Product Review: New “Generation 2” BARE SB Drysuit

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Deep South Divers

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Let me be clear about this before I go any further, and in case you get tired of reading my verbosity: This new suit is the best suit I’ve ever owned. It’s a true game-changer. Bad to the bone. The new standard in exposure protection. I’m shocked and ecstatic about my new suit.

No, I’m not a BARE employee, and no, I don’t own a dive shop or sell BARE suits. I’m a commercial diver… A working grunt underwater. I own the company I work for, and employ (actually “subcontract&#8221:wink: about a dozen guys like me. My company website is here, my personal work profile is here, and some of the more interesting projects we’ve done can be found here.

I first dived in 1986, but didn’t have the opportunity to get serious about it until 2001 or so, when I actually got my first C-card. I already had maybe 150 dives under my belt. I began to see diving as a potential profession in 2003 and in 2004 I opened my company. In 2007 I left the workforce and went full-time self-employed and it’s been a wild ride ever since. No, it’s not like they say it is in the movies… It’s better.

I’ve been on Scubaboard the whole time, for what it’s worth, first as “SeaJay,” then later as DEEP SOUTH DIVERS as my diving took me from recreational into “technical” (I still don’t like that word) and then into commercial diving. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. I am the one that wrote the huge thread about GUE's "Fundies" class (still the best classroom education I’ve ever had – scuba-related or not), and the thread about Thermalution heated shirts. Yes, I still use mine, and yes, it’s great. Yes, it’s still going strong.

I dive something like 350 dives per year – nearly every working day, and sometimes on the weekends. Some days I dive three or four dives in a day. My best guess is that I’ve got something like 6,000 or 7,000 dives under my belt, most of which have been in horrible, zero-vis, nasty conditions in less than 30 feet of water. It’s not uncommon for me to dive in blowout currents and completely by memory and “feel.” I always have a task to do, and find myself bored if I don’t… So no, I don’t just dive for “fun” anymore, but every day is packed with fun diving… And at the end of the day I process an invoice worth more than my weekly – and in some cases monthly – paychecks were prior to becoming a commercial diver.

Predictably, I EAT gear. To me, dive suits are roughly the equivalent of a tankful of fuel to a truck driver… A necessary and pivotal component, and totally expendable. New wetsuits usually last me about three months, and once wet never dry out until they’re in the landfill. Drysuits – due to the abusive nature of my work – are reserved only for the coldest months, when water temperatures fall below 50 degrees or so. Last year we saw 39… The year before I was diving wet at 36 because I’d holed a drysuit. Such is the nature of the commercial diver… And my reason for loving that Thermalution so much, at least for the hour or two I can get out of it’s batteries.

When I comes to drysuits, it wasn’t just their cost that made us use them only in the worst of conditions… It was their flexibility, too. In case you don’t know, drysuits have a tendency to “shrink wrap” a diver and restrict movement badly. Think of a pillow in a plastic garment bag… If you suck all the air out, the pillow – and the bag surrounding it – becomes quite stiff. A drysuit diver experiences this also.

…Which is why a drysuit diver can monitor the amount of air inside the suit. We say that we’re “taking the squeeze off,” but it’s not really the “squeeze” that we’re trying to alleviate… It’s the stiffness. It’s the restriction of motion. Simply put, the more air in your suit, the easier it is to move.

The problem is, of course, that the more air there is in your suit, the more weight you need to be neutrally buoyant. What’s worse is that the air in your suit isn’t static… It moves around… And always to the highest place in the suit. At the surface, a lot of air in your suit means that your shoulders inflate comically, while your feet are squeezed with water pressure. While diving horizontally, the “bubble” in your suit theoretically stays centered on your back… But will quickly migrate to your feet if you’re not careful, suddenly making you float feet-up and head-down. As a commercial diver, every time I reached overhead to do a job, that “high” arm would blow up like a balloon if I had too much air in my suit.

The answer is to keep the bubble in the suit at a minimum… And grow accustomed to – and comfortable with – a certain amount of “squeeze” and limited mobility in the suit. It also helps if the diver can remain in a horizontal, prone position at all times, but a commercial diver is often working in odd positions - even upside-down - and rarely has this luxury... So we often had less air in the suit - and more squeeze with limited mobility - than your average diver would.

As such, drysuits were somewhat of a “last resort” for us commercial divers. Limited mobility is the opposite of what is necessary to get most jobs done.

