Who hates their White Fusion Dry Suit?

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Thanks for the FYI! Very informative.

Spied this Whites Fusion on Marketplace just now for 200 bucks but what seems to be extensive patching around the knee is a potential red flag to me (the age too of course).

Not that I'm in a position to buy as I cannot see myself returning to regular diving until at least a year or two out.

Do think a used suit at this price given a better condition would be great snag whenever I do get back to diving?
The "patching" around the knees is on the outer shell, so unlikely to have been done for a leak. More likely is that the owner felt more protection of the knees was necessary.

Assuming the above is correct, and assuming it's leak free (looks to be in pretty good shape seeing side the ugly knees), that seems to be a great price for a drysuit entry.
 
Don't be sad, my wetsuit will dive with your drysuit anyday

168 IMG_4179a.jpg
 
Hey speak for yourself man, Sikaflex 291 straight off the gun, onto the spatula, had I signed it it'd be a work of art

Saved my knobbly knees a million billion times dude was thinner than lycra stretched over a rounded persons bum

I suppose you are speaking for yourself, they're beautiferous
 

There are basically 3 versions of the Fusion Bullet:
1. The standard commercially available one.

2. The military version that is all blacked out - this is not much different than the commercially available one except it does not have the Aqualung logo printed on the neoprene skin and uses black thread instead of white (sometimes blue) along the seams. Not worth the extra cost for this model in my opinion.

3. The Apeks Kevlar version - this is sold as an option for those who penetrate wrecks and caves as the kevlar skin is supposed add more abrasion resistance than the neoprene skin alone. The reality is that the gain in abrasion resistance is offset by the fact the suit is heavier and takes longer to dry.

Starting a year ago or so, Aqualung changed the zipper from a brass YKK drysuit zipper to plastic YKK drysuit zipper. My preference is a brass zipper but I have not heard/seen any complaints about the plastic zipper.

The Si-Tech QCS oval wrist cuff ring system gives the most versatility with regards to what dryglove system you can readily pair with the suit:

1. Si-Tech Antares - this is the original dryglove system designed for the oval cuff rings, but it is not recommended as it is fragile and tended to leak if not perfectly oriented on the cuff ring.

2. Fourth Element Ellipse - this was an attempt to make a better low profile oval dryglove system, and it is not a very good system. You can search for and read my review of this system on the board.

3. Si-Tech Virgo - this is the QCS oval ring system's analog to the Si-tech Glove Lock dryglove system designed for their older larger diameter QCP wrist cuff rings. It is not a bad system but is a tad bulky.

4. Waterproof Ultima DGS - this is a workhorse of dryglove system that works very well. A new version has recently come out that has tabs molded into the glove rings to assist with removing after a dive.

5. Rolock 90 - This is a nother workhorse of a dryglove system that is easy to set up, easy to put on and remove, and is my current recommendation.

All 5 of the above systems are readily integrateable right out of the box with the QCS oval cuff rings.

I am not sure what you mean by "dry hood". I have a neoprene hood that was marketed as a wetsuit hood, and I have a neoprene hood that was marketed as a drysuit hood. When diving a drysuit, because your core is comfortably warm, your body does not need to shunt blood away from your extremeties and head, so a well fitting neoprene hood (5 to 6mm thick) is typically enough to keep one comfortable after the initial cold shock right after submerging. I have dived with a 6mm neoprene hood in water temps down to 2c and was fairly comfortable.

I am not sure what version of Si-Tech's neck ring system comes on current Fusion Bullet suits, but earlier models (at least through model year 2020) had the Si-Tech Neck-tite system. It works well to retain the neck seal and makes it easy to replace the seal in the field should one suffer a torn seal, but it is Si-Tech's 1st generation neck ring system. Their 2nd generation, the Quick neck worked the same but is more flexible. Their 3rd generation, the Orust, uses plastic clips to retain the neck seal and is even more flexible. My recommendation if one has a choice is the Quick Neck as I have heard of folks having issues with seal retention with Orust due to its flexibility and one needs to carry a stash of clips in case they are lost or broken...the Orust is a good design on paper but seems to fall down in execution, I am sure there are fans of it out there though, so YMMV. The neck ring system allows for the use of a silicone, latex, or neoprene seal.

You can have the Si-Tech ring systems installed on just about any drysuit and then use one of the readily integrateable dryglove systems above, or instead of the Si-Tech wrist cuff ring system, one can have any dryglove system installed....zip seals, Kubi, etc. I am not 100% sure but my understanding is Santi's dryglove system only works with their cuff rings and their cuff rings are only available as an OEM option on their suits.

A convenience zipper seems like a good idea until you realize that you just added potential major failure point to your suit. The more common approach is to add a P-valve. It can be used in and out of the water to relieve oneself where as a convenience zipper is only good out of the water. There are lots of discussions on ScubaBoard discussing P-valves and all the intricacies among the different models.

