I bought the Cressi Spring 3.5mm XXL ($120), the Akona Men's 3mm (AKMS258) XXL ($150), and the Akona Quantum Stretch 3mm XXL ($200) from LeisurePro all at the same time, so I could keep one and return 2.
I'm 6' 1" and carrying a bit of a gut right now at 230 #. All 3 suits fit me basically fine. They pull up nicely into my groin area and snugly in my armpits. I just did my OW certification and the dive shop gave me an Oceanic Ultra 3/2 XXL to wear in the pool and the same in 7mm to wear in the quarry, which also fit me fine.
The Quantum Stretch was noticeably stretchier than the other 2. I suppose that made it a little bit easier to don, but not much. Not enough that that would make me buy it over the others. It did seem to fit a little bit better, though, which would influence me to it over the other 2. The neck has a nice smoothskin seal on the inside, but the wrist, ankles, and back zipper did not have anything to help seal the suit, so I'm not sure why they bothered with the neck seal. The ends of the arms and legs have a nice binding sewn instead of just having unfinished neoprene. The zipper flap was just thin neoprene and I was able to zip the suit up by myself. Also, I'd say the picture on the website is the result of bad lighting. It looks like it's dark grey and light grey. In reality, it is black and grey and the patterning on the shoulders and back have a couple of streaks of orangeish red in them.
The Akona Men's 3mm was not as stretchy as the Quantum Stretch. It did not have seals at the neck, ankles or wrists. It did have a reasonably beefy smoothskin flap inside the back zipper. But, it didn't seem to have any other smoothskin to mate against, so I'm not sure how well it would seal. Besides, the neck, wrists, and ankles all do not have any kind of seal anyway, so again, why bother with a seal over the back zipper? This suit was the only one of the three that I could not zip up by myself and I really gave it the old college try, too. The zipper kept catching on that smoothskin flap. The ends of the arms and legs are completely unfinished. No binding like the Quantum Stretch suit. The suit fit well, but maybe it didn't "hug" my contours *quite* as well as the Quantum Stretch. Overall, of the 3 suits, this is the last one I would keep.
The Cressi Spring suit is 0.5mm thicker than the other 2. It felt about as stretchy as the Akona Men's 3mm. Maybe just a *touch* less stretchy since it's a hair thicker. Again, definitely not AS stretchy as the Quantum Stretch. The Spring has smoothskin for seals inside the neck, at the ankles and wrists, and a smaller-than-the-Akona smoothskin flap inside the back zipper. I was able to zip myself up in this suit, no problem. One thing that was different than all other wetsuits I have looked at is that the neck closure flap does not have a downward extension to cover the zipper once you've zipped up and sealed the suit. It does have a small velcro tab just below the neck closure tab that closes over the zipper to (theoretically) keep it from accidentally unzipping. But, most suits have that AND the neck closure flap covers that, too. The ends of the arms and legs are also nicely bound, like the Akona Quantum Stretch. The worst thing I can say about this suit is that it doesn't seem to comform to my body quite as well as the other two. It is good everywhere except that if I bend my elbows or knees I notice a little bit of a ripple that forms in the suit where it's bulging slightly away from my skin. Despite that, with all the seals plus the extra thickness, I think this suit would be the warmest of the 3. And I like that is has red on it. I want a suit that does not have blue, purple, yellow, orange, or green on it, which eliminates a bunch of my options, but I'm just picky that way.
None of these three suits has any kind of lining in the interior or any zippers at the wrists or ankles. Other than their stretchiness, they were all about the same effort to pull up my arms and legs.
I didn't like that the regular Akona (non-Quantum Stretch) wouldn't work for me to zip it up on my own, and the neoprene felt about the same as the Cressi, but with no seals, so I would definitely choose the Cressi over it. Which brought it down to Cressi versus Quantum Stretch. The Quantum Stretch fit just slightly better and was, maybe, just a hair easier to get on. But since they are both in the 3mm class, they were both easy to get on. So, with the Quantum Stretch being thinner neoprene, having no seals, and costing 50% more, I decided that the Cressi is the one I would keep of the three.
But then..... I found that my LDS (local dive shop) was having a Closeout sale on the 2012 and 2013 models of Scuba Pro EverFlex suits. Their websuit said they were out of stock on 3/2mm suits, but they had the 2012 5/4mm in my size. And the 5/4 was showing as $180. I didn't really want a 5/4mm suit. But, I figured at $180, it might be worth the hassle of the extra thickness when I didn't need it and actually nice to have on some colder water dives. So, I went by at lunch to try one on.
