After waiting eight weeks, my new Signature Series TLS350 finally arrived just after Memorial Day Weekend, just in time to sit in the box for the work week until I could get in the water to test it out. I was hoping to be able to break it in with a bunch of dives I had scheduled over the long weekend, but that's how things go sometimes. I was told that this is the peak of the season for DUI, and that this is what caused an even longer than expected delivery time. Of course, I tried everything on the minute I opened the box just to see if DUI got the cut right.
Here is a review of the options on my suit and some general comments on how everything turned out.
I was originally going to get a CLX450, because I was concerned about cutting my suit on wrecks and such. I wanted something durable. After PMing a million people and talking to DUI over the phone (they are great with customer service), I elected not to get the 450 due to enough people raising concerns about suit stiffness (including DUI!). I already have a 350 (which I will keep as a backup suit), and I know and like the suit. So, rather than experimenting with something new, I was just hoping to find a way to add some extra protection to the 350.
DUI suggested getting a CLX450 style overlay out of cordura, effectively giving me a layer of cordura over the shoulders and down the backs of the arms. This would not have cordura on the inside of the arms, so the stiffness issue would not be a problem. Besides, I am not as worried about cutting the inside of the arms while wreck diving.
Through additional research, I found out that in Europe, DUI sells a suit called the Explorer, which has a double layer of cordura from above the knee to the to where the turbo sole boots connect to the suit leg. The cordura also wraps around to the back of the calf. I then asked DUI if they could add this to the suit. They said that, although that suit is not available in the United States, they would approximate it except they could not wrap the cordura around the back of the calf. Close enough.
DUI also installed large bellows velcro pockets on both sides, SiTech valves, neck and wrist zip seals, turbo soles, a pee valve (I know I paid extra compared to doing it myself, but I didn't want any excuses if there were problems with anything after delivery), CF200 crotch pad to prevent wear from scootering, a cordura butt pad, and 13.5 inch CF200 knee pads over the double layer of cordura over the knees. They also located the exhaust valve on the right side instead of the stock left.
I elected not to get the cave cut in case, as I have heard frequently happens, DUI does not cut the suit right on the first go 'round. I wanted to be able to return the suit without question if I was not happy with the end product.
I sent DUI a three or four page letter, including measurements in shorts and tee shirt as well as in my 200 gram thinsulate undergarments and 400 gram thinsulate booties. I even included fingertip to floor measurements so that they cold locate the pockets so that I could get into them without having to break trim.
Speaking of thinsulate, my old thinsulate thermals were in poor shape due to excessive washing over two years. (I just could not deal with not washing them and allowing that odor to remain. I live in South Florida, where I dive dry even in the 95 degree Summer heat.) My dealer told me that I could add a custom cut on a new set of underwear for an extra hundred bucks per set. Hey, I was already blowing enough that this little bit extra seemed reasonable to me. So, I got a custom cut set of 200, and another set of 400, thermals.
My total cost for everything came to just over $3,000. I bought my suit from Dan's Dive Shop, in Canada. http://www.dansdiveshop.ca/. I feel that I was treated well in this transaction, and they responded to all of my inquiries and made several calls to DUI throughout the process. When DUI had to make some decisions along the way during the cutting process, they contacted Dan's, and Dan's called me to discuss my options, and they went back and forth with DUI on more than one occasion. I would do business with them again.
About my only disappointment with my suit is that DUI, having my measurements, did not cut the zip seals for me. I think that this is a simple step for them to take that they should include in the process. Perhaps I am nit-picking, but that's how I feel.
Anyway, I finally got to dive my new suit twice this weekend. On my first dive, my wrist cuffs got wetter than damp but not soaking wet. On the next day, I made sure to push the wrist seals up past my wrist bones, and I made sure to put the undergarment wrist cuffs solidly behind the seal where it comes into contact with my wrist. This solved the problem.
The suit is a great fit. Everything turned out exactly as I had hoped.
One additional note, to keep from having to wash my thermals so much on this go 'round, I bought silkweight poly long johns, for which I paid about $40 at a local camping and hiking store, which I am wearing under the thermals. I am still sweating on the boat like crazy in this South Florida Summer heat, but this really seems to keep the thermals from picking up that strong odor as had been happening before. I hope this continues to work for me. I really want my thermals to last a while this time.
The one unexpected thing that has happened is that I haven't used a new set of thermals in so long that the new ones seem so much thicker and stiffer than my old ones. It's not interfering with anything; it's just a strange feeling. I may also now be a pound underweighted. I am hoping that they will crunch down a bit after a few more dives.
