New drysuit? Pro/con for Whites Fusion?

[oregondiver]

My husband is pushing me to want a new drysuit (so I am sure he has something equally expensive he wants)....

I saw the Whites Fusion yesterday and it seemed like a good suit...anyone have pro/cons about the Whites Fusion (stretchy material) suit?

I use a Whites MK3 undergarment (huge/bulky) that I want to keep using... which fits perfectly under the Fusion Lynne (LCF) uses...

[LCF]

Well, first off, there are Fusions and there are Fusions . . . The suit is a two part thing. The inner part is the big plastic bag, which has the seals and the socks attached to it. The outer part is called the "skin", and is attached at the zipper, wrists and ankles by Velcro. There are three skins currently available, with a fourth being shown at DEMA for availability next summer. They do somewhat change the characteristics of the suit.

I have the original, "Sport" skin, which is made of Lycra. Most of my comments will pertain to that skin, and where having a different skin changes things, I'll try to mention that.

Pros:

1. Mobility. A properly sized Fusion is like diving in a 5 mil wetsuit. The first time I went to do a valve drill in the Fusion, I started giggling uncontrollably, because it was so EASY. (Now, this won't be true if you are on the edge between sizes and buy the smaller one -- always err to the large with the Fusion.) Mobility is a little bit reduced with the LE skin, but I have tried one on in my size, and I would say the difference is minor.

2. Streamlining. The Lycra (or any other skin) gives the suit a smooth exterior that allows it to slip through the water.

3. Weight. A Fusion with the Lycra skin weighs less than my 3 mil wetsuit, and can be rolled up into a small ball for packing. This is truly the ultimate travel dry suit!

4. Drying. The Fusion with the Lycra skin dries as fast as my Mobby's trilam did. The tech skin apparently dries pretty fast, too, but the Limited Edition skin has no lycra panels and is slower to dry and harder to rinse.

5. Self-donning. The majority of people can zip and unzip a Fusion. (I can't quite get it zipped, but I have old injuries to both shoulders.)

6. SiTech valves.

7. Easy patching with a patch kit and a heat gun. Of course, I've never found anybody who carries the patch kits. But I've also only had two small holes in the suit in two years, one of which I apparently did when I installed my p-valve.

8. Low price. The fusion gives you a lot of the benefits of a custom suit, for almost $1000 less.

Cons:

1. Pockets. Pockets are the dilemma. It is not possible to put pockets on the Lycra skin, unless you attach the skin to the undersuit in some fashion -- the Lycra simply isn't strong enough to hold them up. The Tech and Limited Edition skins come with pockets as an option, but putting things in the pockets makes the whole suit sag on land. People have done a workaround by attaching Velcro to the inside of the pocket and to the undersuit, and this apparently helps. The pockets Whites provides are Neoprene and small but stretchy, and although I have never dived them, I am quite sure I would find them unsatisfactory to access in our cold water. I use the workaround of having X-shorts. The pockets on those are completely satisfactory, but the shorts are more thing to remember to take to the dive site, and to put on once you get there, and the time you will forget to do it will be halfway through your advanced cave class, when your instructor thinks you're a cretin anyway, and you're just working on proving it.

2. Footgear. The design of the Fusion sock is to make it big enough for anybody. Therefore, if you have women's feet, you have a lot of extra fabric to cram into something. Whites makes BEAUTIFUL boots for the suit, but they're made on a last for men's feet. If your feet are wide, they may fit you to a T. My heels are narrow, and the boots kept feeling as though they were going to come off (and I've heard this from other women). I subsequently tried about five different strategies for footgear, and recently gave up and put Turbosoles on the suit (which, of course, lost me one of the big advantages of the Fusion, which is the ability to turn it completely inside out for washing or drying). White's now has an attached boot system that should solve some of these problems, but I have yet to see it or dive it.

That's my take on the suit, after 2 years of living with it. There's no perfect drysuit, but this one has a lot of positives.

[Burntchef]

dont fixate on a brand of suit, fixate on fit. you will be much happier with a great fitting suit then a big name ill fitting one.

just my 2psi

[Dusty2]

dont fixate on a brand of suit, fixate on fit. you will be much happier with a great fitting suit then a big name ill fitting one.

just my 2psi

+1 on that.
Allot depends on where you fall in the sizing chart. All suits are cut differently and what may be great for your friend may not be so good for you. It's all about comfort and mobility. If your warm and toasty and feel like an android you won't be happy and if your cold but move like the fishes you will be miserable. No suit is good for everybody. Get out there and try them on with the undergarment you like. When you find the one that feels right, that's the one that's best for you.

And buy local. This one of the most expensive items you will buy and is one purchase that should not be done on the net. Fit is everything and quality service is equality important. You will need to be measured by someone who knows what they are doing and will stand behind it.

That's my 2psi

[LCF]

Well, one of the HUGE pluses for the Fusion is that there is no need to measure, no need for custom -- it's just picking the right size. Unless you are VERY unusually proportioned, there is a Fusion that will fit you well. People who will have trouble with it are people with unusually large calves or forearms (the suit is cut a little stingy in those places, although the upgrade to the new boots comes with a gusset in the lower calf/ankle region that is supposed to help a lot). Otherwise -- Well, I'm happy in my suit, but use my husband's (he's four inches taller than I am and about 50 lbs heavier) as my backup perfectly well.

