3mm Wetsuit Review

[tbone1004]

I was on my way to cave country to dive with @The Chairman and with the plan of relatively short dives on a CCR, I brought my 3mm and hooded vest.
I randomly decided that I was going to harass @cerich and say hi since I haven't seen him for a while, and it ended up with me buying a new wetsuit. It was long overdue anyway since my current 3mm is probably 1.5mm by now, and I figured I'd give it a shot.
By the end of tomorrow, I'll have put close to 20 hours on the suit since I picked it up on Thursday and all I can say is WOW. It dives like a 5mm from a thermal perspective, the springs are a degree or two cold right now due to the river intrusion, and I haven't been cold at all just diving with my beat up 5mm hood and this suit.
Fit is fantastic, neoprene is super soft and stretchy, zipper cord is long enough!, the interior felted lining is fantastic for preventing the suit from sticking to you and just feels good.
Pockets are not something I normally dive with having been doing most of my technical diving in sidemount. My drysuits and wetsuits are pocketless, and I normally slide on a single pocket to my harness when diving backmount. These pockets are really well thought out with a zipper up top, and velcro large closures. Dual short bungees allow some semblance of organization in the pockets. Only slight issue is because the neoprene is so soft and stretchy, it feels weird when donning the suit with full pockets as they sag from the weight. I did have backup lights in there as well as the normal stuff, so that added some weight, and I'm sure the 7mm does better, but it's definitely something that if you are diving this day after day with it hung up at night, I'd recommend emptying the pockets for longevity of the neoprene. Probably a nonissue, but better safe than sorry with an expensive wetsuit.

Suffice to say, I'll be swinging back to grab the 7mm either on my way home, or on the next trip. For anyone looking for a high quality wetsuit, it's a phenomenal product. I'll be traversing grandly on OC sidemount tomorrow, so will see how the pocket placement works for me. If it's ok, then my O'Three may well get relegated to squeezy sidemount stuff since and I'll use the Deep6 7mm for teaching and some longer dives since it is much easier to don/doff

 

[Malarky]

I recall you are tall? What is the fit like?

 

[tbone1004]

I'm 6'4" and bought the XXL. Fit is near perfect. I know @LandonL has a different body shape than I do, but the suit is stretchy enough that it fits both of us well. I'll try to remember to get a picture today.

 

[Kensei]

What brand of neoprene does Deep 6 use? Yamamoto 40?

 

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

I'm 6'4" and bought the XXL. Fit is near perfect. I know @LandonL has a different body shape than I do, but the suit is stretchy enough that it fits both of us well. I'll try to remember to get a picture today.

May I be so bold as to ask for your weight and waist/chest/inseam measurements?

 

[tbone1004]

May I be so bold as to ask for your weight and waist/chest/inseam measurements?

6'4"
280lbs
50" chest
36" waist
32" inseam

 

[Mr. Manfrenjensenden]

6'4"
280lbs
50" chest
36" waist
32" inseam

Ah, another tall guy with a long torso and short legs.

Thanks.

 

[jgttrey]

If the suit fits you perfectly, I'd probably have to wear it upside down.

 

[Pyro_]

Any thoughts on these vs the new Henderson aqualock suits? Need to pick up a 7mm in the next couple of months and this looks interesting

 

[tbone1004]

@jgttrey there is a lot of stretch with this suit, so I imagine it would fit quite a few body shapes with little issue.

@Pyro_ I've seen the Aqualock but haven't dove one. I also haven't dove the 7mm yet, and it will be the end of April before mine comes out of the bag. That said, I think the inclusion of pockets is really great for most divers and there are a quite a few other subtle features that lead me to believe that this suit will last a big longer and take more abuse than the Henderson will. You can tell that @cerich and @LandonL really are active divers who know what they're doing when it comes to designing a suit.
They know all of the typical wear points on a wetsuit and have put pads on there to account for it. You'll notice them right in the crotch which is a bit annoying while walking because it makes a scratching noise, but it means the suit won't wear through if you do a lot of shore diving. There are shoulder pads to take care of the wear that occurs from the selvedge on harness straps, and knee pads to deal with any kneeling or scraping while digging thru a wreck or cave. Some anti-split pads on the forearms to help keep computers, compasses, and slates from sliding down, etc. All of those little things come together to make a suit that gives me warm-fuzzies to last through a lot of abuse. You can't go wrong with Henderson, but I spent money on these suits for a reason.