I'm looking to get a drysuit for cold water diving around Seattle (Puget Sound). I'd like to find suit that is comfortable and with a feel that is closer to that of wetsuits. I'm new to drysuits so this would be the first.
I tried the Whites Fusion line first, but it is not for me - I'm tall, thin and would have to get a Large size which has way too much drycore for my body type . Then I found the Bare SB drysuit and I really liked it (price aside, ahem), until I tried buying one. Even though Bare currently demos this suit, it won't be available for another 5-6 months. So, that's out too.
Perusing comparative drysuit reviews I found that Seasoft drysuits are ranked very high in comfort and all-around usability. Seasoft suits are made of compressed neoprene rather than trilam. One reason why I'm not ecstatic about neoprene is the long dry time, but Seasoft claims the XV-4 drysuit dries in minutes because the outside layer on the 4mm neoprene (Yamamoto SCS) is so hydrophobic that the material effectively does not wet under water.
Are there any XV-4 owners on this board that can share their opinions of this suit?
I tried to find a suit in local shops to look at, but they have none in stock. Some of the areas I am interested in:
- Does it dry as fast as a trilam suit (minutes)?
- Is the 'exotic' material as durable and comfortable as claimed?
- Is the forearm dump valve an issue? They can do a traditional shoulder dump position as well if you request it, but they seem to feel strongly about the forearm position being better.
- Is it (subjectively) worth the 2x cost compared with Seasoft's TX suit that has the same cut and uses regular compressed neoprene?
- Does the 4mm compressed neoprene significantly reduce the amount of undergarments required for cold water dives? Seasoft recommends their Alaska undergarment, which to me looks like the kind of thick undergarment that you'd expect to wear with a trilaminate suit (in the same category as the 4th element's Arctics and Bare's SB System mid-layer).
Thanks!
I tried the Whites Fusion line first, but it is not for me - I'm tall, thin and would have to get a Large size which has way too much drycore for my body type . Then I found the Bare SB drysuit and I really liked it (price aside, ahem), until I tried buying one. Even though Bare currently demos this suit, it won't be available for another 5-6 months. So, that's out too.
Perusing comparative drysuit reviews I found that Seasoft drysuits are ranked very high in comfort and all-around usability. Seasoft suits are made of compressed neoprene rather than trilam. One reason why I'm not ecstatic about neoprene is the long dry time, but Seasoft claims the XV-4 drysuit dries in minutes because the outside layer on the 4mm neoprene (Yamamoto SCS) is so hydrophobic that the material effectively does not wet under water.
Are there any XV-4 owners on this board that can share their opinions of this suit?
I tried to find a suit in local shops to look at, but they have none in stock. Some of the areas I am interested in:
- Does it dry as fast as a trilam suit (minutes)?
- Is the 'exotic' material as durable and comfortable as claimed?
- Is the forearm dump valve an issue? They can do a traditional shoulder dump position as well if you request it, but they seem to feel strongly about the forearm position being better.
- Is it (subjectively) worth the 2x cost compared with Seasoft's TX suit that has the same cut and uses regular compressed neoprene?
- Does the 4mm compressed neoprene significantly reduce the amount of undergarments required for cold water dives? Seasoft recommends their Alaska undergarment, which to me looks like the kind of thick undergarment that you'd expect to wear with a trilaminate suit (in the same category as the 4th element's Arctics and Bare's SB System mid-layer).
Thanks!
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