Pinnacle Freedom

Hello,
This is a new drysuit coming out from Pinnacle? I have heard talk about it, I have not found any info on this drysuit. Divetank has the price but no pic for 849.99 U.S, just wondering if anyone eles can help me on this?
Chris

I'm most likely going to pull the trigger on one within the next month or so. I'm going to the LDS to check it out this week. I'll post some comments.

I haven't look extensively at the Freedom suit, I went straight to the Evo2. But I have a couple other Pinnacle pieces and they are the best suits I have ever tried. I love the fact that I can wear stock Pinnacle sizes that fit me better than the very pricey custom suits that I have.

We have a few in the store if your in the Boston area and want to check them out.

Paul

Yeah Paul, its me Dave B. Sean and I will stop by tuesday or wednesday.

I purchased the pinnacle freedom last night along with the merino undergarment, merino hood, dry gloves and boots. I'm getting a large short, so it had to be ordered. It should arrive in a week and a half. My first impressions: it appears to be an excellent suit. It's tri-lam. The construction is excellent. The seams are well taped. The valves are sytek (sp?). I tried on the suit and found it very easy to don. Sure you have to have help with the zipper, but that's what my buddy is for. Other features that are included are suspenders and a side cargo pocket. The wrist and neck seals are latex and are very thick and trimmable. I really like the merino undergarment. It's outer layer is nylon combined with neoprene wrist and leg cuffs, make it very easy to don both the undergarment and then the drysuit. I'm new to drysuits, but I've dove a DUI 450 and TLS 350 self donning, and I think that the pinnacle is just as good and about half the price. I found it much easier to don with the back zipper than the DUIs. As an entry level suit, I don't think the pinnacle freedom can be beat. My buddy took a look at the bare nexgen and thought the pinnacle fit and finish was superior. These suits are basically the same price, so I went with a tri-lam vs a bi-lam. I'll follow-up when I get the suit and get in the water.

My first dive with the pinnacle freedom went very well. My buddy and I headed out to back beach in Rockport, MA which is a popular training area. The weather was sunny and relatively warm at 45deg air temp with 41deg water temp. We were diving the pinnacle freedom with the pinnacle evolution merino undergarments, pinnacle merino hood and si-tek dry gloves. The equipment performed very well and we were not cold during out two 45 minute dives. The undergarment is very warm but requires a lot of weight. I dive with a steel HP 100. When wet I use 18lbs. I ended up using 36lbs to make the dives. I still need to fine tune the weighting. I think 32lbs might do it. The suit is easy to don and doff. You will need a buddy to zip it closed, but that's not an issue for me because I don't dive solo. I've heard others adding a leash to the zipper in order to allow them to zip it by themselves. The suit is very durable and the wrist seals are the thickest I've seen on a drysuit! I did trim both the neck and wrist seals for a good fit. I also like the suspenders and the pocket as well. The merino hood was also very warm. I did note that I'm going to have to trim it for a better fit, but it performed very well. The si-tek gloves are also very nice, but a bit of effort is required to mount them. I found the first time I put the gloves on the ring, small wrinkles allowed air to escape. Once I fixed that i was set. We also ended up donning the glove liner before putting on the drysuit. This was a technique illustrated on si-tek's web site to allow the gloves to be vented. I really think this is the only way to don those gloves, because when I tried putting them on over the wrist seals, I had too much extra fabric and could not seal the dry gloves.

Overall, I think this is a great enty level drysuit. I paid, half of what a DUI setup would have cost. The quality is very good as well. Honestly, I see no difference between the DUI and the pinnacle, but I don't have much experience in this area. Although, I have dove a TLS350 and a CLX450 and didn't see much difference to justify the price difference. That may change over time though. I actually find the freedom easier to don (rear zipper) than the DUIs. My buddy looked at the bare nexgen and found the pinnacle to be superior all around. My LDS gave me a great deal which made the pinnacle freedom and the nexgen the same price, so it was an easy decision!

So in summary, I'm pleased so far and recommend this drysuit!