To help combat the issue of limited mobility, many commercial divers will select a drysuit made of neoprene (either standard, compressed, or crushed), since it’s inherent stretch tends to not limit mobility the way that "shell" (vulcanized rubber, bilaminate, or trilaminate fabric) suits do.

Most modern drysuit divers, however, select a bilaminate or trilaminate fabric suit because of it’s durability, light weight, and quick drying properties. Shell suits (usually called "trilams" in diver slang) also have an advantage in that they have very little inherent buoyancy… That is, they tend to not require as much weight as neoprene suits usually do.

Neoprene suits are known for their stretchiness and comfort, their bulk, their large weighting requirements, and the fact that they take longer to dry than bilaminate or trilaminate suits do… An important characteristic for the traveling diver.

Effectively, up to now, drysuit divers had to choose between the mobility (often referred to as “flexibility&#8221:wink: of a neoprene suit and the buoyancy characteristics and usability of a “shell” suit.

Until now.

Well… Actually… Until 2002.

In 2002 or so BARE introduced a “stretchable, breathable” trilaminate fabric suit. It promised all of the functionality and buoyancy characteristics of a high-end trilaminate drysuit, but with the stretchiness – and therefore "flexibility" – of a neoprene suit.

The suit enjoyed brief popularity, with legendary “flexibility" (one reviewer joked that she could "do yoga" in hers), but the fabric had a flaw… Since each of the layers in the fabric had a slightly different level of “stretchiness” to it, the material delaminated – sometimes on the first few dives. That is… Literally, the suit fell apart. It was quickly dismissed by the scuba community and later the manufacturer put out a recall.

What I have now is the new and improved version of the BARE SB suit… Which I am politely calling “Generation 2.” The latest fabric choice by BARE appears to have the delamination problem licked.

Holy smokes, how do I describe this thing… Easily as stretchy and comfortable to dive as a 3 mil wetsuit… In fact, I didn’t change my weighting when I moved from a 3 mil to my BARE SB, and seem to be nicely weighted. I am diving it with the BARE SB “base layer” only, which is about as warm as a 5 mil wetsuit… Except that when I get out of the water, I’m dry. I can hose myself off while wearing the suit, then change out of it and into dry clothes. Compare that to what I usually have to do… Strip out of a wet 5 mil and then hose myself off on the dock... In October or November. And it’s not even winter yet.

Diving this thing is like… Well… A dream. A really great dream. A really great dream where I'm flying and I'm warm and dry and happy then when it's over I get paid for it. :D

I’ve dived it maybe a dozen dives this week and a half or so… Not a lick of unusual wear or any hint of delamination. I elected to have the Si-Tech quick cuffs (the oval ones) installed from the factory, and the hard plastic rings actually serve nicely as “armor” for protecting the fabric when I chip away at barnacles and oysters. Latex seals everywhere (bottle wrists, cone neck), their excellent low-profile p-valve, suspenders (accessory) and of course, their only-option TiZip zipper.

…Which is fantastic, by the way. I trust this thing 100 times more than I ever trusted my brass YKK zippers on any of my drysuits before.

The left-only hip pocket is unique to BARE’s SB suit: It’s an internal pocket with a single vertical zipper like you might have on a winter ski jacket or snow pants, and is quite large and flat. When the zipper is closed, it virtually disappears, which is great in heavy current. When it’s open, I could easily put in there a spare mask or wetnotes, although I dive with neither when I’m on the job. I’m just happy to have a streamlined, usable pocket to put parts and tools in when I’m working. A beautiful and clean solution!

The BARE pee valve (an optional accessory) is by default located on the right inner thigh, since the suit has the large internal pocket on the left. My bet is that the pee valve could probably be located on the left thigh if you insisted (which appears to be the default spot for most pee valves), but it might be a bit further inward than normal to clear the large internal pocket. I like it on the right, although I've never had it on that side before and I didn't think to specify when I requested the suit since I've only seen it left-side before. The valve is great... It's unique to BARE and is not a Si-Tech, OMS or Halcyon. It's slightly higher profile than what I'm used to, but is very low profile inside the suit and has a built-in check valve so it can be left open whether hooked up or not. The beautiful, boltless design (yay - nothing to lose!) requires just a 1/4 turn to open or close it if I choose to do so, and features a smooth brass oversized nipple inside the suit that allows the diver to quickly and easily disconnect the hose at the valve so that no quick disconnect plumbing is required to get out of the suit... You simply take the entire hose with you - which makes cleanup a snap, too! Very nice!

