Bobby
Contributor
We finally broke down and got a new dry suit for me. For those that don't know I have had a custom TLS 350 for about 5 years that has been a huge disappointment with constant leaks. A couple of months ago we were in Marianna when I had another major flood. As the zipper is shot in our back up suit I borrowed a very old Pinnacle Black Ice from Edd at Cave Adventurers. It is important to know that I hate dry suits. They are a pain to maintain and all of them will eventually leak. I don't like spending time to repair them much less the money to buy them. The bottom line is that buying a new suit is a major deal for us.
This is his back up suit and has well over 1,000 dives on it. I had heard that the Black Ice suits could not be repaired when they developed leaks. I have had many suits over the years and know all too well that at some time every dry suit will leak, at least with the abuse that I put them through. I was surprised to see many repairs in Edd's backup and that put my mind at ease regarding being able to repair them down the road.
Unfortunately I was hard headed and did not takes Edd's and Frank's advice when it came to under garments for the first dive in the Black Ice. I have owned a number of neoprene suits in the past and would get cold in them. Going on this experience and being heavily on the wussy side of the scale when it comes to getting cold, I decided to go conservative and wear my middle weight under garments. That was a mistake as I was far too warm even on deco and most likely lost a pound or two in sweat on that dive. After that dive I went with my lightest under garments which were still too warm but much more manageable. I was wearing 200 gram Thinsulate compared to the Weezle Extreme Plus that I would have normally worn for the length of dives and deco we were doing.
Buying a dry suit is a major ticket item for us and I tend to just keep repairing them instead of looking to buy something else. As I said I know that eventually all of them will leak. After leaving Marianna I called Steve to get his take on the suit. He was clear that it is more work to repair a leak in the Black Ice suits due to the Merino lining but he did confirm that they can be repaired and that he has worked on them with success over the years.
After kicking it around we decided to move forward with buying a new suit. I have to really thank Frank at Cave Adventurers for insisting that I try on the new Black Ice suits. The one I had borrowed from Edd has a different cut compared to their present suits. For my body shape and size I wound up going one size smaller which fits me like it was custom. This is something impressive as I have some rather odd size differences for different parts of my body. The Black Ice conforms to your body shape and has more stretch in critical places. Even with wet suits a common problem for me is that a suit that fits me in the waist is far too small in the shoulders and calves. My suit was at first snug on both the calves and shoulders but after just a few dives it now fits like a glove. Thanks again for Franks help with the sizing as I would have gone too big if he had not insisted that I go with the smaller one, he really does take his time to get it right.
Now that I have a good amount of dives with the new Black Ice I have to say this is absolutely the best dry suit I have ever owned. For dives of two hours I have only worn a dive skin. Even with my old 6mm suit the thermals were much heavier. The Merino wool lining really does add that much warmth. Speaking with Edd and Frank they also swear by the Ice Breaker Merino wool under garments. I have not gotten mine yet but that is on the short list. Edd is just as cold blooded as I am and he is comfortable doing 4+ hours dives with his. The key is that the Merino under garment locks in with the Merino lining in the dry suit making them work together to wick water away, keep you warm, and keep you from over heating because they breath. More on the under garments when I have used them myself. One thing that has really surprised me with the suit is how warm it is and at the same time how I don't over heat in it. With all my other suits I would get cold quickly after a dive if I stayed in the water talking, then when I got out of the water on a warm day I would quickly over heat. I have noticed that I am completely comfortable hanging out on the surface after a dive without getting cold. Then when I do get out of the water I am in no hurry to take the suit off. Now I tend to get my cylinders and gear back to the vehicle before taking the suit off where in the past it was a mad dash to get changed before I over heated.