The Scuba Pro EverFlex 5/4mm (2012) XXL fit me just as well as the other suits I'd already tried. It felt a hair tighter around the chest and stomach, but I don't know yet if that's just their fit or if it's because it's a thicker suit. The interior of the body area has a nice gold-colored velour-like lining. I expect it would be nice for warmth. But, it doesn't extend down the arms or legs, so it doesn't really help with putting the suit on. The wrists have smoothskin seals on the inside and they extend much further up the inside of the forearm than the smoothskin on the Cressi suit. The ankles have separate smoothskin seals with a zippered cuff over them. This will allow me to put boots on over the leg seals and then zip the outer part of the suit leg over the boot. I suspect this will give a better seal at the ankles than any of the other suits I tried. And in the neck there is a smoothskin seal that is a separate piece of material from the neoprene exterior of the collar. I believe this suit would seal even better than the Cressi. There is also a small D-ring built into the right side hip/upper thigh area that is, I believe, to clip a hood when you're not wearing it. The EverFlex 5/4 also seemed to fit better around the knees and elbows than the Cressi. It stayed tight when I flexed my knees and elbows. I was able to zip it almost all the way up by myself, but not quite. But that may also be partly to do with it being a 5/4mm, so not as stretchy. The zipper goes straight up the middle of the back. On the 2013 models, the zipper goes up the back at an angle. Just FYI. They had an XL 5/4 of the 2013, so I got to see the difference myself. I think everything else was the same.
I had all but whipped out my credit card to buy the EverFlex when I asked one last time "are you SURE you don't have this same suit in 3/2mm in my size?" The sales guy went in the warehouse to check one last time and lo and behold he turned up with one - another 2012 model. He said it had been hung up in the Ladies suit rack by mistake or they would have already sold it. After already trying on the 5/4, I went ahead and bought the 3/2 in XXL without even unbagging it. It was only $160. If, for some reason, it doesn't fit, I think I will return it and buy the EverFlex 5/4 - returning all 3 of the other suits I tried either way.
The Cressi and the 2 Akonas I tried are all nice and if I had just bought any one of them and gone with it, I'm sure I would be quite happy. But, the Scuba Pro EverFlex just seems like a higher quality suit. And with a Closeout price putting it right in the middle of the pack, the Scuba Pro EverFlex is Stuart's Best Buy. ;-)
Edit: I tried on the EverFlex 3/2 and realized that it does not have the zippers at the ankles like the 5/4. It's just smoothskin for 4 or 5 inches up the inside like the wrists. And, the smoothskin only goes about 3/4 of the way around the inside of the neck (which is probably true for the 5/4, too).
I'm 6' 1" and carrying a bit of a gut right now at 230 #. All 3 suits fit me basically fine. They pull up nicely into my groin area and snugly in my armpits. I just did my OW certification and the dive shop gave me an Oceanic Ultra 3/2 XXL to wear in the pool and the same in 7mm to wear in the quarry, which also fit me fine.
The Quantum Stretch was noticeably stretchier than the other 2. I suppose that made it a little bit easier to don, but not much. Not enough that that would make me buy it over the others. It did seem to fit a little bit better, though, which would influence me to it over the other 2. The neck has a nice smoothskin seal on the inside, but the wrist, ankles, and back zipper did not have anything to help seal the suit, so I'm not sure why they bothered with the neck seal. The ends of the arms and legs have a nice binding sewn instead of just having unfinished neoprene. The zipper flap was just thin neoprene and I was able to zip the suit up by myself. Also, I'd say the picture on the website is the result of bad lighting. It looks like it's dark grey and light grey. In reality, it is black and grey and the patterning on the shoulders and back have a couple of streaks of orangeish red in them.
The Akona Men's 3mm was not as stretchy as the Quantum Stretch. It did not have seals at the neck, ankles or wrists. It did have a reasonably beefy smoothskin flap inside the back zipper. But, it didn't seem to have any other smoothskin to mate against, so I'm not sure how well it would seal. Besides, the neck, wrists, and ankles all do not have any kind of seal anyway, so again, why bother with a seal over the back zipper? This suit was the only one of the three that I could not zip up by myself and I really gave it the old college try, too. The zipper kept catching on that smoothskin flap. The ends of the arms and legs are completely unfinished. No binding like the Quantum Stretch suit. The suit fit well, but maybe it didn't "hug" my contours *quite* as well as the Quantum Stretch. Overall, of the 3 suits, this is the last one I would keep.
