Bare XCD2 First Impressions

[WreckWriter]

My Bare XCD2 "Tech Dry" was delivered yesterday. I haven't got it wet yet but thought I'd post my first impressions of it for those who might be considering this suit...

The first thing I noticed is how heavy it is, both heavy duty and just plain heavy. It weighs close to 10 lbs!

It's very well made, appears flawless in construction. Knee pads are extremely tough, radar relectors in all the right places. Valves are well placed and work nicely. Neck seal is neoprene, wrists are latex.

Downsides? Yea, a couple but some of them are me and will get better with practice and wear.

It's fairly easy to get on but a real booger to get off. I got my head stuck in it and needed wife's help to get out! That part is me, not the suit.

One part that isn't me is the pockets it comes with. They're virtually useless. A small flat open top pocket on right thigh, a weird little knife pocket thing on left thigh. If you custom order one of these, ask for no pockets and get your own installed. These are so useless I may send the suit in to have them removed and get Halcyon pockets installed (this can be done, can't it??)

All in all I like it a lot except for the pockets. Not sure when I'll get it wet but will post additional review when I do.

Tom

 

[Dryglove]

Ill be looking forward to your review after you get it wet.Too bad they put two useless pockets on there.Im still in limbo between the trilam hd or the xcd2.Right now im leaning towards the trilam hd.

 

[Tavi]

My wife is ready to let me buy a new suit!
She's tire of watching and listening to me struggle to get in and out of mine!! Besides we bought her a nice new DUI CLx 450.


Sorry to hear about the pockets.
I'm surprised to hear that it feels heavy.

Mabe I'll just get the CLx, hmmm.....................


Looking forward to the dive report before I get hasty.

 

[WreckWriter]

just got back from Brownies (my LDS)with 2 sets of Halcyon pockets (you'd think they'd be filled with gold at the price.........) one set for my dry, one for my wet. I emailed the folks at drysuitrepair.com to see if they can do the job, assuming they will say yes.

Tom

Tavi- Heavy is good, means solid and durable, was just surprized how heavy........

 

[Dryglove]

http://www.halcyon.net/catalog.shtml check out this link on how to do your own pocket.Its down on the bottom left hamd side of the page.Not to sure how to get the old ones off though.Im sure someone like bob3 or pug would know.Oh well good luck.

 

[WreckWriter]

I don't trust glue only, I want mine sewn too.

Tom

Originally posted by lal7176
http://www.halcyon.net/catalog.shtml check out this link on how to do your own pocket.Its down on the bottom left hamd side of the page.Not to sure how to get the old ones off though.Im sure someone like bob3 or pug would know.Oh well good luck.

 

[aquanut]

I wish I had of know about the weight and the pockets earlier, I just ordered one about 3 days ago. My old suit was a bi-lam suit, so the increased weight is going to be a big issue. Does anyone know if you can get other pockets put on?
How bad are the pocket that are with it? Can you at least get a spare mask in the larger one?

dsao!

 

[WreckWriter]

Originally posted by aquanut
I wish I had of know about the weight and the pockets earlier, I just ordered one about 3 days ago. My old suit was a bi-lam suit, so the increased weight is going to be a big issue. Does anyone know if you can get other pockets put on?
How bad are the pocket that are with it? Can you at least get a spare mask in the larger one?

dsao!

The weight, in my thinking, is a good thing in that it speaks of seriously heavy duty materials. I dive strictly wrecks and won't be diving in seriously cold water so this is just what I need. I won't be using heavy underwear either so the suit weight will be pretty much it.

As for the pockets, the ones on it are really useless to my mind. The "big" one is about the right size to hold plastic dive tables but there's nothing to keep them from falling out. I would say it will not hold a mask (you might shove it in if you really had to....).

I sent mine out today with a set of Halcyon pockets to be installed. Check out http://www.drysuitrepair.com . I talked to the guy on the phone and he said it would be no problem to pull the old pockets and put on the Halcyons. He did suggest that I supply the pockets to save time. He wasn't able to give cost without seeing how much work it would take but he guessed around 50 bucks. Unfortunately the pockets themselves cost like hell.

That's the solution I came up with.

Tom

 

[aquanut]

I finally recieved my CDX suit, and it's true, these have got to be the most useless pockets ever.
If anyone is interested in getting this suit, take Tom's advice and order it without pockets and get some different ones put on. I do believe that this should warrant a call to Bare and let them know how utterly useless they really are.
However, on the good side, this rest of this suit is really awesome. It seems very well built. The fit is quite good. I went off of their measuring chart and my only complaint is that they are quite liberal in the waist area. If anyone has a large belly, however, this is for you. The material is quite similar to the dui cf200, but not quite as course textured. It seems to weight a little bit more than theirs also.
I got it with the atlas dry glove system. Seems like a really good system but the o-ring could be a little beefier. All in all, a really good suit.