The quality of the suit is top notch with all of the seams being tidy and even. There is a lot of reinforcement in the places that it is needed and give in the right places as well. The socks are the best I have seen and are different from others I have used. The way they cut them and stitched them makes them form fitting and comfortable. The best part is that the seams are positioned so they don't rub which is a major deal for me. On long swimming dives most every sock that I have used will rub an area of my foot creating a sore. If I am diving for multiple days this becomes an issue as the sore needs to be covered and tended every day to keep it from festering or becoming infected. I have had the same issue with most suits on the back of my knee. This is a place where the suit normally bunches up and can become a pressure point. So far I have only put two hour dives or less in on the suit but I can tell even from a short dive if it will be a problem on long ones. Happily I don't feel or see any signs of an issue with this suit.
The fact that there is enough stretch in the suit to do away with the folding mid section is another big plus IMO. I have rather narrow hips and waist which leaves folding suits with a lot of extra in the mid section for me. Not with the Black Ice, I have a nice smooth mid section with zero pinching. At first I did not like the position of the zipper or the cover zipper. They are both on the long side and take a bit of practice to get all the way open/closed. Now after getting some experience diving it I believe Pinnacle has struck a perfect balance. One thing that has annoyed me with other front cross zip suits is that the zippers tend to land where equipment rests on them putting pressure on my body. I don't feel either of the zippers in any way on my body from my gear laying on top of them.
I have pockets on my SM rig and normally don't use or have pockets on my dry suits. The pockets came with the Black Ice suit. Even though I don't use them for my normal dive gear I did use them while we were replacing line. They have shock cord in them and are well sized. There is generous volume in them as well having large Velcro patches to securely shut them. What I really like it that when they are empty they are very flat and don't get in my way with my gear or the other pockets on my SM rig. They were handy for putting the replacement line, old line, and unneeded markers that came off the old line in them. This allowed me to take all of my normal gear in my other pockets which I would normally have had to empty some out in the past.
Everything on the suit is top notch and high quality. I really like being back in a neoprene neck seal with its added warmth and comfort. It took a couple of dives to break it in and get the fold set, which is normal with neoprene seals. I don't miss the rub mark that latex neck seals put on my adams apple.
Edd and Frank at Cave Adventurers have worked closely with Pinnacle to make a good product even better. They know the suits very well, they can and will give straight forward answers to questions about the suits. If I can fit into a stock suit I would have to say that just about anyone can. If anyone is looking at buying a new dry suit you owe it to yourself to at least take a look at them.
This is his back up suit and has well over 1,000 dives on it. I had heard that the Black Ice suits could not be repaired when they developed leaks. I have had many suits over the years and know all too well that at some time every dry suit will leak, at least with the abuse that I put them through. I was surprised to see many repairs in Edd's backup and that put my mind at ease regarding being able to repair them down the road.
Unfortunately I was hard headed and did not takes Edd's and Frank's advice when it came to under garments for the first dive in the Black Ice. I have owned a number of neoprene suits in the past and would get cold in them. Going on this experience and being heavily on the wussy side of the scale when it comes to getting cold, I decided to go conservative and wear my middle weight under garments. That was a mistake as I was far too warm even on deco and most likely lost a pound or two in sweat on that dive. After that dive I went with my lightest under garments which were still too warm but much more manageable. I was wearing 200 gram Thinsulate compared to the Weezle Extreme Plus that I would have normally worn for the length of dives and deco we were doing.
Buying a dry suit is a major ticket item for us and I tend to just keep repairing them instead of looking to buy something else. As I said I know that eventually all of them will leak. After leaving Marianna I called Steve to get his take on the suit. He was clear that it is more work to repair a leak in the Black Ice suits due to the Merino lining but he did confirm that they can be repaired and that he has worked on them with success over the years.
After kicking it around we decided to move forward with buying a new suit. I have to really thank Frank at Cave Adventurers for insisting that I try on the new Black Ice suits. The one I had borrowed from Edd has a different cut compared to their present suits. For my body shape and size I wound up going one size smaller which fits me like it was custom. This is something impressive as I have some rather odd size differences for different parts of my body. The Black Ice conforms to your body shape and has more stretch in critical places. Even with wet suits a common problem for me is that a suit that fits me in the waist is far too small in the shoulders and calves. My suit was at first snug on both the calves and shoulders but after just a few dives it now fits like a glove. Thanks again for Franks help with the sizing as I would have gone too big if he had not insisted that I go with the smaller one, he really does take his time to get it right.
