Optimal Drysuit

[elan]

on the other hand I know a guy who had virtually zero issues with TLS (mid 2000 model) and just a handfull of dry dives on FLX, go figure. may be it was a bad batch.

 

[eelnoraa]

Tls350 is awful, there's no valid reason to dive one these days other than a used one is cheap. With the flx extreme available, there's no reason to dive a suit that leaks every other dive. I don't think I got 5 consecutive dry dives from my tls (bought used but dry at that time). My flx is going on 3 years and zero leaks.

Mine hasn't leaked so far even when material around the thigh pocket was compromised. It was a 2008 model. I actually like it quite a bit better than my CF200, I only wish it is a little tougher.

 

[50Fathom]

Well I'm going to be a (slight) dissenter on this one, (though I haven't read the entire thing, but the anti-TLS posts are jumping out).

I've got a TLS, (2010-vintage), and it's water-tight. (Knock on wood). Occasional leak from not sealing the ZipSeals properly, (my bad), and an odd leak on the left sleeve which is intermittent and soaks my left arm from the elbow down, yet is extremely rare and offers no easy pin-point. (I don't worry about outliers that offer no discernible trend.)

Do I want a FLX?

Yes.

Will I get a FLX?

Yes.

Will I drop my TLS?

No. It will just get pre-positioned in FL as my "FL suit", along with a set of gear, so when I travel there, I don't have to carry anything, I can just show up and dive. Though I am debating making it my travel suit, (it IS light), and using the FLX as my "Do-everything-suit-but-stay-at-home-unless-I'm-driving-suit".

What can I say? I'm a TLS owner who has had good luck with his, and I'm happy with it.

 

[billt4sf]

I like my Fusion, although, like I think all dry suits, it is not perfect. With the Bullet skin, it is heavy and not nearly as flexible, but has pockets. With the Lycra skin, the suit is light and dries fairly quickly (not as fast as a laminate suit) but you have to wear x-shorts for pockets, and as David Rhea said, x-shorts work great until you forget to put them on. The suit is still comparatively inexpensive, and mine has proven almost unbelievably durable (three years, 400+ dives, two pinhole leaks and one major rip -- but the rip would have occurred in anything but a Kevlar dry suit).

Lynn, how long does it take you to get into your Fusion?

- Bill

 

[TSandM]

A couple of minutes. I pull on the legs, get the feet situated, roll the suit over my hips and pull up until I can get the suspenders on, then put each arm on in turn and then pull the head over and zip up. It takes a little longer than it took me to type this, but not a lot.

I am currently diving a new Santi diagonal zip suit. It is easier to get on, but the biggest part of the difference is the feet and legs. Once I have those on, both suits go on essentially at the same speed.