Who Hates Their Seaskin Nova? (+ post pics)

[Aura]

I've never owned a Seaskin so I haven't really got a dog in this fight. Most people who use them seem to be fairly content. Made-to-measure is great, when it works.
I have three female friends who received undiveable suits that had to be sent back for major corrections. I know one guy who received his suit too small, and after having it corrected, it was too big. I'm sure this is not the norm, but it happens.
My primary buddy has around 200 dives in her Seaskin, and while she likes it (now that it fits), it's beginning to leak regularly from the seams.

If money is a concern, I'm sure Seaskin can be great value for money. If you want a top quality suit and money is not a big concern, then I wouldn't go Seaskin.

 

[stuartv]

My Nova is about 4 1/2 years old now, I think and still going strong. But, for the record, according to my log, that is only 92 dives.

My Ultra is 3 years old and 68 dives. And still going strong.

Other suits I've had:

Bare XCS2 Tech - off the rack and didn't fit well enough.
Waterproof D7X - off the rack and fit just not quite well enough

And I just got a Dive Rite 901, which I have tried on but not dived yet.

The Nova is wearing like iron. The material seems VERY durable. But, as an example in contrast, my new DR suit material feels much softer and more flexible. The DR suit material feels VERY much like the material in my friend's Santi E.lite Plus. We sell Santi, Waterproof, DUI, and Dive Rite suits at my shop. We just started with DR, so mine is the first. But, I've seen a fair # of Santi, though I haven't owned one. And seen a fair number of Waterproof in addition to the one I had.

To me, the Seaskin quality is as good as any of them. The material is heavier and thicker and I think some people equate that to lesser quality, or "not as nice". It seems to me that it's just more durable. Maybe I'm just not sensitive to the nuances, but I don't see where any of them are "higher quality" in construction than my Nova. Different, maybe. But, I couldn't say better.

The made-to-measure fit of both my Seaskins has been perfect. My only problem related to that is the weight I've put on since getting them.

Things I wish were different about my Seaskins:

I wish they were softer, lighter, and more flexible. But, maybe I would not be happy with the likely tradeoff in durability. I like how much lighter and softer/flexible the Dive Rite suit is, but it remains to be seen how well it will hold up.

I wish the Ultra had a diagonal front zip, instead of the back zip.

I wish the zippered thigh pockets were bigger.

I never thought about it before, but I guess I could add that I wish they had a trilam option for material that was lighter, softer, and a little stretchy, like the DR 901 and Santi E.Lite Plus suits. To be honest, the Nova is so heavy, I don't feel like it would be a great suit for traveling with (by air). My new DR will be much nicer for that.

 

[OTF]

My Nova is about 4 1/2 years old now, I think and still going strong. But, for the record, according to my log, that is only 92 dives.

My Ultra is 3 years old and 68 dives. And still going strong.

Other suits I've had:

Bare XCS2 Tech - off the rack and didn't fit well enough.
Waterproof D7X - off the rack and fit just not quite well enough

And I just got a Dive Rite 901, which I have tried on but not dived yet.

The Nova is wearing like iron. The material seems VERY durable. But, as an example in contrast, my new DR suit material feels much softer and more flexible. The DR suit material feels VERY much like the material in my friend's Santi E.lite Plus. We sell Santi, Waterproof, DUI, and Dive Rite suits at my shop. We just started with DR, so mine is the first. But, I've seen a fair # of Santi, though I haven't owned one. And seen a fair number of Waterproof in addition to the one I had.

To me, the Seaskin quality is as good as any of them. The material is heavier and thicker and I think some people equate that to lesser quality, or "not as nice". It seems to me that it's just more durable. Maybe I'm just not sensitive to the nuances, but I don't see where any of them are "higher quality" in construction than my Nova. Different, maybe. But, I couldn't say better.

The made-to-measure fit of both my Seaskins has been perfect. My only problem related to that is the weight I've put on since getting them.

Things I wish were different about my Seaskins:

I wish they were softer, lighter, and more flexible. But, maybe I would not be happy with the likely tradeoff in durability. I like how much lighter and softer/flexible the Dive Rite suit is, but it remains to be seen how well it will hold up.

I wish the Ultra had a diagonal front zip, instead of the back zip.

I wish the zippered thigh pockets were bigger.

I never thought about it before, but I guess I could add that I wish they had a trilam option for material that was lighter, softer, and a little stretchy, like the DR 901 and Santi E.Lite Plus suits. To be honest, the Nova is so heavy, I don't feel like it would be a great suit for traveling with (by air). My new DR will be much nicer for that.

When you talk about the difference in material softness and flexibility is that just a texture thing (don't care about that) or do you find the Nova more restrictive in terms of reaching doubles valves, clipping off bottles, etc (care a lot)? I like the idea of extra durable thick material, but need to be able to easily reach valves in heavy winter undergarments.

Although one good argument for the Seaskin is the price being low enough that I could buy a nice heated vest system and dive much thinner undergarments to increase mobility and still be near or below the cost of a Santi without heat.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

When you talk about the difference in material softness and flexibility is that just a texture thing (don't care about that) or do you find the Nova more restrictive in terms of reaching doubles valves, clipping off bottles, etc (care a lot)? I like the idea of extra durable thick material, but need to be able to easily reach valves in heavy winter undergarments.

