Mares Flexa 8-6-5

[IanLee1521]

Anyone have the Mares Flexa 8-6-5 wetsuit? I've previously dove a rental Xcel and a borrowed ONeill, and just wanted to get some opinions / reviews from anyone that dives it.

Thanks!

 

[Jak Crow]

I'm also wondering if anyone here has any experience with this suit. It looks like it could be close to semi-dry if it isn't already that, and I have found a good price for it.

 

[Jak Crow]

So I decided to go with the Flexa, and I am glad I did. Thanks to some nice price matching, I was able to score it for $250. This is a great suit. Really comfortable, no zippers on the cuffs, smoothskin on every opening. I'm mating it with a Pinnacle 7 / 4mm hooded vest with smoothskin neck, XS Dry 5 gloves, and Henderson 7mm H2 zipperless boots. I'm doing my check out ocean dive in Monterey this weekend, so I'm hoping for generally semi-dry experience. Even if it ends up with water inside it, I should be nice and toasty.

 

[Insta-Gator]

Please post your after-dive thoughts on this suit. thx

 

[Jak Crow]

So I did my first dives with this suit. It is a great suit. I dove on a couple beaches at Monterey, with the water apparently 48 or 50F. First, the suit is incredibly comfortable. Snug without pinching or stifling. I used it along with a Pinnacle 7mm hooded vest, XS Dry 5 gloves, and Henderson H2 7MM boots. I recommend zipperless boots, zippered boots with a covered zipper, or wear zippered boots over the suit's leg cuffs. Otherwise, they could damage the smoothskin cuffs. I did two dives 45 minutes dives each day, and I didn't notice the cold at all. It felt like I could have stayed in the water for 2 hours without an getting cold. It is definitely not a semi-dry suit, but because of seals, there is absolutely no flushing and the water you first get into the suit stays in the suit. The coldest I got was taking the suit off after I was done for the day. I met a woman who was wearing a Mares Trilastic 8.6.5 and it seems to be the same suit but for women. We compared notes and both of us seemed to have the same, positive experiences: no getting cold, no flushing, very comfortable. While I was expecting a semi-dry experience and it turned out not be be the case, I was still very toasty. It was definitely better than the 7mm XCEL rental the shop was providing. I'm thinking it will stand up to any 7mm suit. I highly recommend it.

 

[Jak Crow]

Oh, I also forgot. The picture Mares uses for the Flexa suit showing the front zipper is the updated European version. The one sold in North America has a back zipper. I would have loved the front zipper, but it's the same suit regardless.