While there are dryboot attachment systems, they are largely unheard of in the recreation dive industry. A suit will typically either have attached boots, or a sock made of neoprene or fabric similar to the suit itself. There are pros and cons for either setup. This is something you will need to research and decide for yourself if/when you choose a drysuit model. My preference is to not have attached boots as in my opinion this gives me more options for thermal protection in different water temps...my wife, on the other hand, prefers to have attached boots as it makes it easier for her put on her suit and lacks the fuss in bending over to pull boots on over the sock feet and then tie the laces or otherwise secure them in place.

Suspenders built into the suit are a good option to have and most suits but not all have them.

Other options are front vs back zip, where the dump valve is located, and I am sure there are few other knick knacks I am forgetting about. All of these are preference oriented and things like dump valve location are typically only options when ordering a custom made suit...or if one has interest in patching the hole for their current dump valve location and making a new one for their preferred spot. Again, suit modifications have been discussed quite a bit on the board and something that you will need to search the board about to educate yourself.

Fusion boots are just a canvas boot that is designed to integrate with the Fusion drysuit. There is velcro in the boot that lines up with velcro on the sock of the suit and a plastic plate that goes in the sock to help "lock" the boot on the suit. There are also velcro tabs on the boot that marry up with velcro on the ankle cuff of the Fusion's skin to help retain the boot in place. These make it so one can semi-permanently attach the boots to the Fusion suit making it quicker and easier to put the suit and eliminates the need to stand in the socks of the suit against mother earth which could potentially compromise the sock feet of the suit. The con of the Fusion boot offer much in the way of ankle support, but neither do neoprene booties, so if that is an issue then you should look for a different rock boot. The pros of the fusion boots, in addtion to what I already mentioned, is that they dry quickly, are easy to remove to replace if need be, and are low profile so you typically don't need new/larger size fins like one would with other rock boots. I use the same fins that I use when diving with wetsuit and neoprene booties.

One last thing, related to the replacement skin you linked to, the Drycore and Aircore suits have different attachment systems around the zipper. It is important to contact a seller before purchasing to ensure you are buying the correct skin for the suit core that you have, as they are not interchangeable....the Drycore uses velcro attachment (and so do some of the very early Aircore models, circa 2015-2016). From 2017 onwards, the Aircore model uses the rapid zip attachment system. One is not necessarily better than the other but it is an important thing to note to ensure you don't waste money on a "good deal" that turns out to not be compatible with your suit.

One other thing....you can read and read and read all about drysuits, but you will truly become knowledgeable and understand after you start diving in one.

Hope that help some.

-Z
 
@Zef yup looks like I would be be forking up at least $1400 buying the Aircore Bullet new or $900 used + $500 for the Bullet skin.

I also remember trying on a Bare SB System Suit ($1,700 but only available in Europe nowadays) in a shop that felt pretty comfortable and slim cut too (basically a less baggy cut with a stretchy trilaminate-neoprene-like hybrid material). Their "hyper compressed neoprene" suits ($1,650 XCS2 Pro Dry & $2,500 Sentry Tech Dry) seem very compelling too as reviewed by Deep South Divers. Any thoughts or experiences on how it might compare with the Fusion in buoyancy management? Or does it all come down to as much of a "perfect fit" as possible thus Seaskin suits (as some forumers here rave about) are essentially the best there is for under 1,000 bucks?



 
@Zef yup looks like I would be be forking up at least $1400 buying the Aircore Bullet new or $900 used + $500 for the Bullet skin.

I also remember trying on a Bare SB System Suit ($1,700 but only available in Europe nowadays) in a shop that felt pretty comfortable and slim cut too (basically a less baggy cut with a stretchy trilaminate-neoprene-like hybrid material). Their "hyper compressed neoprene" suits ($1,650 XCS2 Pro Dry & $2,500 Sentry Tech Dry) seem very compelling too as reviewed by Deep South Divers. Any thoughts or experiences on how it might compare with the Fusion in buoyancy management? Or does it all come down to as much of a "perfect fit" as possible thus Seaskin suits (as some forumers here rave about) are essentially the best there is for under 1,000 bucks?




My wife has some variant of a neoprene drysuit...not sure if it is hyper-compressed or not...it was made-to-measure by a company in Italy called TeknoDiver. She had it custom made while we lived in Belgium. She likes it, but to be honest, she has a take it or leave it approach to diving and pretty much dives because I do, so its hard to guess her actual preference and what not, but she seems fairly happy with it. I personally have no experience diving in neoprene drysuit other than having a 7mm Waterproof SD semi-dry that keeps me very dry based on how it fits (I could probably add an inflator and a dump valve and convert it to a drysuit).

$1400 for a new Aircore Fusion Bullet is a really good deal, especially in the US. In Europe, when I purchased mine in 2018, the MSRP was $1600. I believe MSRP in the US is approximately somewhere between $2400 -$2600...so if you can get a new AirCore Fusion Bullet in the US for $1400 then my recommendation is to jump on it.

I checked out the links you posted. The acquasub.it link, is showing a new old stock suit. It is 2017 model year depicted and in the description. That is not to say that what they will send is not newer than that, and even if it is a 2017 model year product it is still a good price at 1400 euro which is $1522 US....still better than the price for a new Fusion Bullet in the US.