The Cressi Spring suit is 0.5mm thicker than the other 2. It felt about as stretchy as the Akona Men's 3mm. Maybe just a *touch* less stretchy since it's a hair thicker. Again, definitely not AS stretchy as the Quantum Stretch. The Spring has smoothskin for seals inside the neck, at the ankles and wrists, and a smaller-than-the-Akona smoothskin flap inside the back zipper. I was able to zip myself up in this suit, no problem. One thing that was different than all other wetsuits I have looked at is that the neck closure flap does not have a downward extension to cover the zipper once you've zipped up and sealed the suit. It does have a small velcro tab just below the neck closure tab that closes over the zipper to (theoretically) keep it from accidentally unzipping. But, most suits have that AND the neck closure flap covers that, too. The ends of the arms and legs are also nicely bound, like the Akona Quantum Stretch. The worst thing I can say about this suit is that it doesn't seem to comform to my body quite as well as the other two. It is good everywhere except that if I bend my elbows or knees I notice a little bit of a ripple that forms in the suit where it's bulging slightly away from my skin. Despite that, with all the seals plus the extra thickness, I think this suit would be the warmest of the 3. And I like that is has red on it. I want a suit that does not have blue, purple, yellow, orange, or green on it, which eliminates a bunch of my options, but I'm just picky that way.
None of these three suits has any kind of lining in the interior or any zippers at the wrists or ankles. Other than their stretchiness, they were all about the same effort to pull up my arms and legs.
I didn't like that the regular Akona (non-Quantum Stretch) wouldn't work for me to zip it up on my own, and the neoprene felt about the same as the Cressi, but with no seals, so I would definitely choose the Cressi over it. Which brought it down to Cressi versus Quantum Stretch. The Quantum Stretch fit just slightly better and was, maybe, just a hair easier to get on. But since they are both in the 3mm class, they were both easy to get on. So, with the Quantum Stretch being thinner neoprene, having no seals, and costing 50% more, I decided that the Cressi is the one I would keep of the three.
But then..... I found that my LDS (local dive shop) was having a Closeout sale on the 2012 and 2013 models of Scuba Pro EverFlex suits. Their websuit said they were out of stock on 3/2mm suits, but they had the 2012 5/4mm in my size. And the 5/4 was showing as $180. I didn't really want a 5/4mm suit. But, I figured at $180, it might be worth the hassle of the extra thickness when I didn't need it and actually nice to have on some colder water dives. So, I went by at lunch to try one on.
The Scuba Pro EverFlex 5/4mm (2012) XXL fit me just as well as the other suits I'd already tried. It felt a hair tighter around the chest and stomach, but I don't know yet if that's just their fit or if it's because it's a thicker suit. The interior of the body area has a nice gold-colored velour-like lining. I expect it would be nice for warmth. But, it doesn't extend down the arms or legs, so it doesn't really help with putting the suit on. The wrists have smoothskin seals on the inside and they extend much further up the inside of the forearm than the smoothskin on the Cressi suit. The ankles have separate smoothskin seals with a zippered cuff over them. This will allow me to put boots on over the leg seals and then zip the outer part of the suit leg over the boot. I suspect this will give a better seal at the ankles than any of the other suits I tried. And in the neck there is a smoothskin seal that is a separate piece of material from the neoprene exterior of the collar. I believe this suit would seal even better than the Cressi. There is also a small D-ring built into the right side hip/upper thigh area that is, I believe, to clip a hood when you're not wearing it. The EverFlex 5/4 also seemed to fit better around the knees and elbows than the Cressi. It stayed tight when I flexed my knees and elbows. I was able to zip it almost all the way up by myself, but not quite. But that may also be partly to do with it being a 5/4mm, so not as stretchy. The zipper goes straight up the middle of the back. On the 2013 models, the zipper goes up the back at an angle. Just FYI. They had an XL 5/4 of the 2013, so I got to see the difference myself. I think everything else was the same.
I had all but whipped out my credit card to buy the EverFlex when I asked one last time "are you SURE you don't have this same suit in 3/2mm in my size?" The sales guy went in the warehouse to check one last time and lo and behold he turned up with one - another 2012 model. He said it had been hung up in the Ladies suit rack by mistake or they would have already sold it. After already trying on the 5/4, I went ahead and bought the 3/2 in XXL without even unbagging it. It was only $160. If, for some reason, it doesn't fit, I think I will return it and buy the EverFlex 5/4 - returning all 3 of the other suits I tried either way.
The Cressi and the 2 Akonas I tried are all nice and if I had just bought any one of them and gone with it, I'm sure I would be quite happy. But, the Scuba Pro EverFlex just seems like a higher quality suit. And with a Closeout price putting it right in the middle of the pack, the Scuba Pro EverFlex is Stuart's Best Buy. ;-)
Edit: I tried on the EverFlex 3/2 and realized that it does not have the zippers at the ankles like the 5/4. It's just smoothskin for 4 or 5 inches up the inside like the wrists. And, the smoothskin only goes about 3/4 of the way around the inside of the neck (which is probably true for the 5/4, too).
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I have never actually put on a Waterproof suit, myself. Maybe I shouldn't... I was considering grabbing one of these W7s, for future use, just because they are so good and so cheap right now. But, then I scored a nice, used Pyrostretch 7mm for $20 (SB Classifieds). I definitely can't justify the new W2 now.
