Stoo
Contributor
- Messages
- 3,510
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- # of dives
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Just a follow up on my earlier comments... my "dry dives" were following a complete assessment and service at Halcyon/SANTI's repair facility... They did a beautiful job reattaching the Si-Tec neck ring, and the seam tape which was falling off. They also repaired previous work which was not done well (by another SANTI authorized repair facility).
However, I am just back from a trip to BC, where I did 24 dives over 10 days or so. It pains me to report that I was varying degrees of wet on all of them. I have been back in touch with the ever-helpful Halcyon rep., and he has advised he will get back to me in a few days, after speaking to someone in Poland. I have come to believe that this suit will just never be truly dry. As much as I love it, I won't keep it... perhaps it would be suitable for someone who dives in more temperate waters.
Interestingly, in the little group I took west, there were two other SANTIs... One was brand new (eMotion), and seemed to be dry. The other (eLite) was a year or so old, and the woman wearing it frequently finished the dive pouring water out of her suit.
I should add that there were also three DUI suits... one seemed pretty dry, two failed in their job and the people in them were consistently wet.
There was a Bare crushed neoprene suit... it was dry on every dive. This is an $1100 suit.
And there was one of those weird Whites bag in a bag suits... it also seemed dry. This is also an econo-suit.
My long-ago conjecture that dryness and cost have no correlation seems to be true and unless SANTI replaces this lemon (which would be nice, but unlikely) I am simply going back to my old, dry Viking Pro-tech and deal with the baggage weight issues as they come up.
Given that my suit has absolutely no signs of damage or wear, I have some to the conclusion that either the seams simply leak when they are stretched a little, or the fabric itself just "seeps" water. It is very light, so I think that this a very real possibility. Perhaps the trade-off for flexibility and weigh reduction is being wet.
It is disappointing to see the two top brands in drysuits consistently put out products that don't seem to work at their prime job... keeping us dry. We as consumers seem to have come to accept this, which considering the cost of these things, is surprising. Beyond that, many of us are very loyal to the brand, even though the products don't work as well as they should.
I have nothing bad to say about Halcyon's and SANTI's warranty service, but since I am now out of warranty, I am hoping that they will consider my complaints as a continuation of the original complaint that began not long after I got the suit. I'll keep you posted!
However, I am just back from a trip to BC, where I did 24 dives over 10 days or so. It pains me to report that I was varying degrees of wet on all of them. I have been back in touch with the ever-helpful Halcyon rep., and he has advised he will get back to me in a few days, after speaking to someone in Poland. I have come to believe that this suit will just never be truly dry. As much as I love it, I won't keep it... perhaps it would be suitable for someone who dives in more temperate waters.
Interestingly, in the little group I took west, there were two other SANTIs... One was brand new (eMotion), and seemed to be dry. The other (eLite) was a year or so old, and the woman wearing it frequently finished the dive pouring water out of her suit.
I should add that there were also three DUI suits... one seemed pretty dry, two failed in their job and the people in them were consistently wet.
There was a Bare crushed neoprene suit... it was dry on every dive. This is an $1100 suit.
And there was one of those weird Whites bag in a bag suits... it also seemed dry. This is also an econo-suit.
My long-ago conjecture that dryness and cost have no correlation seems to be true and unless SANTI replaces this lemon (which would be nice, but unlikely) I am simply going back to my old, dry Viking Pro-tech and deal with the baggage weight issues as they come up.
Given that my suit has absolutely no signs of damage or wear, I have some to the conclusion that either the seams simply leak when they are stretched a little, or the fabric itself just "seeps" water. It is very light, so I think that this a very real possibility. Perhaps the trade-off for flexibility and weigh reduction is being wet.
It is disappointing to see the two top brands in drysuits consistently put out products that don't seem to work at their prime job... keeping us dry. We as consumers seem to have come to accept this, which considering the cost of these things, is surprising. Beyond that, many of us are very loyal to the brand, even though the products don't work as well as they should.
I have nothing bad to say about Halcyon's and SANTI's warranty service, but since I am now out of warranty, I am hoping that they will consider my complaints as a continuation of the original complaint that began not long after I got the suit. I'll keep you posted!
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