That's reminiscent of my experience. See second paragraph of this post: US Dollar and Buying from Overseas Suppliers
Santi v. Waterproof but with a plot twist
- Thread starter Calatinus
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admikar
Contributor
It seems Santi has become too big for its own good. My instructor told me a story of how Santi CEO was nice guy that you could actually talk to.I had terrible experience with Santi:
When I contacted santi to confirm whether they got the correct sizes, they flatly refused to reply, they told me to talk to the local dealer I bought from. So I was never able to confirm what happened or even if the measurements were applied correctly.
- Neck neoprene was wrong by 4 sizes
- They put the wrong wrist seals
The person I bought the drysuit from was a local instructor and just passed me to the local service centre to deal directly with the issues.
The local service centre was more helpful but it took like 3-4 months to get it sorted between the neck seals having to be ordered from Santi HQ and installation.
You can’t get major changes without sending your suit to Poland either. For example I was thinking of getting the interchangeable neck seal system but that’d require the suit to be sent to Santi HQ.
Terrible experience IMHO, the suit is good but for that price the service was terrible, will not buy again.
With your Santi suit you get a printed letter from Santi CEO saying he wants your feedback. Has been almost two years and I am still waiting for a reply
The suit itself is ok but if you have major issues you’ll be out of luck.
Now, with bulk buy of 10 suits, they did not even get the Hello as he passed by them in the factory.
And out of those 10, 2 were so messed up on sizing they had to be sold.
Just to mess things up... Have a look at Ursuit. Finnish made. The SoftDura is super nice to dive in. Only suit I have ever had two of (the first one grew in size over the winter).
Have also had BARE and First Gen Santi Emotion.
Have also had BARE and First Gen Santi Emotion.
The exhaust valve on the Waterproof D7X is too far forward to vent in trim. To make matters worse there is a seam that runs the length of the arm directly behind the exhaust valve so relocating it isn't really possible without putting it so far back on the arm that it would auto vent any gas added. My solution to this was to add a cuff dump, and now the suit works great. It seems like a rather massive design flaw on Waterproofs part however.
RedSeaDiver2
Contributor
I did some testing ... and buying 
... and got the D7X Nylotech. I don't have a lot to compare to, but the exhaust valve didn't bother me much after a while. At the beginning I had troubles venting, but that seemed more liky my own inexperience. After a few dives I'm able to vent in perfect trim (that is, if I can believe my buddies) while lifting my arm as if I were venting with my BCD inflator (discovered this trying to vent an already empty wing lmao).
... and got the D7X Nylotech. I don't have a lot to compare to, but the exhaust valve didn't bother me much after a while. At the beginning I had troubles venting, but that seemed more liky my own inexperience. After a few dives I'm able to vent in perfect trim (that is, if I can believe my buddies) while lifting my arm as if I were venting with my BCD inflator (discovered this trying to vent an already empty wing lmao).RedSeaDiver2
Contributor
MBT - what is your thoughts on the positioning of the exhaust valve on the Nylotech?I haven't tried a Santi, but I've owned one Poseidon, two DUI, three Diving Concepts, one USIA, and three Waterproof suits. I'm currently diving the D7X Nylotech and it is by far the best suit I've owned. It's strong but nearly as light as some trilam suits and dries fast. The user-replaceable seals are a deal breaker. I dive with dry gloves and no wrist seals, so swapping out seals is even easier.
I've never noticed any problems. I don't put much air into my suit, just enough to alleviate the squeeze. The suit pretty much takes care of itself.
RedSeaDiver2
Contributor
OK many thanks MBT.
I mean I dive 5-6 days a week as a working instructor in it, and am extremely fit doing calisthenics, stretching, and yoga several times a week so I doubt others are able to change body position to vent more efficiently than I am, maybe for bigger people venting is easier in this suit. I also worked at a shop where 5 other dive pros have the d7x nylotech and every single one of them has the same problem with venting gas. I think what you will get in this thread is a lot of people who don't want to admit their $4000 drysuit is improperly designed.
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