Trilam vs. Compressed Neoprene

[Warren_L]

Kevin, thanks for the information. I will have a look at the Diving Concepts suit when I am in Kingston next Sunday. Chris and I will be coming down. Are we going to be diving with you as well?

I haven't decided whether to go trilam or the crushed neoprene. In the end I just want something that is reasonably durable, as I plan on doing a fair bit of wreck diving. While one never plans on brushing up against zebra mussels or anything sharp, it might happen from time to time and I'd like something that is reasonably good at withstanding this.

 

[DeepScuba]

Sorry wlo93, it must have been somebody else.

FWIW wlo93

I have a cheap Bare Nex-Gen with maybe 100 dives on it. Tri-Lam. I've done some fairly mean penetrations with it, and I gotta tell ya, a few holes that were a bit small to slip through without some arm pulling!!!!! and besides the leaky neck-seal (now repaired) it has held up very well!!

They aren't pretty, have no pockets (you could add them of course), rear entry, but what the heck!

I swapped the dump valve for a nice, low-profile DUI one.

 

[Warren_L]

I hope to have a decision made sometime within the week. I really like the DUI CF200, but just don't know if I can afford the higher price tag. The Bares XCD2 is also in the runnings - still good quality compressed neo suit and seems to have a lot of the features I want. Will reserve judgement until I have a look at some of the diving concept suits (Pinnacle 200?).

 

[docmartin]

these are all good suits. keep in mind though that fit is very important and different brands will fit differently especially if you don't want to pay for custom. besides range of movement i pay special attention to the legs. i hate baggy legs. you definitely don't want much air down there. in the end your decision may be made easier because some of the suits may just not fit as well.

 

[loosebits]

You might also want to look at the CLx450. It's a Cordura suit, very tough. My LDS loaned me one while I wait for my custom CF200 and it's a very nice suit. The Cordura fabric seems almost as tough as the CF200 fabric and dries quickly. The material is a bit stiff and offers no stretch but I think it would make a good wreck diving suit. For the special production version (custom fit) I believe you can get the suit with a CF200 lower half.

On a related note, I really don't understand the market for DUI's mix suits such as the FLx 50/50 or CLx 50/50. By making the bottom half CF200, you lose all of the advantages of the faster drying Cordura or trilam (the suit is still wet even if it's only the bottom half of the suit that is wet) but you still have all of the disadvantages (less durable, no stretch, etc). The FLx 50/50 is only slightly cheaper than the CF200 ($2000 vs $2200) and you can only get the CLx 50/50 as a custom suit.

 

[DeepScuba]

You wanna give me even 1800.00 US for a CF200 and I'll drive it to your door!

 

[yonex]

is in my view a drysuite from Kallweit (www.kwtt.de). Check it out, especially
the Helios which compares to the DUI
200. It is not that expensive and overly
customizable. Also the Zip protections
seems to be a lot better than DUI.

-yonex

 

[dmdoug]

I have been diving the Gates CDX450 suit (tri-lam) for one year now and I am extremely happy.

With the same construction as the DUI at half the cost the suit comes with a guarantee against seams. They are heat vulcanized seams with a very durable trilaminate material that have proven so far to be zebra mussel resistant.

I have no complaints about the suit. If you would like more details about the suit contact me.

Safe diving,

 

[Warren_L]

Thanks for all the information everyone - it is really appreciated. It's good to know there are lots of knowledgeable people around. I am going to be deciding on something in the next few days. Will keep you posted.