I am a new diver who's doing my certification dives next weekend. I'm 6'05" and 160 lbs, and looking at the sizing charts for off the rack wetsuits any suit remotely tall enough for me was for a 200-220+ lb person. I didn't even try fitting an off the shelf one because of this, because I figured they'd be way too loose and not warm, and I already get very cold while swimming.
After reading around, I bought a custom wetsuit from Aquaflite. I can't talk about the quality or fit yet, as they don't think it'll be done and ship out until Friday, which honestly is pretty good considering I ordered it Thursday. I bought a 3 mm fullsuit with a sleeveless jacket that can be worn over the fullsuit or not, depending on the temp. I paid a little extra for a yellow sidestripe, a relief zipper, and a key pocket, and including shipping I paid $368.
Part of this was the customization charge. $94 surcharge for the custom suits. They make a paper cutout for cutting the neoprene with all your measurements. If you tell them to save it and your body doesn't change, they can reuse this cutout for future suits and the $94 surcharge would then not apply. Since I plan on getting a 7 mm when it gets a little colder, this means I could wait on ordering until verifying the 3 mm fits well.
The sidestripe ran $29.50, the relief zipper (men's suits only) ran $22.95, and the key pocket ran $7. The sleeveless jacket was a $58 addition to just the fullsuit. If I hadn't gotten any of these upgrades, my 3 mm custom wetsuit would have cost just $251!
There are 28 measurements you'll need a friend to take, so it's quite a custom fit. She said if you have an oddly shaped body, you're welcome to take additional measurements, as long as they are all referenced (chest, waist, hips are referenced to shoulders, while thighs and calves referenced to ankle).
There's a bunch of different suit styles and additions to chose from, in 1.5, 3, 5, and 7 mm. Teresa was great on the phone when I as a new diver who's never worn a wetsuit called with questions. Even if you don't call ahead of time, they will call you after they make the paper cutout, let you know if a measurement looks wrong, and confirm all your choices before they start cutting the suit out. And the week turnaround they think my suit will take is really fast.
More than off the rack suits, but they are the cheapest custom wetsuits I found, and the reviews I could find were all quite positive. If you're interested I'll update with how my suit fits and the quality once I receive it.
After reading around, I bought a custom wetsuit from Aquaflite. I can't talk about the quality or fit yet, as they don't think it'll be done and ship out until Friday, which honestly is pretty good considering I ordered it Thursday. I bought a 3 mm fullsuit with a sleeveless jacket that can be worn over the fullsuit or not, depending on the temp. I paid a little extra for a yellow sidestripe, a relief zipper, and a key pocket, and including shipping I paid $368.
Part of this was the customization charge. $94 surcharge for the custom suits. They make a paper cutout for cutting the neoprene with all your measurements. If you tell them to save it and your body doesn't change, they can reuse this cutout for future suits and the $94 surcharge would then not apply. Since I plan on getting a 7 mm when it gets a little colder, this means I could wait on ordering until verifying the 3 mm fits well.
The sidestripe ran $29.50, the relief zipper (men's suits only) ran $22.95, and the key pocket ran $7. The sleeveless jacket was a $58 addition to just the fullsuit. If I hadn't gotten any of these upgrades, my 3 mm custom wetsuit would have cost just $251!
There are 28 measurements you'll need a friend to take, so it's quite a custom fit. She said if you have an oddly shaped body, you're welcome to take additional measurements, as long as they are all referenced (chest, waist, hips are referenced to shoulders, while thighs and calves referenced to ankle).
There's a bunch of different suit styles and additions to chose from, in 1.5, 3, 5, and 7 mm. Teresa was great on the phone when I as a new diver who's never worn a wetsuit called with questions. Even if you don't call ahead of time, they will call you after they make the paper cutout, let you know if a measurement looks wrong, and confirm all your choices before they start cutting the suit out. And the week turnaround they think my suit will take is really fast.
More than off the rack suits, but they are the cheapest custom wetsuits I found, and the reviews I could find were all quite positive. If you're interested I'll update with how my suit fits and the quality once I receive it.
