which drysuit?

[Rick Inman]

Best thing about an eBay suit is you'll learn all about finding leaks, patching holes and replacing zippers and seals...

 

[Kingpatzer]

Regardless of material, check out having a custom drysuit cut to fit your precisely. The difference will be noticeable, and the cost is not much more than buying off the shelf. Dry suits are very labor intensive and setting up special size material cuts is easily done. It's the seams where the real costs are.

Not all manufacturers offer this, so you might need to shop around a bit.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Regardless of material, check out having a custom drysuit cut to fit your precisely. The difference will be noticeable, and the cost is not much more than buying off the shelf. Dry suits are very labor intensive and setting up special size material cuts is easily done. It's the seams where the real costs are.

Not all manufacturers offer this, so you might need to shop around a bit.

Or look at the Whites Fusion that gets you a custom fit with an off the shelf suit

They have a new skin being released in a few days at DEMA....video and more info coming from the show next week

 

[TSandM]

Oh, I second Dive Right In Scuba's suggestion! My one experience with a custom cut drysuit was a nightmare, and I would never, ever do it again. I love the Fusion -- mine is my size, and my backup suit is my HUSBAND's Fusion, which is a size bigger, but still works just fine due to the compression of the bag with the Lycra oversuit. The whole concept is tremendously sound.

 

[RJP]

It seems the trilam suits seem to be the best all around suits. Do these hold up well for caverns?

DUI TLS-350 here. Best all around suit is hard to say, but it's quite the popular model among cavers in FL so that probably answers your cavern/cave question. I've got 200+ wreck penetration dives on my TLS-350 in the past three/four years and the only thing I've needed to do to it maintenance-wise is change the seals every few years and lubricate the zipper.

I know there are about 6 people here on ScubaBoard who love the Fusion and talk it up to the point that from reading SB it sounds like it's the only suit that anyone dives anymore...but all the folks I know that have tried it for NJ wreck diving have all said "thanks, but no thanks" and ended up sticking with TLS-350s and FLX 50/50's. Not saying that it's not a good suit for some folks, just saying YMMV.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've tried really hard to love my Fusion. I love the customer support I've received from Mike and Tyler ... they're both top-shelf people who I seriously enjoy dealing with. I even got personal service at the White's facility last week when I was in Victoria ... Tyler spent an hour and a half working with me. Couldn't ask for better than that.

But I just can't love the suit. It doesn't fit right. Never has.

I'm gonna take it to cave country with me next week and hope that with the warmer water and thinner undergarment I can make it work. If I can't, I'll have a mildly used one for sale.

I think it boils down to body shape. Lynne's tiny and thin ... the suit's perfect for her. I'm short and fat ... it don't fit me so good. There's a half dozen things I just don't like about it ... they're all fit related.

If a drysuit doesn't fit you right, it doesn't matter what kind of suit it is ... you won't like it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Pinnalce has become very popular with their evolution line with cavers. Cant tear them up.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I was just about to change from rubber suits to something more modern, so tried a Typhoon (did not like it...no stretch, and the "bib" style wrap-around of the front entry suit was unconfortable to me). Tried a DUI CF200. Great suit but needed much more weight than with my old Viking. Find DUI a bit expensive but great suits.
Then found a cheap new Thor rubber suit from Northern Diver on eBay for only $800. Very stretchy, tough, and a large range of sizes to fit 99% of divers. You can also get them in the "heavy duty" weight and front or rear entry. Can still wear same amount of weight on my drysuit as I wear with my wetsuit. Tough boots on the suit, but comfortable.
Yes...I'm probably too vintage...but it works for me.
Fits fairly tight around the legs so very little baggyness or drag, does not hinder swimming very much at all. All come standard with suspenders from memory. That is the one must-have feature for me on a suit.
Best advice is...try as many as you can before you buy. Yes, that will take a few months, but at least you will buy what YOU like.
ALternatively, buy a couple of second hand ones on eBay, use them for a while, and then you can pretty much sell them again for the same money if you keep your eyes open and don't pay too much when you purchase. When you find one you like, keep it, or sell it and buy the new version of the same.
Too much choice and too little time to try them all!

My experience with Northern Diver was a nightmare. I purchased a made to measure Cortex suit from them a few years back. Waited four months ... when the suit arrived, it was a complete disaster. I have no idea who's measurements they used, but they weren't mine. When I tried the suit on I looked like a little kid dressed in his daddy's clothes. Furthermore, I'd ordered pockets, which did not come on the suit ... and I had NOT ordered a relief zipper ... which did. When I contacted their customer service rep in England she explained that "pockets don't look good on that suit" ... and I still don't know why they thought I wanted a relief zipper. After another two months, and a bunch of exchanges between the USA and England, I finally got another suit. This one was also not right ... although I could at least wear it. After a handful of dives I sold it to a friend who was 6 inches taller than me and about 40 lbs. lighter ... and it fit him much better than it fit me.

My conclusion was that ND has a hard time with M2M suits ... I saw the same situation play out several times while I was working at the shop where I had purchased the suit. Over the next three years I saw it repeated at two other shops.

ND makes a good suit ... if you can fit an off-the-shelf size. Otherwise, I'd look elsewhere.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Druid]

ND makes a good suit ... if you can fit an off-the-shelf size. Otherwise, I'd look elsewhere.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I have a ND Vortex suit that I bought in 1998, when they were still being made in the UK. The quality went down when they moved production to China in the early 2000s. I've replaced both wrist and neckseals, most recently I've used neoprene seals rather than latex, I find them more comfortable and warmer. I've also had top replace the inflator valve and re-seal the leg/boot joint, which I think is ok for 11 years use.

The suit is getting a bit worn now and I'm planning to replace it with a Seaskin, everyone I've talked to who has one is very happy with them, and they are very competitively priced, probably because they sell direct to the customer. I have no idea if they will ship to the US however, and they are not very good with dealing with email so you need to phone them.

 

[TSandM]

My conclusion was that ND has a hard time with M2M suits

I don't think they are the only ones. I have a personal Diving Concepts horror story, and I know people with DUI custom suit horror stories . . . I would never, ever again order a custom suit. Look as long as you have to to find something off the rack that will work, because at least then you know it will work