Need dry suit advice.

ORDiver · Post by **ORDiver** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:19 pm

I am going to purchase a dry suit (most likely used) soon and was looking for some advice as far as brands, neopreen vs. laminated, boots etc. I need to spend less than $1000 bucks. Ideally I would be doing between 4 and 10 recreational dives per month in Washington and Oregon. I would also like to buy a suit that I can have for awhile before I feel that I need to upgrade.

Looking forward to some advice. Dave

cardiver · Post by **cardiver** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 7:25 pm

You can buy a brand new Bare Nex Gen and a Weezle extreme and still be under a grand.

Dusty2 · Post by **Dusty2** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:34 pm

cardiver wrote:You can buy a brand new Bare Nex Gen and a Weezle extreme and still be under a grand.

Yup, and they'll work just fine together. You will get both sides of the neoprene vs shell suit here but in the end it's a matter of personal choice. I dive neoprene and think it's great others say they are to restrictive. If you can rent both and see what you like. There are several suits you can get in the $1000 range if you shop some. Right now is a buyers market so don't be affraid to shop around and dicker on the prices. I wouldn't advise used unless you know up front that it is in good shape and doesn't need repair. A zipper alone will set you back 3 to 4 hundred bucks and neck and wrist seal replacement are around $100 or more each. A used suit can easily end up costing more than a new one.

Bare, Apollo, Whites and others make good suits that are sold locally as well as on line and can be had for around that price and some shops will even throw in an undergarment. One consideration is that if you go with a shell you will need a more expensive undergarment to keep you warm.

My one recommendation is go with latex seals. neoprene seals just don't seal well.

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:56 pm

ORDiver wrote:I am going to purchase a dry suit (most likely used) soon and was looking for some advice as far as brands, neopreen vs. laminated, boots etc. I need to spend less than $1000 bucks. Ideally I would be doing between 4 and 10 recreational dives per month in Washington and Oregon. I would also like to buy a suit that I can have for awhile before I feel that I need to upgrade.

Looking forward to some advice. Dave

Hmmm. What size are you? I have a nice suit for a +/- 6' tall, 200# -ish individual with size 10 feet. I could get pretty reasonable about the price......

Mattleycrue76 · Post by **Mattleycrue76** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 2:05 pm

I think i paid about 1200 for my Diving Concepts Z-Flex and love it. IMO It's as close to a DUI as you"re gonna get without breaking down and shelling out the big $$

Ken G · Post by **Ken G** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 2:14 pm

My next suit will be the Diving Concepts Z flex. Good suit at a reasonable price

ORDiver · Post by **ORDiver** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:56 am

Thanks for the info folks. I think I'm going to try and rent both a neo and a laminate and see which one I like better and then go from there. I liked the Diving Concepts web site and hadn't considered them before I'll have to take a look at their suits more closely. The Bare suits seem to be very reasonably priced. Has anyone had one and if so do they like it?

Josh: That suit you've got sounds right. I'm 5'11" and about 190lbs. I have size 11 feet though.

Ken G · Post by **Ken G** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:52 am

ORDiver wrote:I liked the Diving Concepts web site and hadn't considered them before I'll have to take a look at their suits more closely. The Bare suits seem to be very reasonably priced. Has anyone had one and if so do they like it?

Thats funny as I have always thought their website was terrible and in need of serious updating.

I have had a Bare before but it was the entry level Nex Gen. Hated it. It was like a wearing a trash bag. Although I have not used the higher end suits and I am sure they are more than adequate. I looked at the Trilam HD pro but wound up going DUI.

I would have a look at the suit Josh is offering. Good suit at Im sure a good price.

defied · Post by **defied** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:26 am

Ken G wrote:
ORDiver wrote:I liked the Diving Concepts web site and hadn't considered them before I'll have to take a look at their suits more closely. The Bare suits seem to be very reasonably priced. Has anyone had one and if so do they like it?
Thats funny as I have always thought their website was terrible and in need of serious updating.

I have had a Bare before but it was the entry level Nex Gen. Hated it. It was like a wearing a trash bag. Although I have not used the higher end suits and I am sure they are more than adequate. I looked at the Trilam HD pro but wound up going DUI.

