Santi Emotion, Elite or 4th Element Argonaut?

[WhiteSands]

Hi,
Please help me to decide which drysuit to get. I am only considering the above 3 suits (or Santi Enduro).

I plan on doing wrecks and caves in the future. Will also be diving in very cold waters in the near future.

I am leaning more towards the Santi Emotion, because I think it has more advanced features (ripstop nylon making it lighter, yet as strong as cordura, no seam crotch, nicer pockets, stretchable material).

The 4th Element also looks really nice, but it's their first suit so I'm not sure they are as experienced as Santi as far as Drysuits go.

However I know close to nothing about drysuits except that I need to get one in trilam, front zipper/self-donning kind with a tough enough outer shell to withstand wreck/cave diving, generally what DIR divers would use.

May I know how important is it to have 2 zippers? I've seen some drysuits which had an extra outer zipper to protect the plastic zipper (e.g. 4th Element Argonaut), and some without (Santi Emotion).

TIA for any help/pointers you can give me!

---------- Post added October 24th, 2013 at 10:44 PM ----------

Correction - the Santo Emotion also has double zippers.

 

[deg]

I can't talk first hand because I never dived those suits but if it can help you in any way, I ordered an E.Motion two weeks ago. I do dive cold, hope to do wreck and cave at some point and going DIR.

The reason why I chose Santi is because I can get service really close from home and if a major issue comes up. I only need to send my suit to Santi Canada, PEI compared to be diving a DUI that would have to be sent in CA. 4th Element would be in UK or Maine, not sure.

You answered your own question for the 2nd zipper. It's only there to protect the main zipper.

Dive Safe


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

 

[doctormike]

I am selling my E.Motion and buying an E.lite. You might find my writeup useful - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/classifieds-exposure-suits/468370-santi-e-motion-xxl-drysuit.html

The E.Motion and the E.Lite both come with outer zippers, as did my old Diving Concepts and many other suits. It's a pretty common feature. I think that my buddies Enduro has a non-zipper outer flap that protects the main zipper, but most suits have something like that.

The Santis are great suits... but if you really plan on penetrating wrecks, or even crawling around on them, then consider a heavier suit like the E.Lite. Cave diving and wreck diving are very different in this regard - you need a much tougher suit for wreck diving. I don't cave dive myself, but I think that the idea is to touch as little as possible, so a light suit like the E.Motion might be better there...

The Santi pockets are great, and both of the suits that I have tried fit very well.

Don't know anything about the Argonaut, but 4th Element also has a good rep - I dive their undergarments...

Mike

---------- Post added October 24th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ----------

Also, zipper protection in general is a good idea, but it's not because these suits use a plastic zipper. If anything, the T-zip is supposed to be stronger and more reliable than the metal zippers: New plastic Tizip in a Santi Dry Suit - YouTube

 

[tracydr]

I've looked at both suits online and the Santi looks like a great suit. I plan to get it if for any reason I ever need to replace my Diving Concepts suit, which I hope I never do. I've also heard fabulous reviews about Santi.
I haven't heard anything about the 4th Element suit.

 

[doctormike]

I plan to get it if for any reason I ever need to replace my Diving Concepts suit, which I hope I never do.

Dove my Diving Concepts suit for 10 years, then had a leak that I couldn't fix, so I ordered the Santi. After the order went through, I tried one more thing, shipped it to Steve Gamble and he worked his magic! Now I have the Diving Concepts as a backup, which came in handy this season...

Both are great suits, looking forward to getting the E.Lite, which I hear has left Poland on its way to me...

M

 

[WhiteSands]

Thanks Mike, very helpful. Esp on the part about cave/wreck diving. I know 1kg doesn't sound like much buy I could feel the difference in the weight of the suits.
My heart says emotion for the light weight. My head says elite for the tougher material.

May I ask why you chose to go with the 4th element undergarments rather than Santi? I am also considering doing that 'cos the 4th element undergarments look really sharp and innovative.

I am selling my E.Motion and buying an E.lite. You might find my writeup useful - http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/classifieds-exposure-suits/468370-santi-e-motion-xxl-drysuit.html

The E.Motion and the E.Lite both come with outer zippers, as did my old Diving Concepts and many other suits. It's a pretty common feature. I think that my buddies Enduro has a non-zipper outer flap that protects the main zipper, but most suits have something like that.

The Santis are great suits... but if you really plan on penetrating wrecks, or even crawling around on them, then consider a heavier suit like the E.Lite. Cave diving and wreck diving are very different in this regard - you need a much tougher suit for wreck diving. I don't cave dive myself, but I think that the idea is to touch as little as possible, so a light suit like the E.Motion might be better there...

The Santi pockets are great, and both of the suits that I have tried fit very well.

Don't know anything about the Argonaut, but 4th Element also has a good rep - I dive their undergarments...

Mike

---------- Post added October 24th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ----------

Also, zipper protection in general is a good idea, but it's not because these suits use a plastic zipper. If anything, the T-zip is supposed to be stronger and more reliable than the metal zippers: New plastic Tizip in a Santi Dry Suit - YouTube

---------- Post added October 26th, 2013 at 07:25 AM ----------

I've looked at both suits online and the Santi looks like a great suit. I plan to get it if for any reason I ever need to replace my Diving Concepts suit, which I hope I never do. I've also heard fabulous reviews about Santi.
I haven't heard anything about the 4th Element suit.

Hi Doc the Santis are really nice. I esp love the pockets. Have you seen the vid of the owner taking a hammer to the tizip zipper? Really impressive. Once you feel the soft fabric I think its hard to forget it.

4th element has 2 options, a cordura and a kevlar. Cordura suit looks very very sharp. I think they have a really good artistic design team. From pockets to labels to embossed valves the suit is a thing of beauty. However the kevlar suit looks...grimy. Not sure how to describe it. Its the colour of the material.

They have vids on youtube, you can check it out. At this point I think I am probably getting a Santi.

 

[tracydr]

Dove my Diving Concepts suit for 10 years, then had a leak that I couldn't fix, so I ordered the Santi. After the order went through, I tried one more thing, shipped it to Steve Gamble and he worked his magic! Now I have the Diving Concepts as a backup, which came in handy this season...

Both are great suits, looking forward to getting the E.Lite, which I hear has left Poland on its way to me...

M

I know that my husband has had his DC suit for a long,long time. It looks like an old pair of worn out jeans. They good,sturdy suits.
I think that Santi has a lot in common. The double zipper,for one. I like the new,plastic zipper and I would certainly get one if I were buying a new drysuit.

 

[doctormike]

May I ask why you chose to go with the 4th element undergarments rather than Santi? I am also considering doing that 'cos the 4th element undergarments look really sharp and innovative.

Eh, they were on sale! Actually, I bought Xerotherms, which I used alone when diving in relatively warm water (like the Thousand Islands). I have an old Whites jumpsuit, so when it's cold up here I wear both layers.

Got them before I got the Santi suit, but I'm sure that the Santi undergarments are nice too...