I'll admit it -- I've been wrong. I have inveighed repeatedly on this forum against ordering a custom dry suit. I have said I would never go through that misery again.
But at the Tacoma Dive Expo, Jason Fisch of Ocean Edge Outfitters came to me and made me an offer on a Santi custom suit that I simply couldn't turn down. The condition was that I would write a review of the suit, after I had had a chance to dive it a bit. I smiled, and told Jason that he had to understand that I would write what I thought, positive or negative, and no matter what he thought of the review. He smiled back and told me his confidence in the suits was such that he wasn't worried.
So I got measured for the suit, and I didn't even have the undergarments with me -- all I could do was describe them. Several weeks later, my Santi E-Lite arrived.
Well, the first thing I have to say is that the fit is perfect. The suit has enough room for my undergarments, but not too much more. The boots fit (one of the problems with my prior adventure in custom). The pockets are at the right height, so I can reach the bottoms of them. The dump valve is precisely where I like it. The zipper (a Tizip) is truly self-donning. And, as you can see, my range of motion is excellent:
Now, to the rest of the suit. It weighs 7lbs 10oz. That's the same as a set of Jet fins, I think. The finish work is excellent. The pockets are fantastic -- they have long, stiff flaps with an edge stiffener, and I can feel them even with cold hands. I think could probably get all the spools I own in one of them. The right-hand pocket has a separate compartment for wetnotes, and all the pockets/compartments came with sewn-in bungie.
The boots are a hybrid between a plain rubber boot and a turbosole -- part of them is rubber, and part is neoprene, and they are shaped. The result is that they fit well and don't roll when I'm walking on rocks (unless the rocks are at Gerstle Cove, that is!) Like TurboSoles, they have a velcro strap around the ankle, which makes it highly unlikely that they would come off, even if my feet filled with air.
One of the surprises for me was the suspenders. All the other suits I've owned have had a pad in the back, but this one had a pad in the front. I thought maybe they had put the suspenders together wrong, but then I took a closer look. The "pad" in the front is actually a pocket with a zipper. The pocket is lined with something that seems likely to be waterproof, and clearly, this pocket is meant for keys, because the most delightful thing about it is that you only have to unzip about six or eight inches to reach it. I think you could probably do it with your gear still on! Since a number of the places where I shore dive don't have picnic tables or any other good place to set a tank, and I have trouble getting my rig off without a support (and I don't dive from a truck) this is a really nice feature.
Negatives? Not many. I think the weight would make me choose something lighter for air travel (although I have to admit, I haven't weighed my other suits to compare, since both of them are currently out on loan). The material of the suit is fairly stiff, and with the Kevlar knee patches, it makes the legs hard to fold enough to get a grip on them to pull them up, at least not without breaking a nail. (I know that won't matter to most of you.) I have some concerns about the plastic zipper, but since Santi warrants them for life (correction here, it's a two year warranty) , it didn't seem a big risk. And the suit has yet to pass the test of time, although I've heard very few complaints from Santi owners about leaks.
Overall, I am really impressed with the quality of this suit, and the excellent job Santi did on the cut. And I've been amusing the daylights out of Peter, because I simply can't remember to put my left arm in first, or to undo the crotch strap before taking the suit off!
But at the Tacoma Dive Expo, Jason Fisch of Ocean Edge Outfitters came to me and made me an offer on a Santi custom suit that I simply couldn't turn down. The condition was that I would write a review of the suit, after I had had a chance to dive it a bit. I smiled, and told Jason that he had to understand that I would write what I thought, positive or negative, and no matter what he thought of the review. He smiled back and told me his confidence in the suits was such that he wasn't worried.
So I got measured for the suit, and I didn't even have the undergarments with me -- all I could do was describe them. Several weeks later, my Santi E-Lite arrived.
Well, the first thing I have to say is that the fit is perfect. The suit has enough room for my undergarments, but not too much more. The boots fit (one of the problems with my prior adventure in custom). The pockets are at the right height, so I can reach the bottoms of them. The dump valve is precisely where I like it. The zipper (a Tizip) is truly self-donning. And, as you can see, my range of motion is excellent:
Now, to the rest of the suit. It weighs 7lbs 10oz. That's the same as a set of Jet fins, I think. The finish work is excellent. The pockets are fantastic -- they have long, stiff flaps with an edge stiffener, and I can feel them even with cold hands. I think could probably get all the spools I own in one of them. The right-hand pocket has a separate compartment for wetnotes, and all the pockets/compartments came with sewn-in bungie.
The boots are a hybrid between a plain rubber boot and a turbosole -- part of them is rubber, and part is neoprene, and they are shaped. The result is that they fit well and don't roll when I'm walking on rocks (unless the rocks are at Gerstle Cove, that is!) Like TurboSoles, they have a velcro strap around the ankle, which makes it highly unlikely that they would come off, even if my feet filled with air.
One of the surprises for me was the suspenders. All the other suits I've owned have had a pad in the back, but this one had a pad in the front. I thought maybe they had put the suspenders together wrong, but then I took a closer look. The "pad" in the front is actually a pocket with a zipper. The pocket is lined with something that seems likely to be waterproof, and clearly, this pocket is meant for keys, because the most delightful thing about it is that you only have to unzip about six or eight inches to reach it. I think you could probably do it with your gear still on! Since a number of the places where I shore dive don't have picnic tables or any other good place to set a tank, and I have trouble getting my rig off without a support (and I don't dive from a truck) this is a really nice feature.
Negatives? Not many. I think the weight would make me choose something lighter for air travel (although I have to admit, I haven't weighed my other suits to compare, since both of them are currently out on loan). The material of the suit is fairly stiff, and with the Kevlar knee patches, it makes the legs hard to fold enough to get a grip on them to pull them up, at least not without breaking a nail. (I know that won't matter to most of you.) I have some concerns about the plastic zipper, but since Santi warrants them for life (correction here, it's a two year warranty) , it didn't seem a big risk. And the suit has yet to pass the test of time, although I've heard very few complaints from Santi owners about leaks.
Overall, I am really impressed with the quality of this suit, and the excellent job Santi did on the cut. And I've been amusing the daylights out of Peter, because I simply can't remember to put my left arm in first, or to undo the crotch strap before taking the suit off!
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