Although one good argument for the Seaskin is the price being low enough that I could buy a nice heated vest system and dive much thinner undergarments to increase mobility and still be near or below the cost of a Santi without heat.

I am ~ somewhat fit. Not the best shape by a long shot, but I would consider myself flexible. Wearing a Halo 3D (which is on the thicker side) I have zero issues reaching valves or clipping off bottles in any way.

I got the "add extra room" option and am so happy I did. Dove with someone the other night that did not. His suit was def a tighter fit, but he wished that he had gotten the extra room.

 

[stuartv]

When you talk about the difference in material softness and flexibility is that just a texture thing (don't care about that) or do you find the Nova more restrictive in terms of reaching doubles valves, clipping off bottles, etc (care a lot)? I like the idea of extra durable thick material, but need to be able to easily reach valves in heavy winter undergarments.

Although one good argument for the Seaskin is the price being low enough that I could buy a nice heated vest system and dive much thinner undergarments to increase mobility and still be near or below the cost of a Santi without heat.

If the suit and the undergarments all fit you correctly, are all cut appropriately, and the right technique is used, you can reach your valves in any drysuit.

In other words, if you get a Nova and you can't reach your valves, in my opinion, it will not be as simple as "the material is not soft or flexible enough." If you CAN reach your valves in some other suit that is softer and more flexible, it's probably not simply because it's softer and more flexible.

It's all down to being sized and cut correctly for you.

Seaskin seems to do a pretty darn good job of that. If you are going to wear heavy winter undergarments, I would probably go with @rob.mwpropane's advice and check the box for extra room.

 

[berndo]

My primary buddy has around 200 dives in her Seaskin, and while she likes it (now that it fits), it's beginning to leak regularly from the seams.

If money is a concern, I'm sure Seaskin can be great value for money. If you want a top quality suit and money is not a big concern, then I wouldn't go Seaskin.

200 dives without a leak is pretty good. Every suit will leak sooner or later, even the pricey ones. Re-sealing the seals is not a big deal and worth doing.

BTW: Just as a general statement. Seaskins are not 'cheap' suits. Due to their direct to customer business model, you're getting a cheaper price because you're cutting out the shop and the distributor. When a Santi suit gets sold, several people make money.

 

[Addison Snyder]

This isn't for their trilam, but covers some components to get an idea for feel and stuff. Going on 2+ years, no leaks, no major wear, works about as well as the day I got it.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

I love my Seaskin trilam, I see no reason to replace or upgrade it until it completely breaks, and if that happened today I would likely get another one (although I would consider their neoprene one, given its positive reviews and cheaper price).

I don't have any good photos of it, I'll need to take one the next time I get out there. But, since you asked, I do have this terrible photo of it sitting on a homemade drying rack in the shed at my old apartment. Sorry for the upside-down-iness and the general mess, this photo I sent to a buddy who was building a similar drying rack. Hope this helps.

View attachment 769150

A few options can be seen in the photo:
- Full yellow (not yellow + black like dogbone's)
- Crushed neoprene socks
- Telescoping torso (this is a must-have! seriously!)
- Plastic YKK chest sealing zipper, with the additional zippered protective flap on top
- Light Monkey Tinkle pee valve
- KUBI dryglove rings built in, with silicone backup seals
- Quick Neck seal system with silicone Siflex seal
- Apeks low-profile shoulder dump valve in the DIR location
- Kevlar kneepads (no logos)
- Zippered pockets
- Trilobite pocket on left forearm

I know I'm a little late to the party but did you discus somewhere how to make the dry suit drying device I see here?

 

[azstinger11]

About the only thing I hate on my SeaSkin suit is the stupid zippered pockets on my Ultra. Should have gone with gut and done no pockets from SeaSkin then had functional velcro pockets added by DRI or someone else. I hate those stupid zippers with a passion.

I do wish there was an option to tilt the pockets off the sides and more onto the front of the legs. If I have a bailout or a pony makes getting to the pockets annoying, even for proper pockets with velcro and not Satan's own zippers lol. Not necessary a SeaSkin thing, just a general commentary.

 

[Brett Hatch]

I know I'm a little late to the party but did you discus somewhere how to make the dry suit drying device I see here?

Not late to the party at all

I followed more-or-less this video from Alex Peirce. The first half of this video is kind of a rant, but skip to about 7:30:
.

You can see in the video around 11:00 that Alex struggles a bit to get the legs into the suit. But, that's because he is trying to do it on the ground in front of a camera. If you lay the suit onto a table at waist height, it's much easier to skewer the drysuit legs onto the rack.

My drying rack is very similar to Alex's, a few things are different:
- I added an elbow at the very top, where the drysuit neoprene socks go. This helps prevent them from flopping down, since the inside of the socks takes the longest to dry. 90 degrees is a little too tight, and 45 degrees is a little too obtuse. 60 degrees does the trick.
- I added a 45 degree T near the bottom, which can be seen in the photo. This also improves airflow to the top, which is where you really want it. If you're in a hurry, you could hook a fan or blowdryer up to this little port. In practice, I never bothered with this, since I didn't mind if it took a couple days to dry.
- I also added small casters to the bottom of the plywood base. I used 1.25" casters, which are a little too small to be convenient. But, as you can see from the photo, I only had so much space before I would hit the ceiling in that particular shed. 2" or 3" casters would be much better.

Cheers