Any experience with O'neill 7mm J-Type suit or Pinnacle Extreme 8/6mm?
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MN Lakeman
Contributor
I bought my O'Neill 7mm on Ebay 3 years ago, from a guy living in the Monterey area. I dive the summers locally here in Minnesota down to (briefly anyway) 45 degrees, & I am always amazed @ how well it fits & insulates. It is a bit of a challenge getting into, but I can't say enough about how well it seals out the environment due to its fit & design. The ankle & wrist seals are as good as any semi-dry I've observed, & because the integrated hood connects to the front (velcros down in the back) there is next to no water exchange.
The 7mm J-Type is a great suit for SoCal, but I'm not so sure for the summer temps. It can be a pain to get into, but I use Suit Juice liberally. The integrated vest and hood are cool, but can add buoyancy if you are lead conscious. I've used mine since late fall and into Winter and can say that it is relatively warm and comfortable. For added warmth I use a 13oz dive skin. This summer I may try a 5mm for those shallower-warmer dives. 7 mils suck on those 80-90 days, regardless of the water temps.
yangnome
Guest
I dive the j-type in Monterey and I haven't had any problems. as others said, it can be a bit of a pain to get into, trying to squeeze through the vest, but other than that, it's been a great suit. The only other complaint I have is I would prefer to take my hood off in a rescue situation, but with the front attached hood, it gets in the way. During a real wituation, I'm pretty certain I could rip it off my suit (ruining the suit, but if its a life and death issue, I'm not concerned about that). The suit fits well though and it keeps me warm on my dives.
Divin' Dave
Contributor
I have the J and a Pinnacle. Frankly the bouyancy of the J suit, for me, requires too much lead and is a drag. The Pinnacle is great, warm without as much bouyancy and IMO built better than the J, but then again the J fits me a bit better. I think those are the two issues, fit and bouyancy.
I dive in Monterey Bay regularly throughout the year and use the O'Neill suit you mentioned (7mm). I don't have any problems on the whole, though I've found that on the second dive after a deep dive I may start to feel a slight chill. Still, you can always hug a friendly seal for body warmth! Seriosuly though, you'll be totally fine. I use 3mm surf booties which probably accounts for most of my January chills at 70 feet. But then, I am from Scotland and we tend to thrive in sub-baltic temeratures.
I have a J and a Pinnacle. I am always amazed at how warm the J is, but it takes a lot of lead. I have been in shallow 39 degree water with it and still warm...
But beware - it takes some work to get into (I call it the suit of death, because it is possible to get stuck half and and half out of it) and would not use it for anything below 70 ft. Below 70 ft, you may not have enough lift in your BC to compensate for the compression... not a good safety position.
Good boots help, and oddly, I like the 7mm pinnacle ones for sealing.
But beware - it takes some work to get into (I call it the suit of death, because it is possible to get stuck half and and half out of it) and would not use it for anything below 70 ft. Below 70 ft, you may not have enough lift in your BC to compensate for the compression... not a good safety position.
Good boots help, and oddly, I like the 7mm pinnacle ones for sealing.
Cadell
Registered
Sorry to necro an old post but, I'm looking into getting a j-type...
How much more lead over a standard 7mm does the j-type need (for say, xxl)? 4lbs more? 10lbs more?
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