Opinions on Mobby's Dry Suit

[diveanytime]

Can you still buy Mobby's drysuits? I have looked online and one person said they thought they went out of business.

Mares is now their distributor. I saw the my Armor Shell Dry Bib on their website under a different name (something with Polar in it?). Today I looked again and didn't see the Armor Shell Dry Bib anynore but instead I see a zipper over the shoulder design drysuit similar to Bare. The neoprene drysuits look similar to the Mobby's line but the trilaminates have changed.

I bought my Armor Shell Dry Bib in 1999 at a scuba show in Santa Clara, Ca for $900 and it included the Comfort Shell (300) underwear. It's been repaired twice for leaks on the seam under the right armpit for 6 inches downward towards the ribcage area and patched myself the various pinholes that you get from running into sea urchin spines. Seals have been replaced twice also without any problems. I settled for this suit because I couldn't afford a DUI but I haven't looked back and am still diving with this suit. I would reccomend this front zipper design and the nice thick attached boots the suit has as standard options.

Today's prices run $1200-$1800 for the drysuit and $300-400 for the Comfort Shell.

Regarding used Armor Shell Dry Bibs, as long as the pvc coating has not dried out or cracked it should be fine to buy. Be aware the inside seam taping may need some maint. if it's a real old suit. A hot iron and or Aqualseal can be used to do the repairs.

I outgrew my medium Comfort Shell and had to buy a bigger size due to my gut waist line increase. I found a fleece replacement for $89-99 on eBay that should work at the Monterey, CA 45-55F temps. It has no nylon shell but it's a no big deal for me to not have it.

Good luck with your drysuit,
Charlie

 

[diveanytime]

All of my brochures on Mobby's had a Japan address and my Armor Shell Bib Drysuit purchased in 1999 came from Japan by way of the distributor in Plano, Texas. But I did notice that after the March 2011 earthquake/Tsunanmi I didn't see any Mobbys reference to Japan anymore. Within the last few years I saw my model of drysuit being OEM by MARES but the most recent catalog shows a different drysuit similar to the one at www.mobbys.net. I checked with Mobbys on Facebook and they are in Korea currently still manufacturing dive exposure wear.

---------- Post added April 3rd, 2015 at 06:24 PM ----------

I have replaced myself the wrist and neck seals to my Mobby's Armor Shell bib Drysuit. The can of cement came with my replacemenet wrist seal and got a second can with the neck seal. The advice I got other drysuit repair guys was to cut the old latex seal off and leave a 1/2-3/4 inch ring if that part of the seal is still glued on to the drysuit PVC (CAP) material. Rough it up, and apply the glue to the leftover seal material and your new seal. After the 3rd coat and drying time apply the new seal to the old. I made a youtube video if you want to see what I did to my wrist seals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TJiaxF8rAE