I would have a look at the suit Josh is offering. Good suit at Im sure a good price.

I've dove Viking, and Bare. The Bare NextGen is pretty cool because it's affordable, and it's got a top layer on it that is stain resistant, and tear/rip/poke resistant. It's pretty nifty. The lifetime, transferrable warranty is nice too. (Of course I'm biased, as I'm selling one right now)

The Viking is an interesting suit. It's a suit made of vulcanized rubber. Kind of nice, but not the easiest thing to move around in. I really did like it, but there's no way I could afford one of those right now.

D(B)

Dusty2 · Post by **Dusty2** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:40 am

ORDiver wrote:Thanks for the info folks. I think I'm going to try and rent both a neo and a laminate and see which one I like better and then go from there. I liked the Diving Concepts web site and hadn't considered them before I'll have to take a look at their suits more closely. The Bare suits seem to be very reasonably priced. Has anyone had one and if so do they like it?

Josh: That suit you've got sounds right. I'm 5'11" and about 190lbs. I have size 11 feet though.

Yes I have a bare CD4 with over 400 dives on it and love it. Other than seal replacements I have had nothing done to it. As for Josh's suit, boots can easly be replaced if the price for the suit is right

cardiver · Post by **cardiver** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:43 am

I agree about the DC site being horrible.
As far as the Bare Nex Gen goes I would be hard pressed to find a better suit for the money than this one. If the suit fit you like a garbage bag I would guess that you had the wrong size suit. I have had mine for years and finally had to do neck and wrist seals for the first time last summer. The suit itself is bullet proof and I've never had a problem with the zipper at all.

LCF · Post by **LCF** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:01 am

I'm going to throw out a recommendation for the White's Fusion. It's a little more than your budget, but the suit and the MK3 undergarment can be had, if you know who to talk to, for about $1400.

The Fusion is a different concept in dry suits, because it consists of an inner bag which is deliberately oversized. This would be a big problem in a normal laminate suit, because you'd get ballooning and the air bubble would be hard to manage, so they control it with a mildly elastic Lycra or thin neoprene "skin" that goes over the bag. The end result is a suit that has a wide range of fit for each size, and which allows a truly amazing amount of mobility. My Fusion, even with the thick undergarment, is similar in mobility to my 5 mil wetsuit.

So the great thing about this suit is that you don't have to go custom to get a custom-type fit, and the suit will grow or shrink with you as time goes on, and you get fantastic mobility and comfort without paying custom prices. It's worth at least looking at it. I've got about 150 dives on mine (including cave dives, crawling around on limestone) and I have had no significant problems with the suit itself.

ORDiver · Post by **ORDiver** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:11 am

OK i should have said I liked the selection of suits offered on the DC website. The site itself isn't that great. Thanks again for all the input. I've got to check with my LDS and see what they require training wise to rent a dry suit. I'm going to try a laminate suit first since it seems that is what most people are using and I would definately like to check out Josh's suit.

dave

ArcticDiver · Post by **ArcticDiver** » Sun Jan 04, 2009 6:47 pm

With my weight loss and body redistribution I think I'm going to either have to buy a new dry suit, or not dive in cold water. What a decision, eh? I'll know for sure as soon as I give the body I've recovered a month or two to settle in. Can I keep it is the question?

From this forum and others I'd like to give the Whites Fusion a try. But I have Short legs and Long torso so it is hard to get a fit without the exhorbitant cost of a custom suit. Is there anyplace in reasonable reach where I can check it out?

ORDiver · Post by **ORDiver** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 10:17 pm

ArcticDiver wrote:With my weight loss and body redistribution I think I'm going to either have to buy a new dry suit, or not dive in cold water. What a decision, eh? I'll know for sure as soon as I give the body I've recovered a month or two to settle in. Can I keep it is the question?

From this forum and others I'd like to give the Whites Fusion a try. But I have Short legs and Long torso so it is hard to get a fit without the exhorbitant cost of a custom suit. Is there anyplace in reasonable reach where I can check it out?

If you're looking for dealers in Alaska heres a link:

http://www.whitesdiving.com/fusion/dealerfinder.php

Not sure if any of them are close to you. I hear Alaska is kinda big.

Northwest Dive Club

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