Pinnacle Merino-lined Elastoprene 5mil

[Guppie]

The large is listed as 6'-6'2"
The next size up is large tall at 6'2"-6'4" with chest, waist, hips being the same.
How tall are you?
If the wetsuit is cut too short you should be crotch bound, and not able to bend over.

I'm 6'1". It is tough to bend over and dropping to my knees feels like a wedgie. :11:

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Well if you werent a Michigan State Fan, we would stop giving you wedgies

LOL.....

Pinnacle is still a fairly new company and still figuring some things out as far as sizing, but the great customer service is refreshing. They work hard to make everything right, but unfortunately it takes a size being wrong for some people, for them to realize their is a problem as a whole or how to try and correct it so it fits a broader range.

We had some Drysuit sizing issues when we first brought them in, as well as wetsuits. They have ironed out most of the wetsuit issues and their awesome service is what kept them as a front runner and ultimate winner of our Main Wetsuit line...not to mention the excellent quality of the suits....They arent just neoprene like most suits.

 

[Guppie]

Heh, MSU is going to a bowl game. Baby steps.

I'm sure I'll hear from Damion Monday when he looks at the pictures. Still wondering if I should have gone with the Merion Elastiprene like this guy did, although the Fusion is a sweet looking suit.

 

[mikeguerrero]

I own the ME 7 by Pinnacles with an additional heated torso, hooded vest, gloves and boots all which are also Merino linning.

The suit is incredibly warm, I dive Monterey and have taken the suit down to 65 feet for 35 minutes at 50 degrees with no problems.

The suit is increbilly flexible; here is quick video of me diving at Lovers point I move around very easy as the video shows.

View My Video

 

[superstar]

Mike,
You look very flexible with three layers. With all that rubber, how much lead do you need? If you are warm at 50* do you think you could do 45* for 30 minutes without being cold. Is your 7mm fullsuit fit a bit large to make room for the core warmer and the hooded vest? How do you measure up in comparison to the Pinnacle size chart for wetsuit fit?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

If you want to do 45* or less, I would strongly recommend Pinnacles Arctic or a Semi dry suit, if you can afford to....then go dry. It will definetly give you the warmth and extend times your talking about. PLUS be more comfy than doubling up insulation(hoodvest/corewarmer) and keep you pretty dry.....Just a couple pennies from me seeing as we dive similar temps/areas....gotta love the midwest

 

[M-Cass]

I picked up a 5mm this summer and had been using it until late Oct when I went dry again. Fantastic and I'll go back to it in June.

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a pinnacle 5mm. What's the warmest water temps you used it for?
Thanks

 

[pir8]

Hi,
I'm looking to buy a pinnacle 5mm. What's the warmest water temps you used it for?
Thanks

Probably about 75*f.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Mike,
You look very flexible with three layers. With all that rubber, how much lead do you need? If you are warm at 50* do you think you could do 45* for 30 minutes without being cold. Is your 7mm fullsuit fit a bit large to make room for the core warmer and the hooded vest? How do you measure up in comparison to the Pinnacle size chart for wetsuit fit?

Yes,

I am very flexible with all three layers, let me explain. When I first looked into wetsuits I was only on a budget that would not include drysuits. So my search started at my LDS.

I looked into semi-drys, and the full suits at 7mm. Wanting the semi-dry I ordered the Pinnacles Polar and when it arrived at the shop I went down to try it on. I tried on the medium large since their scales showed that for a 175 lb male.

Trying on the suit was an experience, I fought with it for about 15 minutes in the dressing room and then felt clostophopic. I immediately took it off, another 5 minutes and said, send it back.

My shop then asked what type of diving I would be doing for some time and I told them mostly beach dives (which are shallow) at Monterey with some boat dives; that's when they recommended the Merino brand for it's flexibilty yet incredible resilience against the cold elements of Monterey.

Thats when I placed my order for the ME-7 and then called Pinnacles directly and got some more advise from them. I added the heated torso and the hooded vest because I could interchange them throughout the year.

The merino linning is just incredible, just ask anyone that dives this type of material and they will tell you the truth. Even though compressions attacks thickness of a suit it does not remove the resilience of the merino linning, keeping that critical protection for the diver.

That video you see, has me with 22 lbs of weights and wearing all of my gear; 7mm at the head, 13mm at the chest, 10 mm at the groin, 7mm at the extremeties, boots at 6mm and gloves at 4mm.

The only thing that gets cold are my hands, they become uncomfortable if I'm not moving them after 30 minutes at 50 degrees. Moving them keeps them cold but movable and still functional for all my gear.

I have not had experience in diving colder than 50 degrees so I cannot comment on the resilience beyond what I actually dove.

I can tell about the order of placement on the three pieces; hooded vest, then heated torso, then the full suit. I tried it in different patterns and found the best combination with what I stated, incredibly warm.

The key to a wetsuit in my opinion is it has to make direct contact with your skin to restrict water movement. So when I place all three pieces on, the best contact first starts with the hooded vest against my frame, if I go heated torso first, I get areas around my shoulders that don't make perfect seals.

Lastly about purchasing a larger suit to get the other two pieces on; don't worry about going bigger this material stretches like you don't believe.

Also let me give you some advice about the semi-dry suits. They are better at retaining their resiliance against compression at greater depth than Elastiprene suits. However, this comes at a cost to the diver, they are much more uncomfortable to move around in than elastiprene.

You therefore have to make up you mind what type of suit is best for your type of diving.

MG

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Great post Mike!!! Alot of great info for some of you out there.....

Quick, blurb....I threw up a Hot Deal for some of you wanting Pinnacle Products...Check the Hot Deals forum