Before you ask, here is how I know it is a 2017 model year suit, the add-copy states the suite has:
  • Rugged GatorTech™ neoprene on the knees, elbows, shoulders and buttocks extends the life of the outer layer Skin
  • Removable 2mm comfort pads add cushioning at the elbows and knees
Those features were fazed out after the 2017 model year.

The 2018 model year AirCore Fusion Bullets were changed to reduce the number of areas that had "GatorTech" fabric...as of this model year it no longer had on the buttocks, elbows, or the shoulders. Aqualung continued with it on the knee/shin areas only. They also discontinued the removable 2mm elbow and knee pads with the 2018 model year. My discussions with a rep from Aqualung back in 2018 indicated these were cost saving measures, as their market research indicated that most divers did not need the padding or abrassion resistant fabric in those areas, for those diving in caves where moving through restrictions that would increase wear and tear, they recommended their Apeks KVR 1 kevlar skinned version of the Fusion Bullet.

2018 and beyond also comes with a small zippered mesh duffle bag instead of a drawstring bag.

The picture on the website shows the suit with blue stiching....I might be wrong but I don't think the 2016 model year (first year for the AirCore suits) came with blue stitching, I think it came as black with black stiching or black with white stiching.

The 2018 + model years also have a huge Aqualung logo on the right shoulder/upper arm area. In 2020, Aqualung introduced the option of a color block design to the skin where the shoulder/upper arm areas and the sides of the lower leg came in blue panels with the rest of the suit black. They also changed the zipper on the Core of the suit from brass to plastic.

Early 2016 suits had the older style skin that attached with velcro around the chest area/main (dry) zipper, and late 2016+ suits this changed to the current "Rapid Zip" skin, that attaches around the chest/main zipper.

Pre 2022 suits come with the Si-Tech Neck-Tite ring system, and 2022+ model years come with "SLT Flexneck" which my understanding is the Si-Tech Quick Neck ring system (their 2nd generation neck ring system which is more flexible than the the Neck-Tite ring which is their 1st generation neck ring system).

SLT (Seal Lock Technology) is just Aqualung's parlance for Si-Tech's neck and wrist ring systems. Waterproof had their own parlance for the same using the acronym ISS (Integrated Silicone Seal) system.

The inner AirCore is the same across model years with the only exception, and this is something to be careful of if the Italian website is indeed selling a 2017....prior to 2019 Aqualung was manufacturing some Fusion suits in British Columbia Canada and some in Mexico. In 2019 they ceased production in Mexico and moved all production to Canada due to seam leaking issues on the Mexican made suits. They did not issue a recall but instead opted to provide a replacement suit core through their dealer network if a customer had a problem with their seams. They did not replace dealer stock, so it is very much possible for a dealer to continue selling new old stock suits that were made in Mexico.

If you buy the suit from that Italian website, and you find the suit core was made in Mexico, no worries...you can effect the warranty return to Aqualung through any of their dealers as the dealers are only taking care of communication and shipping the suit's core back to Aqualung, they are not providing anything from their stock....if the Aqualung dealer(s) in your area give you the cold shoulder, then I can put you in contact with someone from Aqualung in British Columbia who can help more directly.

-Z
 
So when you are done for the day, how do you fully dry out the suit? Do you have to remove the inner core every time? I'm a bit intrigued by this suit. I'm hard to fit and the wide size range could work for me, but the lack of love on the web is holding back. I have a Seaskin on order, but looking for something to get by for now and serve as a backup later on.

Someone posted this link for a new one for $550....


Is this just the shell or the whole suit? The same site has another "Sport" model for $1700.
 
So when you are done for the day, how do you fully dry out the suit? Do you have to remove the inner core every time? I'm a bit intrigued by this suit. I'm hard to fit and the wide size range could work for me, but the lack of love on the web is holding back. I have a Seaskin on order, but looking for something to get by for now and serve as a backup later on.

Someone posted this link for a new one for $550....


Is this just the shell or the whole suit? The same site has another "Sport" model for $1700.


That is just the skin....the ad-copy is for the entire suit but the SKU states "fusbulskn" for the fusion bullet skin.

You do not have to separate the skin from the core to dry but supposedly the neoprene skin will dry faster if removed. I have never bothered to separate the skin from the core to dry.

I have fusion boots semi-permanently attached to my fusion suit. I hang my suit inverted from the boots using a drysuit hanger like below.

16231_articoli_foto_1.jpg


I aim a floor fan at the suit and it dramatically cuts down on the drying time.

My suit stays on the hangar with the dry zipper open until I pack it for it's next use.

-Z
 
So when you are done for the day, how do you fully dry out the suit? Do you have to remove the inner core every time?
It's not hard to turn inside out and the inside will dry quickly. The neoprene takes as long as any other neoprene to dry - aka seems like forever.

I have one (my 10th drysuit since I started diving dry in 1998) and I am not the first person to say its the coldest suit I have ever owned/worn. Even with the exact same underlayer as other suits I own. I like it for what it is but if you are routinely in <8C water I would look for something else.
 

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