Viking PRO 590 drysuit or Scubapro Hyperthane suit

[vikingdrydiver]

Anyone else here own a Viking PRO 590 suit or a Scubapro Hyperthane suit? I rarely find anyone with the same type of suit (except a rescue and parks diver friend).

Viking made the 590 after the they stopped selling the Sport model, it is a polyurethane suit and is pretty tough but nowhere near as thick or heavy as a PRO 1000 rubber suit. It's a great suit and it's the only Viking I have ever seen with a "zipper guard" over the zipper - a flap made of the suit material that covers and protects the zipper.

I also have (though my brother uses it more than I do) a Scubapro Hyperthane suit. This also seems to be a rare suit, but my instructor had one and thought it was great. This suit is very similar to the Viking except for the zipper being on the front so it's a self-donning suit. I did have a latex dry hood attached instead of the neoprene it came with, I just find it more comfortable.

Anyone have either of these suits - care to share your thoughts on them?

 

[JJ1]

I dive a viking HD pro 1500..........good suit - a bit bulky - but I consider it bullet proof lol......

 

[Soggy]

I had a hyperthane pro suit and it is terrible. Admittedly, the suit I had was quite old (bought used), but the bilaminent material was literally falling apart at the seams. I sold it on ebay after the inside was almost literally dipped in aquaseal. Because of the way the zippers are attached, if it needs replacing, it cannot be done at a local shop...must be sent into scubapro.

The dump valve is a POS. It works ridiculously slowly.

I never had even one dry dive on my hyperthane.

 

[SHPWRCKDVR]

I dive both my Viking Sport and a ScubaPro Hyperthane. Both are great suits, however I find it easier to get into and out of the ScubaPro because of it's front entry design vs. Viking zipper in the back.

One major plus for the Viking was a couple of years ago I was able to send it back to Trellborg-Viking to have the seals replaced and have it inspected by the factory. Being an older suit I just felt better having the factory give it a once over and give it a clean bill of health.

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

Viking is a drysuit manufacturer...

ScubaPro is not...

 

[Soggy]

CincyBengalsFan once bubbled...
Viking is a drysuit manufacturer...

ScubaPro is not...

That's interesting. Care to explain how I had a ScubaPro drysuit for a year?

 

[Bob3]

Care to explain how I had a ScubaPro drysuit for a year?

Viking makes their own suits, SP has their suit making farmed out to one of the many OEM manufacturers.

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

Bob3 once bubbled...
Viking makes their own suits, SP has their suit making farmed out to one of the many OEM manufacturers.

That's how Soggy... The don't make drysuits.. They have someone else make them and stamp SP all over them.

If you're going to buy a drysuit..Buy from somebody that makes them.

 

[Soggy]

Bob3 once bubbled...
Viking makes their own suits, SP has their suit making farmed out to one of the many OEM manufacturers.

I thought he was suggesting that ScubaPro didn't have drysuits at all.

It doesn't really mean much about the suit, however. Tons of companies farm out their manufacturing or purchse and relabel. That being said, my SP Hyperthane was a piece of trash

 

[oxyhacker]

Though one wonders if Viking actually made the Pro - it's completely different from all their other suits.

We see a lot of Pro 590s around here, because Viking USA is nearby, and when they closed them out a lot of divers around here snapped them up. They do not have a good rep - mainly because they used very lightweight urethane coated zippers which did not hold up well. Don't recall seeing zipper flaps on any of the ones I've seen - maybe that's why they added one. Unfortunately Viking has got it in their heads that they must be replaced only with the same thing, which just isn't so - if when the original zipper wears out you replace it with a standard rubber one you'll get much longer life from it.

Urethane is funny stuff. Makes a good cement, but not necessarily a great suit. The main reason for using it is because it can be heat or RF welded instead of sewn, cemented or vulcanized, which really speed up production.

Bob3 once bubbled...
Viking makes their own suits, SP has their suit making farmed out to one of the many OEM manufacturers.