Loved the Lavacore suit......

Dove it for the first time a few weeks ago and found it very comfortable. Wrote a little piece for DiverWire....



Lavacore suits introduced

I'm interested to try this out. Someone else here had commented on how much they liked it as well. It sounds intriguing.

They also work well as a drysuit undergarment.

The LaveCore is amazing stuff. What impressed me so much was the fact that it has not buoyancy.

I bought the Lavacore full suit for a just completed long weekend in Chuuk (Truk Lagoon). The suit works as advertised -- zero buoyancy and comfortable. It was great for tropical waters with the average water temperature of 79 degrees for all 17 dives. The front zipper made it easy on/easy off while in the tender and easy to zip down during hot mid-day surface periods in the sun. During the run in from a couple of the night dives we had wind and rain and it was a great surface exposure suit.

One negative is that the silver piping started coming off by the third dive and is all but gone now. Also, the suit snags very easily and really grabs the velcro of my BCD cumberbun. Since it did what it was supposed to do I am not too concerned about how rough it looks now after less than 20 dives but be warned. This seems to be only a looks thing so far and not a functional issue.

All in all I found this easier to use than a 3mil wetsuit or my 0.5 mil skin.

One additional comment is the Lavacore socks are OUTSTANDING!!! Nearly everyone in our group had some sort of tape on their toes by the end due to various abrasions and rubbing from fins and boots after 15 - 17 dives. I had none and actually had to occasionally make sure my fin straps were snug because the fins felt so smooth while on my feet and in the water. Sweet!

Idaho-Steve...Many thanks great review!!! I was shopping for another 3 mm suit and came upon a rack of Lavacore products. I know they were pretty new on the market and was looking for a good review like yours and others to help in my decision process. I get pretty hesitate unloading cash on new products without some feedback. I tried one on at my LDS and was equally impress with comfort and non-binding feel in certain areas. Also, I like the fact they won't crease when I rolled them up for packing like my other neoprene suits and it packs up real small. I do have to say the sizing chart (throw it away - worthless) because they run very small, a dilemma if you are ordering on-line. Going to my LDS again to unload some cash for this product.

bfowles:

They also work well as a drysuit undergarment.

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How cold can you go with it as a dry suit undergarment? I guess layering it with a thinner undies will also work no?

Lenaxia:

How cold can you go with it as a dry suit undergarment? I guess layering it with a thinner undies will also work no?

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I wear it with polar fleece vest in 12c (53f) waters. Actually my wrist seal went on my last dive and I still managed to last one and half hours with it wet (My hand was starting to go numb towards the end of the dive).