Who makes a GREAT custom drysuit

[Chanly83]

@AustinV @lermontov glad to hear the confidence in Otter. The instructors I am looking into getting trained up by recommended Otter Atlantic or Britannic MK2.
@victorzamora i looked into O’three and spoke to someone that lives in the U.K. and they recommended for neoprene go with O’three but for TriLam Otter can’t be beat.
@Superlyte27 i definitely looked into DUI especially considering they are made 4 hours from where I was raised but I hear hear 2 things about them: they are awesome! Their name has gone to their head and their quality sucks!
@Storker Ursuit and Santi are coming in a close second... more Santi mainly because they offer heated undergarments.
The problem I am having with Ursuit, Santi and Fourth Element is their new and revolutionary materials seem to get great reviews then they get dove for a year or so and starting acting like my chinois. I am not speaking from experience just what I gleam on the great web. Then it turns into a warranty war and I have enough nice, shiny, expensive, fantastically built, cutting edge things in my life that are being “handled” by warranty.
I guess what I want is the Ferrari of drysuits. It is beautifully built, beautifully designed, just add gas, service it once a year and in a few years it’s still a Ferrari, not 2010 “well taken care of BMW M#.” Nothing wrong with a BMW! I do love the M4 and the X5.

 

[lexvil]

Seaskin, everything else is just throwing money away, more Prius than Ferrari, low cost super reliable not flashy and unreliable, from most reports if you want the Ferrari of drysuits get Santi, BMW DUI but if you want to get where you’re going time after time with money left over for silly things like food or rent...

 

[Chanly83]

When I mention Ferrari I think Ferris Beuller’s Day Off. You don’t use impressionist paintings to shingle your roof and you shouldn’t use sports cars as furniture!

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Hmmm ... so there are two types of buyers. Those who want the absolute best and do not mind paying for it. Secondly, those who understand that there is no single suit that would be classified as absolute best. Instead there are high-end suits that are built to very similar standards and are sold at different price points. If you were to pick one up, it would require a lot of hair-splitting to say that one of "best" in the lot. In essence, they all perform in the same category except prices may vary a lot.

DUI Flex Extreme (3200 USD)
Ursuit Softdura (2300 USD)
Otter Atlantic (1690 USD)
Deep6 Makara (1449 USD)

Deep6 and Ursuit are very similar and are built in the same factory. Chris has basically taken the Ursuit Sotdura and added his own boot which fits amazingly well into the Deep6 Eddy fin. Pocket placement is slightly to the front in case you are diving sidemount it would be much easier. Plus their customer service is extremely solid.

I also love the Flex Extreme but you can get two of the Deep6 Makaras or Otter Atlantics for the price of one DUI Flex Extreme. Is it really that much better? I have no experience with DUI so perhaps people who have dived with that as well as the Ursuit could make a better comparison but I doubt it.

Otter Atlantic is another beast in the market. I have seen their Otter Brittanic suit and it was easily comparable to all the highest end suits in the market. If I was to buy a second suit, I may buy this just to try a different model than my Deep6 Makara.

 

[rddvet]

If you’re looking for the best fitting custom suit with tough construction, sf tech it is. That guy’s suits always fit the buyers perfectly. I’ve had dui’s for years, but myself and several others have had issues getting custom suits cut right. Took mine 1.5 years and 4 suit cuts to get right. Meanwhile my wife’s Santi was perfect immediately. I love my flx, but in retrospect should have gone sftech.

 

[lexvil]

Dry Suits from Seaskin Custom Drysuits home page - Seaskin Custom Diving Suits

Go through the steps, for pricing sizes don’t matter, add every option available and it will come in hundreds of $$$ less

 

[Kevin Floyd]

For what it’s worth I just ordered a Deep 6 Makara after doing a lot of research.

I the replaceable seals from SI Tech and was super impressed with their responsiveness to my questions

the current pricing on the Makara is pretty killer

 

[DavidFL]

I have the Deep6 Makara, built to custom measurements, manufactured by Ursuit. I'm very happy with both the drysuit and the companies (Deep6, Ursuit, SiTech (accessories). I have used it on deep Atlantic tech dives in Florida to Puget Sound in November with different undergarments.

 

[Chanly83]

Didn’t think about Seaskin, thanks @lexvil
If I was to get a Ursuit it would be through Deep6, I like the company and their product.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I have owned an Othree neoprene suit and it is really not a suit for all purpose diving. It is highly compressed and dense neoprene so it weighs a ton. Secondly, it is very warm so if I am diving warm NC waters where I need to wear a suit only to for the purpose of buoyancy redundancy, this suit is pretty uncomfortable. The fitting of this suit was also not the same as my Makara even though I paid custom price for it. They simply took a stock suit and trimmed it to make a "custom" instead of building something from the ground up.

On the other hand, if you plan on diving very cold waters for long exposures, then this suit is ideal for that purpose. It is bullet proof and something you could pass to your grandkids.