Help me decide - Whites Fusion Bullet or Tech

[Grover48]

I am about to purchase my first dry suit. I have narrowed my choice to a Whites Fusion Bullet or a Tech. I had decided on the Tech but in talking to the salesman, he recommended the Bullet. I have read the threads on the differences and I have a concern with the drying time for the Bullet. How long does it take for it to dry completely? I fly to Mexico to dive the cenotes and do not want to bring home the extra weight. Will it dry in 24 hours?

Any pro and cons to either suit? I dive So California during the winter and my wet suit is not good enough. I will be diving far more in the Pacific than in Mexico.

Thanks for you time and opinions.

[irishsquid]

I have the Bullet and don't have a ton of experience in it and have no other DS experience, so my opinion is worth what you're paying.
I love my Bullet, it was easy to dive from day one. It will not completely dry on its own in 24 hrs. just hanging up. It takes about 48 hrs. for mine to dry where I'm comfortable putting it back in the bag. It may be dry enough for travel, but; I have no clue what the weight would be, especially compared to the lighter Tech skin. If I had to make a guess, the Tech when damp, would probably weigh the same as a dry Bullet. More experienced folks may chime in and give a more informative/factual report. TS&M has a great amount of experience with both suits and hopefully will see this thread and give one of her "as usual" great responses.

[swamp diver]

I rented a Bullet for two weeks of diving in British Columbia and there was not a morning after a day of diving where the suit was fully dry. At one site where the drysuit room was not heated and air temps were about 40 F overnight the suit was as wet the following morning as when I took it off. At another site which had a heated dry suit room at 70 to 80 F the suit would be damp in the morning so I would agree that in a room at 70 F it will take 48 hours to dry completely. My Bare Trilam HD would be dry in the latter situation but its weight is quite significant for travel and its not nearly as accommodating for a large range of undergarments.

If I was not traveling with the suit I would likely just get the Bullet for the added durability but if you need to fly or pack it up between dive sites and dive the next day it will remain damp.

Here is a thread with someone who went through the same decision tree. Good luck.

Whites Fusion drysuit and Thermal Fusion undergarment.

[TSandM]

I've dived the Sport, Tech and Bullet skins.

If the suit is primarily for travel, the Sport skin wins. You have to wear X-shorts with it, but it dries just about as fast and as thoroughly as a laminate suit. Rinsing is also easy, as the fresh water gets through the Lycra and washes the salt off the bag. Mobility is by FAR the best in this skin, if reaching valves is an issue. Even with the X-shorts, the Sport skin is the lightest for travel weight.

The Tech skin is a good compromise. It is more restrictive and heavier. It takes fully overnight to dry in MX, but it will dry. The Lycra portions allow fresh water in between the skin and the bag, so you don't get salt buildup. You don't have to have X-shorts for pockets, and although I don't really like the stretchy pockets in cold water, in warm they are adequately capacious and easy enough to get in and out of.

The Bullet skin I ended up not liking at all. It's heavier and even more restrictive, so you lose a lot of what I love about the Fusion. In addition, to rinse salt away from the bag, you have to loosen the skin from the Velcro and get water into the space, which is a nuisance. It dries much slower than the Tech skin. I also don't see the advantages of it -- the pockets still sag some (and I don't find the sagging an issue with the Tech, maybe because I do very little walking around with the top of the suit down). The construction of the skin/bag suit is such that it's quite difficult to injure the bag while diving, or even while crawling back up limestone or the swim step on a boat, so having a heavier outer layer is kind of gilding the lily.

I know fdog, who is another Fusion aficionado, also tried the Bullet skin and didn't like it.

[Peter_C]

Forget the pockets on the Tech Skin. They suck. Other than that the skin is fine. I haven't used a Bullet skin so I can't comment. My preference for pockets is something made with a fairly stiff material with velco as the closure. I can't feel softer pockets in my dry gloves, and I wind up having a yard sale, when surface swimming, as the pockets flop everything out of them.

[Akimbo]

… I have read the threads on the differences and I have a concern with the drying time for the Bullet. How long does it take for it to dry completely?...

Lots of variables, but removing the skin from the DryCore speeds drying many times regardless of which Skin. That is easier said than done however. This link describes mods I made that make it easy, but are probably more than you want to go through. In general, you will probably find the entire thread useful: NeckTite removal from Fusion

I did some experiments with my Bullet Skin detached from the DryCore. I weighed it dry and soaking wet after a wash-down to get an idea how much more weight was added when climbing a ladder. To my surprise, the difference was less than 3 Lbs. As a result of that experience, I doubt that there would be a significant weight difference in water between a Bullet and a Tech Skin after a few hours of drip-drying. Of course, the Bullet is a little heavier than a Tech Skin to start, but I don’t know how much.

… Any pro and cons to either suit? I dive So California during the winter and my wet suit is not good enough. I will be diving far more in the Pacific than in Mexico….

Bullet is tougher by a fair margin so it depends on your use. I would go Bullet if you like wreck diving or dive off a beach a lot, Tech if you dive off boats and rarely make contact with anything other than the ladder.

[Grover48]

Yes, I wreck dive in San Diego and shore dive at Morro Bay. We spend several days at a time in the fifth wheel at Morro bay so hanging a dry suit in the shower to dry can be inconvenient, but doable. i dive a ScubaPro Steamer 7 mil now and it take a while for it to dry.

[Andres Cuevas]

to rinse salt away from the bag, you have to loosen the skin from the Velcro and get water into the space, which is a nuisance.

I know that this is an old thread, but now that I'm using a Bullet I would like to make a small correction.

This is my third dry suit, my other dry suits were Pinnacle Evo2 and Pinnacle Freedom.
My wife has the Fusion Tech so I'm used to rinse the Bullet and the Tech.

The Bullet can be rinsed completely without loosen the velcro of the skin.
Around the neck seal of the suit, the skin doesn't have velcro, from there the dry core can be rinsed completely.

I agree with the rest of the comments, the bullet is heavier, has less mobility and dries slowly. But I love it. It's a matter of personal choice.

[oldpeanut]

I am about to purchase my first dry suit. I have narrowed my choice to a Whites Fusion Bullet or a Tech. I had decided on the Tech but in talking to the salesman, he recommended the Bullet. I have read the threads on the differences and I have a concern with the drying time for the Bullet. How long does it take for it to dry completely? I fly to Mexico to dive the cenotes and do not want to bring home the extra weight. Will it dry in 24 hours?

Any pro and cons to either suit? I dive So California during the winter and my wet suit is not good enough. I will be diving far more in the Pacific than in Mexico.

Thanks for you time and opinions.

I have a White Fusion Bullet, my experience with the drying time of the Bullet Skin was less than 24 hours. If the resort has a fan, just use it and the drying time could be even shorter as several hours(overnight). Hope this helps.

Terry

[TechDeep]

I love my tech, had a DUI and Seasoft before, and the tech is by far my favorite. Not thrilled with the pockets, but everything else is great. HTH