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I am about to buy a drysuit and am trying to decide which one to buy. Just got back from the Expo in NJ and looked at a lot of them. Was pretty impressed with the Whites Catalyst SE. However, I know some sales people are just bad and others are great and I do not want that to influence my decision. I just want the best one for me :10: I do recreational diving but I do a lot of it. Don't want a heavy Viking, want something lighter weight (actual physical weight of the suit) but want to stay dry, warm and comfortable and have something that lasts without seams and seals and zippers breaking down all the time. Need a custom womens suit. Any suggestions/experiences out there?
I tried a few rental suits at my LDS and found an OS that worked best for me. I ended up getting a deal from the LDS on buying the rental suit that was like new.
A dry suit is a big investment and if you have the opportunity to try a few, you may be happier in the end.
I just bought a Whites Catalyst, and have dove it 3 times so far. I have a couple of issues with not having built in boots. The main being, when you put the boots on, the material bunches if it doesn't fit like a sock. This causes some real pain under water. It's a good suit other than that.
My wife has a custom Oceanic that was right the first time and has held up well over the last 8 years.
another great suit that's reasonable is the bare nex-gen. Neoprene socks are warm, fit well, and you can wear the trek boots. I love these for the amount of shore diving I do.
White's warranty and customer service are suspect in my books. I would get a DUI.
Can you explain that further? I won't deny the service is not the fastest and I live about 2hrs from the factory, but my experience has been they have bent over backwards to help me with suit issues and I have owned a few Whites suits. My latest one a catalyst has been serving me well for 400+ dives and still on the OG zipper.
My next suit will probably be Whites as well.
White's warranty and customer service are suspect in my books. I would get a DUI.
I too would be interested in knowing why you say that? what problems are you aware of? As far as DUI goes, the few people I know with DUI's have all had problems with them in a rather short time period with wear and leaking and therefore I was pretty much dismissing them.
A friend of mine had his warranty revoked because he was a professional (dive instructor), White's charged him for a neck seal. They also took FOREVER to get the suit back to him and I recall him saying that there were other problems during the whole fiasco. Needless to say, service by DUI has always been good for my friends who dive with them. They always went the extra mile, especially for instructors.
It seems to me like you should take extra care with an instructors stuff as they are the ones who recommend a lot of gear to the students. I'm looking to buy a drysuit, after that story White's is no longer on my short list.
I've owned both White's and DUI. Both were very good suits and manufacturer service, when needed, was great--this may have more to do with the LDS I go through than the company. A lesser LDS will have poorer relations with the manufacturer and may also blame delays on the manufacturer when it was really their lack of follow-through to ship promptly with complete instructions.
For the money, the White's Catalyst is one of the best buys in the drysuit market! I truly use and abuse my suit, so I can justify the extra expense of the DUI at this time.
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Originally Posted by kazinvan
