Trilam suit and mobility: Ring system for the neck seal or latex?

[Cajsa]

I am looking into buying a trilaminate suit shortly. I am currently diving in a Waterproof D10 pro ISS and find it warm (I dive at high northern latitudes) but very difficult to move in. Impossible to reach the valve on my left arm, for example. For my trilam I am on the fence about having a neck ring and silicon seal or switch to a latex seal without a ring system. As a female there are no suits for me to try on in the shop, so I can´t compare. Will the generally improved mobility in a trilam suit be "enough" or can I still expect the neck ring to restrict mobility considerably?

 

[divad]

First on left....too stiff.
Third on left...too floppy/requires fiddly bits that are easy to lose and may pop out.
Second in middle....aaah,....just right.

 

[Sean Walberg]

I have an SITech Quick Neck (the middle one from the previous picture), it does not constrict me at all.

 

[divad]

Make sure you can find some one who can pre-bend it. I didn't think it "should" make any difference, but it did.

 

[AJ]

I had a Si-Tech Orust in my previous suit because of the silicone neckseal I prefer over the latex ones. In my current suit I went back to a latex neckseal. Could not live with the neck ring as it made diving uncomfortable for me restraining me too much (valve drill) and causing pain in my shoulders with a D12.

I believe it's a personal thing. Some love it, some hate it. You have to try too know which kind of person you are.

 

[Storker]

I have an SITech Quick Neck (the middle one from the previous picture), it does not constrict me at all.

Same.

I've owned a suit with the 1st gen SiTech system (the one to the left), and I didn't like it very much. Particularly if I tried to reach horizontally across my chest.

 

[lexvil]

Are you looking into a made to measure suit? Neoprene is a lot easier to move in than a trilam, to get more mobility it will have to fit looser because there is no “give” in trilam. I always pick quick change seals and carry spares for neck and wrists.

 

[Cajsa]

Are you looking into a made to measure suit? Neoprene is a lot easier to move in than a trilam, to get more mobility it will have to fit looser because there is no “give” in trilam. I always pick quick change seals and carry spares for neck and wrists.

The Waterproof D10 is not very flexible. It is warm and sturdy, but not very flexible. Especially stiff in the torso area, around the neck ring. Other, less expensive, neoprene suits that I have used are softer.

 

[lexvil]

The Waterproof D10 is not very flexible. It is warm and sturdy, but not very flexible. Especially stiff in the torso area, around the neck ring. Other, less expensive, neoprene suits that I have used are softer.

I’ve never used a D10 but “not very flexible” is a lot more flexible the not flexible at all as in trilam, fit is everything for a trilam because the cut is all you have for movement, to big you can move freely but you will have a big bubble to fight and to small will make thing like squatting down to pick something up impossible and can make putting on fins a challenge. I have found my neoprene suit much better than my trilam except zipping, I really don’t like the back zip and being able to get into and out of the front zip trilam makes me dive it much more often. If Seaskin ever offers a front zip neoprene I’ll buy it.

 

[divad]

...................................................