[airsix]

You can get Fusion patch kits HERE.

What I love about my Fusion:
All the things Lynne mentioned. Swims better than any other drysuit. Easy to repair. Stores small and light. It's a good suit.

What I don't love about my Fusion:
1) Inner surface is a bit sticky against my undergarment. It reduces my mobility a bit and I'm going to try a dive-skin over my undergarment to see if it will make things slide around better.
2) Pockets. It was a massive project to put pockets on my sport skin, but in the end it worked out. I shouldn't have had to do that though. It should have come with pockets.
3) Looks like you are wearing a startrek leotard with bunched-up undies. Not really the best look in the world, but it dives so nice you forgive it. It's like diving naked.

[LCF]

It's like diving naked.

I really don't want to ask you how you know this.

BTW, as far as the stickiness inside goes, I've found that turning the suit inside out periodically and washing it in the bathtub in a dilute solution of dishwashing liquid, and then spraying the arms and legs with SailKote, makes it darned near as slippery as it was new.

Ben, are your sport skin pockets holding up well?

[airsix]

Ben, are your sport skin pockets holding up well?

Yes, there has been no tearing of the lycra, which was my biggest concern. But I've made a point not to be too rough on them. The velcro holds for a dive or two and then has to be re-stuck. On DYFO, when I was in the suit from 7:00am until 11:00pm I just let the velcro come unstuck after the 2nd or 3rd dive and left it loose for the next 10 dives. The skin held the pockets up well-enough that it wasn't a big deal. I'm sure if I add another strip of velcro they'd hold fast. (There is only a 2"x6" velcro strip at the top of each). I do have my eye on this new gator-skin. If it is stretchy and neutrally buoyant I might look into upgrading at some point.

[Penopolypants]

The new versions of the suit have supposedly expanded the lower legs and arms so that you have more room. If you do get one make sure it is a recent model. You'd have to check with whites to see what month it was made to ensure that you're getting a recent model.

[LCF]

My big concern with the Gator skin is the same as my concern with the LE -- it's getting adequately rinsed between the skin and the bag, and getting that area dry. I was thinking that, if I sprung for the red Bullet skin, I might have to invest in a Peet's boot dryer and stick it up the legs after diving . . .

[Pinkpadigal]

I am big fan of this suit. I have dove it about a dozen times and is the most streamline shell suit I have ever dove. The only reason I don't own one is that I cannot justify purchasing another suit, when my other 3 are just fine.

With the MK3, the suit works perfectly. I haven't had the issues that Lynne has with the sox, but I also wear a women's size 10 shoe, and Lynne is petite.

There are 3 skins that are optional with the suit: Lycra, Tech or the Limited Edition. The Lycra offers the most stretch, but like the others have mentioned, pockets are not an option. The LE is very comfortable and super-stretchy. I am not a big fan of the graphics on it. I like the tech skin the best. You have your choice of color on the "tattoo" (grey, blue, yellow, red, PINK) and the 1mm neoprene is the toughest of the materials.

The new boots are OK, but one of the things that I like about White's is the lace-up boot. It gives good support and feels like a shoe, so it comfortable walking over rocks and rough surfaces. One of the drawbacks is that you may have to purchase a larger fin to accommodate the boot.

This suit is very streamline in the water. Even with the MK3, I didn't need to adjust my weighting from my compressed neoprene suit. I found venting with this suit very easy. It also has Si-Tech valves.

Getting in and out of the suit the first few times is a chore. Once you get used to it, it is pretty easy. It is a front entry, but the first few times you may need someone to help with the last bit of the zip.

[Grateful Diver]

I've owned one for about a year and a half ... and I almost never dive it. All of my biggest objections boil down to fit ... this suit simply ain't for someone with the body of a harbor seal. It bunches and binds in all the wrong places.

I'm currently using it in cave country ... because the water down here's 70 degrees and I don't need much of an undergarment. At home I can't use it except in summer, because I can't squeeze into the suit with any undergarment that would keep me warm any other time of the year.

After sending it back to Whites for boots and pockets, I do like it better ... down here in Florida, where I can wear it. Except that now I've somehow sprung a leak, which I won't have much of a chance to find and fix till I get home (I'm using it every day).

I'm probably just gonna cut my losses and sell it once I get home and make it dry again. To make a long story short, this suit ain't a good choice for fat people.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[Biodiversity_Guy]

Thank you for posting this question.

I too have been contemplating a White's fusion. It is good to get feedback from folks who have actual experience with it (good and bad)

[oregondiver]

Thank you to everyone for their great and thoughtful comments, and discussing the pro-cons!

I will see if I can find a shop to try one on at soon. My last suit was custom fit because I was told by the shop my derriere and my arms made me unable to fit into a "normal" suit. I have since found out that I was hornswaggled and I could have fit into a regular suit...even with my monkey arms.