What is the best wetsuit for the price?

[DanBMW]

Ms. DiverUSA,

Thanks for the quick response. I saw one of their suits 2 years ago on a trip to Cocoas and at the time, I was not in the market for a new suit. Now that I am, I remember her suit and questioned the quality of the seams. They just did not seem to be well made and the suite, quite frankly looked "home made." My guess is that that might have been an abnormality. How old is yours and how is it holding up? What temp of water do you normaly dive in?

 

[Ms.DiverUSA]

I guess you can consider it home made....it's made in the USA....LOL! There suits are custom made so no two suits really ever look alike, but I can tell you they are durable and last longer than any other suit I have ever had. I have a sea lice skin, a 3mm jumpsuit with the long zippers and a 3 mm short sleeve shorty that I wear on top of my jumpsuit or my skin. I dive in temps. from the low 60's up. I can get away with wearing my 3mm jumpsuit with my 3mm shorty on top with a 5mm hood in the low 60s. I am getting a 5 mm shorty for this winter. I plan on doing a few colder dives and I think I will be good with 8 mm in my chest in torso. Most of my dive buddies have a suit by Wetwear and I can say that there service has be very helpful. I have had friends who's suits have needed to be let out and Wetwear added side stripes to the suit to fit them better. Any issues I have had for repair, they have fixed without a problem.

 

[RonFrank]

Purchasing a Wetsuit is about fit. I've not found that one manufacture has a lock on quality or durability. I had a BARE semi-dry, and it was a very well made suit, and it is offered in a lot of sizes that will fit the majority of the divers out there. I sold it when I went dry.

I dive a 3mm Tilos superstreach suit, and with wetsuits I like the freedom of the stretch material. Some may find that this is not a durable wetsuit, but my experience is the opposite. I've been diving this suit in FL (summers), and Coz (winter) for four years, and it is still working well. Nothing has unraveled, or worn thin, whatever. The suit has maybe 120 dives on it.

If a suit off the rack does not fit you, then a custom suit is what you will need.

I currently dive dry if I can not dive in a 3mm. This works for me, but a lot of folks use 5mm or 7mm suits vs. going the dry suit route.

I've always been able to size myself by taking classes. When in a class, I use the LDS's wetsuits mainly to determine what fits me. Keep in mind that a lot of retailers so NOT offer suits in the sizes that the manufacture offers, so don't assume that a manufacture does not make a suit in your size (say you need a large/short) until you check their website.

Good Luck!

 

[thatguyoverthere]

I have to chime in here on Wetwear! I had Wetwear make me up a suit when I was living up in New Jersey and I stayed toasty warm. I wore a 5mm Semi-dry Full suit (with their great long zippers in the arms and legs) during the warmer months. Then when the temps dropped, I would put a 5mm Short sleeve shorty over top of it. I also would wear either a 5 or 7 mm hood with it. I was always warm (water temps about 55) . I have since moved down to the beautiful waters of South Florida, and I had them make me up a 2mm suit for the summer here. You should check out thier website...they have a video on it where they put the material in a machine and show you how the materials compress under pressure.....it's cool! I'm not big on flash, more on durablitity, and so far my Wetwear suits have held up great.

 

[countdowntodiving]

I'll agree with Dan BMW. The wetwear suits that I've seen look like something you would pick up at a yard sale!!!

 

[Wetwear]

Well countdowntodiving, I have to say that if you have seen one of our suits that looks "like something you would pick up at a yard sale!!! than it was probably worn for several years with hundreds of dives on it. Because of the quality of neoprene we use our suits last for many years. Most wetsuits these days need to be replaced between 60 - 100 dives depending on the depth. So you see, any suit would look worn and old after that many dives.....you just don't see that many of them because most don't last as long as ours!

Also, we don't believe in adding extra unnecessary panels in our suit. We stick to what works and what is needed to create a quality wetsuit. We do not need any hype or gimmicks to sell our suits, our long time customers do it for us. We have been in business for over 30 years and have survived even when most manufactures went over seas. We have remained a "made in the USA" company and stand by the quality of our suits.

 

[DanBMW]

Thanks for all of the comments. Since I'm only several 100 miles away, it will be worth a trip down to the store to personally check them out before I purchase.

 

[Liquid Fit]

Hi Dan, after reviewing your profile, I'm assuming that you live in the Tampa area. If that's true, you're just a hop, skip and jump from Liquid Fit. I give all scuba board members a 10% disount. I'd love for you to see what we have to offer.

Good luck to you!
Carolyn
LiquidFit.Com ~ Wetsuits That Fit Like They Were Poured On You.

 

[Hoosier]

Well countdowntodiving, I have to say that if you have seen one of our suits that looks "like something you would pick up at a yard sale!!! than it was probably worn for several years with hundreds of dives on it. Because of the quality of neoprene we use our suits last for many years. Most wetsuits these days need to be replaced between 60 - 100 dives depending on the depth. So you see, any suit would look worn and old after that many dives.....you just don't see that many of them because most don't last as long as ours!

Also, we don't believe in adding extra unnecessary panels in our suit. We stick to what works and what is needed to create a quality wetsuit. We do not need any hype or gimmicks to sell our suits, our long time customers do it for us. We have been in business for over 30 years and have survived even when most manufactures went over seas. We have remained a "made in the USA" company and stand by the quality of our suits.

I haven't seen your product, but in the price wise, WOW!

I check out your suit for cave/technical divers on your website. I might be able to get a decent used DUI dry suit at your price range.

I am not sure what "made in USA" menas to you though. In the quality aspect, U.S. made automobile has more minor problems than the imported one.

It is depending on how the quality control is made, not where it is made.


Just my 2 bar.

 

[countdowntodiving]

Wow, Ms Wetwear.....take a deep breathe, chill out., calm down. If you want to play on this board, don't get soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo overly excited!!