…So just how stretchy is the BARE SB suit? So stretchy that it’s a front-diagonal zip (what the industry calls a “self donning” suit) with no extending torso. It’s not even needed. In other words… You get the look and streamlinedness and clean lines of a back zip with the functionality of a front diagonal zip… Because when you need to duck your head when donning the suit, it stretches enough to go right over your head comfortably without needing an extended torso. It’s GREAT.

…Then gently pull closed the very slick and flexible TiZip (boy, that’s nice - I'll never consider a drysuit without one), burp the suit, and you’re golden. Leak-free and swearing you’re in a wetsuit except that you’re dry and comfortable inside.

Like most drysuits these days, a “warm neck collar” is standard and works great if you trim your hood properly… And two boot styles are available – essentially a “hard” boot and a soft neoprene boot with a molded sole. I recommend the latter of the two, as it makes getting in and out of the suit – without losing your socks or bunching your undergarment – much easier and cleaner.

For reference, the drysuits I dove last season were:

Northern Diver Vortex
DUI CLX450
SANTI Elite
SANTI Espace

I’ve also previously dived a DUI TLS350 and a DUI CF200.

If I had to compare the BARE SB to these, it’d be quick and dirty:

The BARE SB is most like the CF200, only even more flexible and without the need for an extending torso. The SB also comes with a TiZip, while the CF200 does not… And I’m seriously sold on the flexibility and ruggedness of the TiZip. Diving a BARE SB is like diving a younger, fitter, more svelte CF200.

Unlike a CF200, the SB dries as fast as any of the other trilaminates and feels slick and athletic like the TLS350 or the SANTI suits… Except that the SB doesn’t get stiff when you dump the air out of it. The SB has almost no inherent buoyancy in it, so weighting is fantastic… And as the only self-donner on the market without an extending torso, it’s beautifully streamlined and light weight and amazingly flexible.

In short, there’s nothing like it on the market. In an instant, all other suits are outdated.

Personally, I’m sold. I positively, absolutely, love the suit. Frankly, the valves, cuffs, and features of the suit are exactly the same as the others… No surprise, since BARE uses SI-Tech components just like SANTI and Northern Diver do… And DUI often does. The difference really is in the fabric… A stretchable, breathable trilaminate.

If a “semidry” suit is really just a wetsuit that is sorta like a drysuit… The BARE SB would be a drysuit that dives a lot like a wetsuit.

I’ll post again at 100 or 150 dives to see if the fabric continues to hold up. I have high expectations for it.

Yes, it’s completely dry… Yes, it dives like a wetsuit. A wetsuit that doesn’t compress at depth, doesn’t wear out in 100 dives, or change it’s buoyancy with depth. It’ll also never make me stand nearly naked under a hose when I get out of the water... Or work hard for an hour after the dive to bring my core body temperature up.

So far I’ve dived the SB with the BARE base layer (outstanding) and my previously-favorite UnderArmour gear. The base layer is worth every penny… Compression resistant and dry even when I’m sweating. Nice! It’s stretchyness is a compliment to the suit’s stretchiness, and I wholeheartedly recommend the use of them together. I haven’t dived the midlayer yet, but it’s design is similar and worn over the base layer. It feels to me that I’d need to add the midlayer around 60 degree water temperature or so.

We’ll see. I’ll keep y’all posted.
 
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My time limit has passed, and I'm unable to edit the original post above... So allow me to correct an error:

The original release of the BARE SB system was not in 2002... It was in 2011. I meant 2012 when I wrote "2002," but it would have been incorrect anyway. :D

...If a mod would be so kind as to edit my original post from the two reference dates, "2002," and replace them with "2011" - then delete this post - I'd be ever so appreciative. It'd only add accuracy. :D

Thanks in advance!
 
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Thanks for this excellent review.

Back in 2012 I wanted to change my bulky trilam to a a dry suit that I'll enjoy diving.
After doing some research I voted for the SB. So I contacted Bare and they advised me to go the XCS2 way, because the material used on the out side to cover the neoprene was very resistant for the type of diving I do.