I hope that this might reduce the anxiety for anyone who is about to order a new suit. I know that it was pretty stressful for me to make all of the decisions, and then to wait for my suit to arrive, hoping that everything would go right.
Here is a review of the options on my suit and some general comments on how everything turned out.
I was originally going to get a CLX450, because I was concerned about cutting my suit on wrecks and such. I wanted something durable. After PMing a million people and talking to DUI over the phone (they are great with customer service), I elected not to get the 450 due to enough people raising concerns about suit stiffness (including DUI!). I already have a 350 (which I will keep as a backup suit), and I know and like the suit. So, rather than experimenting with something new, I was just hoping to find a way to add some extra protection to the 350.
DUI suggested getting a CLX450 style overlay out of cordura, effectively giving me a layer of cordura over the shoulders and down the backs of the arms. This would not have cordura on the inside of the arms, so the stiffness issue would not be a problem. Besides, I am not as worried about cutting the inside of the arms while wreck diving.
Through additional research, I found out that in Europe, DUI sells a suit called the Explorer, which has a double layer of cordura from above the knee to the to where the turbo sole boots connect to the suit leg. The cordura also wraps around to the back of the calf. I then asked DUI if they could add this to the suit. They said that, although that suit is not available in the United States, they would approximate it except they could not wrap the cordura around the back of the calf. Close enough.
DUI also installed large bellows velcro pockets on both sides, SiTech valves, neck and wrist zip seals, turbo soles, a pee valve (I know I paid extra compared to doing it myself, but I didn't want any excuses if there were problems with anything after delivery), CF200 crotch pad to prevent wear from scootering, a cordura butt pad, and 13.5 inch CF200 knee pads over the double layer of cordura over the knees. They also located the exhaust valve on the right side instead of the stock left.
I elected not to get the cave cut in case, as I have heard frequently happens, DUI does not cut the suit right on the first go 'round. I wanted to be able to return the suit without question if I was not happy with the end product.
I sent DUI a three or four page letter, including measurements in shorts and tee shirt as well as in my 200 gram thinsulate undergarments and 400 gram thinsulate booties. I even included fingertip to floor measurements so that they cold locate the pockets so that I could get into them without having to break trim.
Speaking of thinsulate, my old thinsulate thermals were in poor shape due to excessive washing over two years. (I just could not deal with not washing them and allowing that odor to remain. I live in South Florida, where I dive dry even in the 95 degree Summer heat.) My dealer told me that I could add a custom cut on a new set of underwear for an extra hundred bucks per set. Hey, I was already blowing enough that this little bit extra seemed reasonable to me. So, I got a custom cut set of 200, and another set of 400, thermals.
My total cost for everything came to just over $3,000. I bought my suit from Dan's Dive Shop, in Canada. http://www.dansdiveshop.ca/. I feel that I was treated well in this transaction, and they responded to all of my inquiries and made several calls to DUI throughout the process. When DUI had to make some decisions along the way during the cutting process, they contacted Dan's, and Dan's called me to discuss my options, and they went back and forth with DUI on more than one occasion. I would do business with them again.
About my only disappointment with my suit is that DUI, having my measurements, did not cut the zip seals for me. I think that this is a simple step for them to take that they should include in the process. Perhaps I am nit-picking, but that's how I feel.
Anyway, I finally got to dive my new suit twice this weekend. On my first dive, my wrist cuffs got wetter than damp but not soaking wet. On the next day, I made sure to push the wrist seals up past my wrist bones, and I made sure to put the undergarment wrist cuffs solidly behind the seal where it comes into contact with my wrist. This solved the problem.
The suit is a great fit. Everything turned out exactly as I had hoped.
One additional note, to keep from having to wash my thermals so much on this go 'round, I bought silkweight poly long johns, for which I paid about $40 at a local camping and hiking store, which I am wearing under the thermals. I am still sweating on the boat like crazy in this South Florida Summer heat, but this really seems to keep the thermals from picking up that strong odor as had been happening before. I hope this continues to work for me. I really want my thermals to last a while this time.
The one unexpected thing that has happened is that I haven't used a new set of thermals in so long that the new ones seem so much thicker and stiffer than my old ones. It's not interfering with anything; it's just a strange feeling. I may also now be a pound underweighted. I am hoping that they will crunch down a bit after a few more dives.
I hope that this might reduce the anxiety for anyone who is about to order a new suit. I know that it was pretty stressful for me to make all of the decisions, and then to wait for my suit to arrive, hoping that everything would go right.
