Well,
I wanted to wait until I had the suit in it's final iteration before giving a review. But I'll give my initial impressions.
The suit is VERY attractive. It arrived in a heavy cordura bag emblazoned with the USIA logo. Very sharp. I ordered the suit in black with red trim. I think they ought to update the web page with this color combination. It really stands out very well.
There was a mix-up in how I wanted the suit cut so it came "fitted" when I wanted it loose, but I can still wear the suit. The accessories that came with it included the zipper wax, inflator hose, neck ring (haven't figured that out yet),talcum powder, some reading materials, and the warranty card.
I picked up the suit at the shop, put on my sweats, and got into the suit. I wrestled with it a bit as it is cut close, but got it on by myself, and got in the pool. Wow, it was great to be DRY. However, I noticed the squeeze on my feet pretty quickly. I had oredered teh bioflex socks rather than boots. I am still considering that choice and I don't know if I want to change or not. The Bioflex socks are very tough.
The "super fabric" covers the knees, elbows, shoulders and some of the arm. its' "tacky" so things don't slide on it. Nice for making sure things don't go anywhere, but makes it challenging getting OUT of your BP/W with the Hog harness.
The valves seem to work very smoothly, and the seals are very nice. Suit is dry as a bone. The wrist covers that fold down over the seals should ensure long life. In fact, my instructor said the seals would rot off before they got damaged by abrasion, and he's right. The neck collar is a bit harder to deal with. It makes it quite difficult to get the seal down far enough on the neck without assistance. I need to practice it more, and perhaps when my suit is cut a little looser, I can get to it myself.
I tried to dive the suit in open water after my evening pool lesson, but that was a miserable failure. Nothing to do with the suit, but I was underweighted and borrowing fins that were ill suited. Sunday, I put the suit back in the pool for several hours of work I needed to do. That went very well, the suit was comfortable, and again dry.
I didn't particuarly care for the pocket options USIA had, as I needed some particular features, so I sent pockets to USIA which they installed for me. VERY nice job and they look magnificent. I also wanted a different P-Valve and I will install that next month. I ordered the suit with the bioflex socks and I am unsure whether I will keep that option or change.
USIA's service and willingness to make this suit right has really won me over. Though my shop is a USIA dealer, I looked at several suits including DUI, Dive Rite, Pinnacle, and USIA. I feel I got the most suit for the money. Though I have to say the Pinnacle was a very close second.
When I get this suit finished I think I am going to be one VERY happy camper. And it will see action all over the Florida Caves as well as the NC wrecks and the Great Lakes.
Kudos to Jerry and the crew at USIA for making a top notch suit at a VERY fair price. I see why you guys are selling these things so fast. It may be the best bargain in a trilam on the market.
gomi_otaku:
Hey, you haven't given us the post of your impressions of the Techniflex yet! Be sure to tell us how you set it up- what did you get if you didn't have the boots installed, the Bioflex socks? I'm waiting 'til later this summer, but this should be the suit I'm getting, I haven't seen anything better!
gomi_
