Scuba Pro vs Henderson

[Ikaboy]

New wetsuit time for me. My 10 year old BodyGlove Farmer has finally had it's last day.

I dive in a variety of conditions living in the Midwest. From lakes to rivers, caves to quarrys.. with the occasional ocean trip. I'm looking for something versatile and tough. (Being exmilitary I’m pretty rough of my gear)

I’m looking at getting a 5mm wetsuit and probably a 3 mm core warmer. I can wear the warmer on tropical/mid summer dives and the 5 mm on hunting trips, deep dives, cave dives, ect… and wear them both when it’s the middle of winter around here.

The two brands I’ve been looking at are the Henderson Gold Core an the ScubaPro TEC Steamer. Looking for any experiences that any other divers have had with either of these getups or if there’s a suit that you like better than these than toss them at me.

 

[BKP]

I've never owned ScubaPro, however, I have Hendersons in both a full 3mm Gold Core and a Gold Core 3mm core warmer, and I'm happy with both.

The Gold Core is slick as greased ice to get on and off, and it tends to be a bit warmer then standard neoprene. If you're as hard on your gear as you say, I'd stay away from the Hyperstretch (which needs a little extra TLC).
The Henderson Gold Cores also dry quickly (even though they're not InstaDry). The one downside is Henderson is definitely pricey... especially if you custom fit...

 

[S. starfish]

The other day I was on a quest to get myself a 5mm full body suit and made an intersting discovery about the scuba pro wetsuits. If you look at the arms the suits actually taper in at the armpit. I found that if I got a suit where the body, legs amd arms fit the shoulders would be pinched. The xxl size didn't pinch the shoulders but the legs and sleeves extended down to my knuckles. The ones I tried on weren't the tech steamer and I don't know if this cut is characteristic of all scubapro or not, but I thought I'd toss it out there.

 

[CrazyScuba]

Henderson Gold Core is a great suit. We've been selling them for years and so far everyone has loved them. The Hyperstretch is a fantastic suit and very easy to put on, but as BKP said, it requires a little more care than the Gold Core as Velcro can "fuzz" it up. The gold will be a little warmer also.

You can save about $77 when you buy the combo wetsuit and core warmer:
http://www.crazyscuba.com/pd_gold_core.cfm

Good luck,

Britt :fish:
:fish:

 

[Ikaboy]

Thanks for the replies. Having the armpits pinch in on the Scubapro wouldn't work for me. I'm 5'11 wieghting in at about 200 lbs. I have extremely broad shoulders. I wish there was a dive shop around here that carried these suits so I could try them on. I think I'm going to try some Hendersons next weekend and that will probably seal the deal for me if it fits well.

Next up after this upgrade is a new computer... well the first rec computer for me. My rig has a 15 year old set of gauges from Oceanic. Thanks again.

 

[eckybay]

I've got a Henderson as well - I went with a Hyperstretch suit because I tend to gain and loose weight a lot due to a hereditary disease. Just in the past 6 months I've lost 20 pounds and gained 10 of them back as my meds changed.... Hyperstretch is very forgiving for stuff like this. Not to mention I'm always the first one in my group to get down putting my suit on since they'er so easy to get on and off. I'm in the midwest too, I went with a 5mm wetsuit and then a 5/3 hooded vest. Seems to work good for me so far.

 

[mheaster]

I have 5/7 mm Henderson Hyperstretch. I absolutley think this has been best peice of Dive Gear i have ever bought.

Mine is now 3 years old. It does have some pills/fuzz from Velcro but I can live with that and/or shave it off if it really starts to bother me!

The COMFORT more than makes up for that! I also have a 3mm Hyperstretch. I rarely wear it. The 7/5 mm is so comfortable that I can wear it for any/every occasion. I am warm enough at local quarry (even in deeper areas = low 60's degrees if I wear hood) or at 80 degree surface assisting with long class sessions.

I don't have to change up as my heaviest suit is also comfortable enough that I can wear it for warmer weather. Makes packing decisions easy and my weighting issue stays constant. My buddy always debates situation between staying as warm as possible with his 6.5 mm or more comfortable with his 3/4 mm combo.

When my fuzz problem gets bad enough I will buy another one (unless my wife will buy me an Insta-Dry! - NOT!!!)

I'm a little biased! I like my Hyperstretch!