have done my homework. But the leaky crotch area (of the crotch strap), seams and zipper w/o warranty are worse.

It is a quattrolaminate now, with an extra layer of Aquasure inside ;-)