Well it might not be as stretch as the SB but it does stretch, until I dive an SB and can compare the 2, for me it's so comfy that I either dive a 3mm wet suit or my XCS2, I don't have a 5mm or 7mm or semi dry (more like semiwet) suit any more.
And like you previously stated there is a small thermal benefit in diving neoprene.

I also voted for the neoprene neck instead of latex or silicon since I hate the strangulating feeling, it takes 2 dives to get used to it (how much should be folded against your skin).

As for the leg pocket I choose not to install them, I wear a short instead.

The most important thing is to have the suit cut to measure.

This is what the suit is made of according to there website:
2mm hyper-compressed FULL-STRETCH neoprene minimizes changes in buoyancy and thermal protection at depths.
 
A bit more on the BARE SB boot options, since I was somewhat nebulous about them in my article above:

There are two BARE SB boot options: Plain socks (for use with a Rock Boot style shoe) and the integrated boots.

I chose the integrated boots, since I'm not a fan of Rock Boots.

These integrated boots have a neoprene upper and are relatively low-cut, being halfway between mid-calf and the ankle. All of the boot is neoprene (it appears to be a crushed-style or highly compressed neoprene), but with a generous rubber sole. I say "generous" because it's thicker than the soles of a standard wetsuit bootie, but not as thick as some of the "sneaker" type soles I've seen on Rock Boots and thick-soled wetsuit booties. It can be closely compared to a SANTI "Flexsole" boot... Like a DUI Turbo Sole, but may be a millimeter or two thicker.

There are also a few molded-on, thin rubber abrasion guards - a welcome addition to those familiar with Turbo Soles. One guard wraps around the heel cup, and includes a "knob" for keeping a fin strap properly positioned. There is another guard across the toes, providing some toe protection like a pair of Keens. Lastly, there is a panel in the crux of the ankle to protect against abrasion from the top of the foot pocket of your fins.

The execution of these boots is excellent... Having past experience with DUI's Turbo Soles, I really appreciate the ruggedness of these boots and their abrasion-resistant panels, particularly on the tops of the toes, since that always seemed to be a wear point on my Turbo Soles. I also really like the knob for holding fin straps. Although I've never had the problem, I've seen some people have difficulty with keeping their fin straps properly positioned on DUI's Turbo Soles. I also really like the flexibility of these boots, which never restricts mobility in the ankles. Back kicks and mod flutters are a breeze, and as easy as doing them in a wetsuit bootie. What's really nice, though, is the ease at which you can don and doff this boot. Donning a stiff boot often results in the boot pulling your undergarment up, even with built-in stirrups... And doffing can pull your socks right off. There is no frustration like this with these boots regardless of whether or not your undergarment has built-in stirrups. Both SANTI suits I had last year were equipped with their standard neoprene boots, and they were both a pain to get in and out of and limited some of my fin kicks. Horrible. Their "Flexsole" boot option appears to be much better, and looks very similar in design to the BARE boot I have on my SB. Come to think of it, I recall having similar "boots too stiff" on my neoprene O'Neill drysuit years ago too.

Like all modern integrated neoprene boots, the BARE SB boots come with an ankle strap that's adjustable to help prevent air from entering the boot and to help keep the boot properly situated when walking around topside - although I have yet to use one in any of my suits. I simply place it on it's largest setting and never touch it again. I suppose that it might be necessary if my boots were a little big or if I dove with more air in my suit.

In short, the BARE SB's all-neoprene boots with correctly-placed wear panels are excellent and strike a perfect balance between ruggedness and flexibility.
 
Just bought a new Santi Emotion today from EE and gave my old Bare trilam suit to Steve Gamble to try to repair some of the really annoying issues. Be interesting to see how this generation SB holds up, it seems like a lot of dry suit manufactures have had quality issues with their drysuit material over the last few years. I would be nice it it does hold up, it sounds very nice.

I do really like the Bare SB base and mid layers. I spent 3 hours or so in a flooded drysuit during a class and didn't feel cold in about 70 degree water. Heck, I didn't realize I'd flooded it until I was walking out of the pond.
 
My email to the regional BARE distributor today, with whom I had to meet last winter to see the suit for myself (nobody had one in stock):

"Let me tell you... This suit is PHENOMINAL. It's my 6th or 7th drysuit... With the others being the leading (and expensive) brands. I can tell you that there is NOTHING like this anywhere. All the advantages of neoprene drysuits with none of the disadvantages. All the advantages of a trilam with none of the disadvantages. It's fantastic... Great-looking, too. A total slam-dunk of a suit!

