Whites Drywear heading in the wrong direction

[Zef]

In 2010 Aqualung "aquired" the brand/company Whites Diving from Frank White, the original maker of the Fusion drysuit. Aqualung initialy continued producing/marketing the line of drysuits with little in the way of changes under the "Whites" brand name.

In 2015, Aqualung dropped the "Whites" branding and began marketing the Fusion suits under the Aqualung brand name.

In 2016, Aqualung introduced the "AirCore" version of the fusion suit. This was quite the improvement as the new material was a waterproof breathable material akin to Gore-Tex, that made significant improvements to the Fusion lineup:
-Comfort was improved as the original "DryCore" version of the suit was not breathable. The waterproof breathable fabric made the suit much more bearable on warm weather days prior to splashing.
-Durability was improved as the "DryCore" fabric was very thin and prone to cutting/tearing, whereas the "AirCore" material was a bit thicker and less prone to damage. Although the DryCore material was very easy to patch, having a suit that was less prone to this need was a definitive improvement.
-Overall the DryCore fabric was not well received as it had a plastic bag like handling and made a certain "crunching" noise when the diver moved that earned it the moniker the "trash bag" suit among many circles of divers.

Sometime last year, Frank White reaquired the production rights of his design(s) from a financially strugling Aqualung, and restablished his company as "Whites Drywear".

While browsing Whites Drywear's website, one will note that their ad copy for their Fusion suits states they are made from "DryCore" material. An email exchange between myself and Whites confirmed they are indeed making suits out of the older non-breathable DryCore fabric.

In my opinion, the major steps in the wrong direction are as follows:
1. They have returned to using the "DryCore" material instead of the sturdier and waterproof-breathable "AirCore" material.
2. They have abandoned the rapid zip system and gone back to the velcro attachment for the outer skin of the suit.
3. They are continuing to use the Si-Tech Neck Tite neck ring system which is Si-Techs 1st generation, and while a decent system, Si-Tech has produced 2 other generations of their neck ring system made from materials that have more flexibility and hence, increased comfort compared with the Neck Tite ring system.

I am not sure what direction Whites Drywear is heading, but at first it seemed that buying their company back was a good thing....not so sure since they are abandoning the advances made in their product. It will be interesting to see if they can hang on to any part of the market segment given the changes they have reverted to.

Anyone else have any thoughts or insight on this?

-Z

 

[ghostbuster]

My wife is in the market for a new suit and I'm still really liking my aqualung fusion bullet, so this is concerning to hear.

 

[Boarderguy]

My wife is in the market for a new suit and I'm still really liking my aqualung fusion bullet, so this is concerning to hear.

Seaskin

 

[happy-diver]

I just recently scored a 4xl old new bullet skin to swap with my tech skin on my 3xl dry core and am happy
Pity the 2 idiots that sent it to me stuffed it in a foot by foot box and wrinkled it to the max, I'm still happy

 

[lexvil]

This is just an opinion of someone who “almost” bought one once upon a time, the air core seemed such a vast improvement, at first, quiet softer material but the few I know being used are leakers and hard to repair, if I were in the market for one the new ones with dry core would be my choice.
I don’t have much faith in “breathable materials” especially for diving.

Seaskin is the proper answer.

 

[ChrisMBC]

My understanding is that the DryCore was always made in Canada, while the AirCore was made at a factory in Mexico. I’m guessing that might have something to do with the use of Drycore by the new Whites - they perhaps don’t have the tooling or IP to make the Aircore?

Also, completely anecdotal, but I heard from the staff of the local Frank Whites dive store here in Victoria that they saw far more leak issues with the AirCore than the DryCore. No more evidence or data for that, but worth mentioning.

FWIW, I had a couple hundred dives on an older Drycore suit before trading it in. I never had an issue with the core of the suit, and only had one leak issue over a few years. The sizing, on the other hand…

 

[Zef]

My understanding is that the DryCore was always made in Canada, while the AirCore was made at a factory in Mexico. I’m guessing that might have something to do with the use of Drycore by the new Whites - they perhaps don’t have the tooling or IP to make the Aircore?

Also, completely anecdotal, but I heard from the staff of the local Frank Whites dive store here in Victoria that they saw far more leak issues with the AirCore than the DryCore. No more evidence or data for that, but worth mentioning.

FWIW, I had a couple hundred dives on an older Drycore suit before trading it in. I never had an issue with the core of the suit, and only had one leak issue over a few years. The sizing, on the other hand…

Aqualung had two production facilities for the AirCore models, one was in Mexico and one was in British Columbia Canada. There was a quality control issue with the seams of the suits that were produced at the facility in Mexico, but not the suits coming from British Columbia. When they quietly started to increasingly replace the core of the Mexico produced suits under warranty, Aqualung stopped production of the suits at the Mexico facility and all production of the AirCore model was done in British Columbia.

The step in the wrong direction, in my opinion, is that Whites has returned to using the DryCore material instead of working to improve the AirCore or an AirCore like material. They also have decided to continue using the Si-Tech NeckTite system despite a 2nd generation system that is more flexible and comfortable for a wider range of customers. They also made the Rapid-Zip skins obsolete by returning to the older style velcro attachment system.

It seems like Whites had lots of old stock sitting around a wherehouse and instead of taking a loss on it, decided to double down and restart production just making there old product. After living on 3 continents, I can attest that the DryCore suits (dubbed the Trashbag suit) did not have a stellar following, especially as other companies made strides to improve their drysuit offerings.

The one advantage, in my observation, that the DryCore material had was the ease of which it was/is to patch when punctured or torn.

I was expecting the communication from Whites to be more along the lines that they were working on AirCore production or AirCore-like development, but I guess my expectations were too high.

-Z

 

[Zef]

This is just an opinion of someone who “almost” bought one once upon a time, the air core seemed such a vast improvement, at first, quiet softer material but the few I know being used are leakers and hard to repair, if I were in the market for one the new ones with dry core would be my choice.
I don’t have much faith in “breathable materials” especially for diving.

Seaskin is the proper answer.

The main benefit of the AirCore material was not so much in its breathability, that was a plus, but the AirCore material was a big improvement in the ability to get the suit on and it was more resistant to punctures and cuts as it was a more robust material than the DryCore suits.

I agree, Seaskin is a great choice for a made-to-measure suit, given their price and quaility...but the design of the Fusion suits allows for changes in body morphology that other suits, including Seaskin, cannot accomodate.

-Z

 

[lexvil]

The main benefit of the AirCore material was not so much in its breathability, that was a plus, but the AirCore material was a big improvement in the ability to get the suit on and it was more resistant to punctures and cuts as it was a more robust material than the DryCore suits.

I agree, Seaskin is a great choice for a made-to-measure suit, given their price and quaility...but the design of the Fusion suits allows for changes in body morphology that other suits, including Seaskin, cannot accomodate.

-Z

I agree it a nice concept, they used to be 60 to 80 % of the suits I observed in Monterey now it’s less than 10%, the leakers I was more aware of were Canadian.

 

[runsongas]

the 2nd gen skins with the extra velcro tabs solved 90% of the problem of getting the suit on and off, so it is unlikely the new ones will be that significantly worse. the aircore and quick neck are available as options iirc, just won't be standard equipment. there isn't a long enough track record on the aircore to say they are more durable, my drycore is over 10 years old at this point, neither is intended for durability as the skin is the outer abrasion and wear layer.