Saying hello again!

[TheKooze]

Wow! So much variety! I have more research to do I see! Thanks for all who has contributed their 2 shells! I appreciate it

 

[oggy666]

PLS 1 for whites fusion, weird getting it on the first time but i love it.

 

[Hyper-limits]

My suit has the permanent dry-glove ring, which make the wrist seals user replaceable. Take about 5 minutes to replace both seals and save a good $70 to $100.

 

[TheKooze]

Upon reading up on a few drysuits, I think I am going to go with DUI or SeaTux. I would be in the XL/XLT region because I am a tall chick with size 10 feet!! lol Anyone selling either of these for a good price? New or Used?

Steph

 

[seahorsey]

Tried thick wetsuits, didn't like them. a) I like to breathe now and then and 7mm made that REALLY hard, b) even with layered options, you're still wet and get cold as soon as you get out. One cheapo option to get dry and warm and comfortable: Mares Icefit 4mm HD-neoprene drysuit, $ 399 brandnew at scuba toys. Fits fairly small but love it otherwise. Just 7 dives on it so don't know how it'll hold up over the years yet, but everyone so far said it looked real good, haven't found anything shoddy about it.

 

[tregrrr]

Upon reading up on a few drysuits, I think I am going to go with DUI or SeaTux. I would be in the XL/XLT region because I am a tall chick with size 10 feet!! lol Anyone selling either of these for a good price? New or Used?

Steph

I am a seatux diver and am 100% convinced that the fit and finish Paul (the man who makes every 'tux by hand in Lantzville) imparts to his suits is superb. I have a zipper wearing out and begging for replacement after only 250-300 dives, but I did spend many surface intervals walking around with the suit half on half off... about the worst possible thing you can do for a suit zipper . Other than that, the ONLY sign of any wear on the suit is all the embroidery stitching on the little SeaTux iron on patch has gone away. I keep harassing my shop guy and hopefully he will bring me a patch back next time he goes diving with Mr SeaTux.

If Neoprene is the way you want to go, you have a winner with the 'tux.

As for the DUI suit, keep in mind that the offerings from either Whites or Bare will be FAR faster to send in for service considering the former is made on the island and the latter is made this side of the strait... in Langley. Either of those suits will cost significantly less than the DUI and provide comparable quality. Bare even warrants the seams on their suits for life....

 

[cjfox]

I've had shell, neoprene, and crushed neoprene over the years, so I may as well chip in my 2 cents.
-Neoprene is warmer, especially if you get a leak.
-Shell suits are lighter and pack up smaller
-Neoprene suits take longer to dry than shell suits (they all will get wet from persperation)
- Although drysuit fit is less critical than a wet suit, a tight shellsuit will be less flexible than a neoprene.
-Places where fit is critical are foot size, wrist and neck seals.
-Sock type feet are colder, but less bouyant, but you can dry them out almost instantly, hard boots take forever to dry, but are warmer.
-Latex wrist seals leak less, but are more fragile and need replacing more frequently
-Neoprene seals are warmer and easily fixed in the field
-Crushed neoprene is tougher and lasts longer than regular neoprene

I also shop where Swankenstien shops, but please don't make fun of my old gear!

 

[cfenton]

With a regular (not crushed) neoprene suite, both your insulation and buoyancy characteristics will vary significantly with changes in depth. At 100' you will have far less insulation then at 20', and you will need much more gas in your bc. The upside is that they are tough and they are cheap.

With a shell suite, the suite basically has no/little insulation value, and does not compress at depth. You use your underwear as the sole source of insulation. Therefore, irregardless of depth you will have the same insulation value, and buoyancy characteristics. For me this makes the choice a no-brainer. The downside is that they are generally more expensive and less resistant to wear. Having said that a 2mm crushed suit may give you the best of both worlds, if you are rough on your suits.

We have owned/dove BARE, Whites, and DUI suits. Sorry...DUI is in a league of its own when it comes to quality (specifically the cut). Having said that BARE and Whites make good suits for the price point. Somebody above had said that a tight shell suit is less flexible than a tight neoprene suit. Again...cut...why would you be diving a tight suit???

It all comes down to your needs and budget. Take care in making your choice, or you might spend the next five years defending a suboptimal suit on SB...just saying...

 

[tregrrr]

DUI msrp snuggling up to the 4k mark....
Whites, Tux, bare's top end... msrp's all snuggling up around the 2k mark...
others I don't know much about

while I am sure that DUI's cut may be top tier, they only get away with charging the prices they do because of the same concept Mercedes Benz has subscribed to for years... keep the price high so people think it is worth that and WANT to pay the premium.

I am a firm believer that you get what you pay for:
DUI charges
for the suit $$$$
surcharge for the name $$$

others
for the suit $$$
surcharge for the name $

Yeah DUI may custom fit a suit, but there are others around who do that too and who charge significantly less for the service.


having a completely custom suit cut to my 50+ body measurements which results in a second skin with perfect room for thermals and NO creases or bunching... definitely worth the 200 upcharge in my books. my 5mm compressed neoprene's buoyancy swing is completely manageable (and at this point wholly ignored / forgotten) and I still don't need fussy 400$ thermals. Even at 160'... undergarments (30$) from MEC are still adequate. I will admit that since coming back from the tropics, I have retired the old skiing polypropylene 1-piece I USED WHEN SWEATING IN THE SUIT WAS AN ISSUE in favour of the 2mm fleece one given to me at Christmas. I am getting old and soft. (Vjanelle leave it alone... you aren't that much younger)

 

[cfenton]

while I am sure that DUI's cut may be top tier, they only get away with charging the prices they do because of the same concept Mercedes Benz has subscribed to for years... keep the price high so people think it is worth that and WANT to pay the premium.

I'll concede that there is definitely a surcharge for the brand name. But premium brand names (Mercedes included) receive their reputations for a number of reasons; marketing is one, and quality is another.

Yeah DUI may custom fit a suit, but there are others around who do that too and who charge significantly less for the service.

Absolutely, agreed. However, here is a direct question for you, have you ever dove a custom cut DUI? If not, with all due respect, you'll have to admit that your opinion on the matter is baseless???

There are many brand names that make good suits. I would absolutely recommend BARE suits, they are a good value. I'm simply making the argument that they are not of comparable quality to DUI. If you take the money out of the equation (I know...in a perfect world) there really would be nothing to debate.

my 5mm compressed neoprene's buoyancy swing is completely manageable (and at this point wholly ignored / forgotten) and I still don't need fussy 400$ thermals. Even at 160'... undergarments (30$) from MEC are still adequate. I will admit that since coming back from the tropics, I have retired the old skiing polypropylene 1-piece I USED WHEN SWEATING IN THE SUIT WAS AN ISSUE in favour of the 2mm fleece one given to me at Christmas.

It all comes down to your needs and budget. Take care in making your choice, or you might spend the next five years defending a suboptimal suit on SB...just saying...