One of my drysuits is a $6k SANTI... And that's just the suit, not including the undergarments. The leading North Florida "tech" retail dive shop sells this suit - and apparently a significant number of them. My SANTI is beautifully made, but doesn't hold a candle to this BARE suit in terms of diveability... Or the fantastic undergarments.

Seriously... You told me that I was really your first drysuit customer in the Florida area... And that simply doesn't make any sense. Cave Country should be eating this up. Somehow we've got to get the word out how great this suit is. Just the TiZip alone is so good that it should immediately be a dealbreaker for all suits not equipped with one.

~30 dives on this suit so far... All commercial, barnacle, oyster, nasty zero-vis dives, constantly bumping into sharp stuff. Worn docks with splinters. Not a lick of wear anywhere on the suit so far. The SiTech quick-change, hard wrist cuffs rock and actually act as hard plastic guards, protecting the wrist area from sharp stuff as I work. The butt pad built into the suit is great. Even an exposed nail head on the edge of the dock I was sitting on didn't leave a mark. A TLS350 would've been holed, and I'd be without the suit while it got sent out to be fixed.

...But the best thing is the flexibility. It's darned close to diving a 3mil, wet... And more flexible than a 5mil. I'm a gazelle underwater, able to do my job faster and easier than ever. I have no idea what the water temperature is. :) My income has doubled since I started diving the suit two weeks ago."

...So there ya have it. ~30 dives on the suit - no delamination issues and the durability seem fantastic so far. I'm sure at some point I'll hole the suit (I have yet to have a suit that I don't eventually hole), but so far so good.
 
I hope it holds out for you. I have been researching the TiZip and I'm aware they have had some issues in the past. A lot will only last 100 to 150 dives before they start to leak. I know that Santi have been replacing quite a few under their warranty. I would be interested to hear how you get on after 200 dives.


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Cool. I'll keep you posted.

TiZip has made several models, and in the case of the Masterseal version (which is what's on the BARE SB), there's at least three different generations that I know of. This, obviously, is the latest one and looks great at 30 dives.

...So we'll see.

I can tell you this: The YKK brass zippers that I've had in the past all have failed at around 150 or 200 dives. Some of them kinked, some of them lost or bent a tooth, and all of them have shredded their threads, even when waxed every other dive or so. I haven't been a real fan of the standard brass drysuit zipper. They're stiff and require comparably a lot of force to operate - which results in things like bent teeth and kinks. The shredding threads thing from friction is totally discouraging - especially given their cost.

This TiZip solves a lot of problems right off the bat by being easy to slide and simple to use. Less friction = less wear than on a brass zip. No zipper lubing = no maintenance either. And a flat, flexible profile means that pulls and tugs don't put weird forces and strains on the teeth like they do on a brass zipper.

I've been making sure it's rinsed well before opening after a dirty job, and making sure the teeth are clean and free of barnacle and oyster pieces before using. I've been lubing the end of the zip with the provided silicone every 5 or 10 dives, which is once or twice a week for me.

So far, it seems like it'll work out really well. I like it a lot and it holds a lot of promise. Like the rest of the suit, flexibility and simplicity are it's hallmarks and strong suits.

We'll see.
 
How did you spend 6K on a Santi? You get discounts off list, right? List price on the most common version sold by Extreme Exposure is $3050 with pockets etc. Though I guess the Emotion probably wouldn't be ideal for your purpose, however the elite is less than $3500. I never looked at the two very heavy suits past that, as they essentially never sell those and the Santi rep said they were totally inappropriate for my purposes.
 
As the owner of the company, I sometimes I even get suits - and other gear - to try out for free. I once got a boat for free. That didn't make the boat worth $0.

The suit I was talking about was in fact a SANTI Elite... With some custom work fot "the best fit." It's amazing to me how many times I have heard SANTI and DUI blame bad design with antiquated fabrics on fit problems.

The elite retails for $3350, before the suit is "custom fit" for you. $4500 is probably closer to a realistic price for most of the Elite suits that SANTI sells. Add the correct undergarment (because - you know - it won't fit right without the correct BZxxx undergarment) and yeah... $6k is pretty close to the mark. Sales tax might actually take you over.

I know this because I didn't get an Elite for free. :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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