Now that I have a good amount of dives with the new Black Ice I have to say this is absolutely the best dry suit I have ever owned. For dives of two hours I have only worn a dive skin. Even with my old 6mm suit the thermals were much heavier. The Merino wool lining really does add that much warmth. Speaking with Edd and Frank they also swear by the Ice Breaker Merino wool under garments. I have not gotten mine yet but that is on the short list. Edd is just as cold blooded as I am and he is comfortable doing 4+ hours dives with his. The key is that the Merino under garment locks in with the Merino lining in the dry suit making them work together to wick water away, keep you warm, and keep you from over heating because they breath. More on the under garments when I have used them myself. One thing that has really surprised me with the suit is how warm it is and at the same time how I don't over heat in it. With all my other suits I would get cold quickly after a dive if I stayed in the water talking, then when I got out of the water on a warm day I would quickly over heat. I have noticed that I am completely comfortable hanging out on the surface after a dive without getting cold. Then when I do get out of the water I am in no hurry to take the suit off. Now I tend to get my cylinders and gear back to the vehicle before taking the suit off where in the past it was a mad dash to get changed before I over heated.
The quality of the suit is top notch with all of the seams being tidy and even. There is a lot of reinforcement in the places that it is needed and give in the right places as well. The socks are the best I have seen and are different from others I have used. The way they cut them and stitched them makes them form fitting and comfortable. The best part is that the seams are positioned so they don't rub which is a major deal for me. On long swimming dives most every sock that I have used will rub an area of my foot creating a sore. If I am diving for multiple days this becomes an issue as the sore needs to be covered and tended every day to keep it from festering or becoming infected. I have had the same issue with most suits on the back of my knee. This is a place where the suit normally bunches up and can become a pressure point. So far I have only put two hour dives or less in on the suit but I can tell even from a short dive if it will be a problem on long ones. Happily I don't feel or see any signs of an issue with this suit.
The fact that there is enough stretch in the suit to do away with the folding mid section is another big plus IMO. I have rather narrow hips and waist which leaves folding suits with a lot of extra in the mid section for me. Not with the Black Ice, I have a nice smooth mid section with zero pinching. At first I did not like the position of the zipper or the cover zipper. They are both on the long side and take a bit of practice to get all the way open/closed. Now after getting some experience diving it I believe Pinnacle has struck a perfect balance. One thing that has annoyed me with other front cross zip suits is that the zippers tend to land where equipment rests on them putting pressure on my body. I don't feel either of the zippers in any way on my body from my gear laying on top of them.
I have pockets on my SM rig and normally don't use or have pockets on my dry suits. The pockets came with the Black Ice suit. Even though I don't use them for my normal dive gear I did use them while we were replacing line. They have shock cord in them and are well sized. There is generous volume in them as well having large Velcro patches to securely shut them. What I really like it that when they are empty they are very flat and don't get in my way with my gear or the other pockets on my SM rig. They were handy for putting the replacement line, old line, and unneeded markers that came off the old line in them. This allowed me to take all of my normal gear in my other pockets which I would normally have had to empty some out in the past.
Everything on the suit is top notch and high quality. I really like being back in a neoprene neck seal with its added warmth and comfort. It took a couple of dives to break it in and get the fold set, which is normal with neoprene seals. I don't miss the rub mark that latex neck seals put on my adams apple.
Edd and Frank at Cave Adventurers have worked closely with Pinnacle to make a good product even better. They know the suits very well, they can and will give straight forward answers to questions about the suits. If I can fit into a stock suit I would have to say that just about anyone can. If anyone is looking at buying a new dry suit you owe it to yourself to at least take a look at them.
