Looking for new drysuit

[Stoo]

What about bare or whites

I'm a long time Viking user (awesome suit... but not for caves) and a relatively recent SANTI user. I bought an eMotion for travel... Love the suit, but the T-zip gave out in about 50 dives, which seems to be a real issue with these suits. SANTI and I believe DUI have dropped them I believe.

Don't be quick to discount the Bare. My long time buddy, who is very hard on suits, loves his (although he just got a new one last year and his T-zip is also done... replacing it with brass...)

My wife bought the Bare Tec Dry last season... seems like a decent suit and the price was right. With the Canuck Buck these days, they might be a real steal for you. I understand Bare has a lifetime warranty on their suits, and I think that this might be unique in the industry. Given the huge price increases in SANTI of late, I will likely go to Bare next time. (My Viking will likely still be going strong long after the SANTI has died).

Good luck!

 

[KevinNM]

The Santi e-motion or the DUI FLX-extreme seem to be the go-to suits of the various serious cave divers I've taken classes from. The e-motion isn't the right suit to crawl through wrecks with, but in general I'm told it holds up pretty well for even pretty aggressive cave diving (everyone I talked to is diving backmount - hardcore sidemount might be different). I'm sure there are others, but I'd recommend against the bare trilaminate suits based on my experiance. (Though there is a great review here from someone with a 2nd gen SB suit - I have no personal experience with those).

I bought a Santi e-motion, but when I opened the package from EE last week it had an attached neoprene hood. Which none of us involved in the measuring process remember even as an option, much less ordering it. And yeah, it was kind of overwhelmingly tight, so back it went. So I can't tell you how wonderful it is yet, but I have hopes.

I'd recommend against the Bare Tech dry or the HDC tech dry. All three people I personally know who ordered HDC tech drys all had them leak and had to send them back, at least one had to send theirs back twice. My tech dry has a really stupid location for an exhaust valve, so you have to be ascending face up and heads up to not have it trap air (or hold your left hand next to your ear - which makes it hard to reach your wing's rear dump valve). And when you try to reach your left tank valve you will find the exhaust valve hitting your forearm. I paid Gamble Scuba to move it after getting tired of this idiocy.

And someone at Bare is convinced that latex glue is the way to attach pockets and pee valves, and I'm here to tell you it isn't. I sent my suit back when everything started to fall off, then a few months later I paid Gamble Scuba to properly glue them on when they started to peel off again.

All told I paid multiple hundreds of dollars to make the bare suit kind of usable. (And didn't have the suit for about 3 months between bare repair and the fixes at Gamble Scuba) And since it is just a bit undersized I need to get a properly sized suit, hence the Santi I'm waiting on.

So my suggestion is to pay the extra for a DUI or Santi up front, and buy it from someone who sells a lot of drysuits to people doing the kind of diving you want to do.

And I can recommend Gamble Scuba as a good place to get your dry suit fixed.

 

[SillyQuestions]

It's worth noting that Otter drysuits ( Otter Drysuits, UK) have been used for the worlds most extreme cave dives....

Pozo Azul - Cave Diving Beyond the Limits

The Britannic telescopic mark 2 is the one in question. I use it for gnarly sidemount (as far as you can fit a drysuit anyway) and is plenty tough enough for crawling through wrecks.

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[decompression]

Just had a quick look at the Rofos on DRIS. Looks like even more models then the Santi! But interesting. Is there a model that you could suggest that would be appropriate for my planned dives.

I'd recommend the Breathable RS350TR Drysuit, it's tough (cordura), flexible and breathable (Florida sunshine). And considering its $2200 it's priced really well. Also, lots of custom options. And super service from DRIS.

Here's a good video;

UTD Equipment: UTD Drysuit RS350AG - YouTube


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[rhwestfall]

What about USIA? I've heard unsolicited good comments (nothing to do with sales or potential sales) about them....

 

[uncfnp]

Thanks everyone. After reading the posts, watching videos and talking with Mike at DRIS, I have a Rofos breathable on order, at least I do as soon as I can get my measurements.

---------- Post added January 12th, 2016 at 04:51 PM ----------

Followup question. I have a base layer. What additional weight ungergarment will I need for cave.

 

[buddhasummer]

Thanks everyone. After reading the posts, watching videos and talking with Mike at DRIS, I have a Rofos breathable on order, at least I do as soon as I can get my measurements.

---------- Post added January 12th, 2016 at 04:51 PM ----------

Followup question. I have a base layer. What additional weight ungergarment will I need for cave.

I use a BZ400, its bulky but warm. I feel the cold. It's good for me down to low 50s. It, of course, depends on your tolerance to cold. Good luck figuring it out, it took me quite some time and a fair amount of cash.

 

[uncfnp]

Ah, Buddha. I am trying hard to see the bright side to spending all this money. I am too close to just calling cave quits otherwise.

 

[buddhasummer]

Ah, Buddha. I am trying hard to see the bright side to spending all this money. I am too close to just calling cave quits otherwise.

No doubt it'll be well worth it in the end. I know not quite the same situation but I did have the same concerns re cost and the plethora of options and opinions on what to get. Glad I did though as its added 7-8 months to my diving calendar, i.e I can now dive year round, not getting any younger so want to dive as much as I can until I can't.

 

[decompression]

Ah, Buddha. I am trying hard to see the bright side to spending all this money. I am too close to just calling cave quits otherwise.

The happiness my drysuit gives me is like a hug from a puppy!


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