Review Seaskin Nova drysuit

[evandroairton]

There is Black Friday in Brazil
We used to joke that the discount is selling for half of the double
It's nice but not like in the US

 

[eweingarden]

Wow, this is important info!

This would mean that if one plans to buy a drysuit and an undergarment, it would behoove them to make it 2 separate orders (would a week apart be sufficient?). The drysuit is assessed at a much lower percentage duty rate than the undergarment. When buying together, you'll have to pay duty on the undergarment, too. But if you buy separately, the undergarment will fly under that $800 limit and have no duty.

What a pain in the ass.

I paid £112 for the undergarment and £749 for the drysuit), shipping £103 (at today's exchange rate that's $146 and $975, but I forget what it was back then).
FedEx charged me $85: $40 for the undergarment and $37 for the drysuit itself, and $7 for some Fedex fee.

Splitting that into 2 orders would have saved me $40. Definitely would be worth it.

After I bought that larger order, later I decided I had to have the 150g undersuit too, and when I ordered that separately, I didn't have to pay duty on it at all. Sometimes the FedEx bill comes a few weeks later so I kept looking for it for awhile.

What you save in import tax, you'll pay at least some of that with a second shipping charge. Not sure it's worth it.

 

[ross9]

I'm thinking about joining the Seaskin club. I completed my drysuit course recently and while I enjoyed it, both arms were drenched after the three dives thanks to my very baggy, ill-fitting rental suit. Given travelling to dive looks like it'll continue to be tough next year, now seems like a good time to invest in the kit to properly explore UK diving.

This thread has a lot of great info so thanks to everyone for sharing.

My main outstanding question is on wrist seals. I plan to start with silicon wrist seals but would like the option to be able to upgrade to dry gloves (still with silicon seals as backup) in future with the least amount of effort. From what I've read, the Si-Tech oval QCS rings are the best bet for this based on what Seaskin offer, though I would prefer a softer cuff material such as the Slaggo (but I understand this isn't compatible with as many dry glove systems). I also see a lot of positive reviews for Kubi but they're expensive and only gives me one option, whereas with the QCS I understand I'd be able to choose from a few different options when the time comes to go dry.

Questions:
Do you agree QCS is the way to go?
Are there good dry glove options available for the Slaggo system?
What is the process for adding a dry glove system to compatible cuffs later? 'Plug and play' or is some glueing/technical work required?

 

[stuartv]

I could have bought Si Tech QCS when I had rings installed on my old Waterproof suit. I thought the Kubi were worth the extra money, so I got them.

I liked them so much that when I ordered my first Seaskin, I got the Kubi again. I still think they are worth the money.

They have different size rings, so you can get ones that are pretty much exactly big enough, without being any bigger than necessary.

You can use them with dry gloves and have wrist seals also, or not. Your choice.

They are machined aluminum, so they are very durable.

When not wearing the dry gloves, the wrist ring on the suit does not have any exposed O-rings.

The fully assembled Kubi rings, with gloves on, are less bulky than any other option I've seen. I.e. the length of your forearm that is taken up with the ring assembly is relatively short.

If I didn't get Kubi, I would get a setup that allowed me to use the Waterproof Ultima rings. They are also good. But, they sacrifice most of the details I just listed, in order to save some money. Plastic. One size fits all. Exposed O-ring on suit sleeve when gloves are not attached.

 

[lexvil]

I'm thinking about joining the Seaskin club. I completed my drysuit course recently and while I enjoyed it, both arms were drenched after the three dives thanks to my very baggy, ill-fitting rental suit. Given travelling to dive looks like it'll continue to be tough next year, now seems like a good time to invest in the kit to properly explore UK diving.

This thread has a lot of great info so thanks to everyone for sharing.

My main outstanding question is on wrist seals. I plan to start with silicon wrist seals but would like the option to be able to upgrade to dry gloves (still with silicon seals as backup) in future with the least amount of effort. From what I've read, the Si-Tech oval QCS rings are the best bet for this based on what Seaskin offer, though I would prefer a softer cuff material such as the Slaggo (but I understand this isn't compatible with as many dry glove systems). I also see a lot of positive reviews for Kubi but they're expensive and only gives me one option, whereas with the QCS I understand I'd be able to choose from a few different options when the time comes to go dry.

Questions:
Do you agree QCS is the way to go?
Are there good dry glove options available for the Slaggo system?
What is the process for adding a dry glove system to compatible cuffs later? 'Plug and play' or is some glueing/technical work required?

QCS is the best way to go as there are many options for that base system, I successfully use Antares but it took some time to get them right, I did 3 hours in them last Saturday but I have the ultima on my other suit, it is a vastly superior system (once the gloves are on the rings) and I’ve ordered the Rolock 90 system from Seaskin to try and will offer my impressions once I have them in hand.

Right now waterproof ultima is the top of the heap for me and they pop right into the QCS PU rings.

 

[stuartv]

QCS is the best way to go as there are many options for that base system, I successfully use Antares but it took some time to get them right, I did 3 hours in them last Saturday but I have the ultima on my other suit, it is a vastly superior system (once the gloves are on the rings) and I’ve ordered the Rolock 90 system from Seaskin to try and will offer my impressions once I have them in hand.

Right now waterproof ultima is the top of the heap for me and they pop right into the QCS PU rings.

But, how many options do you need? I only need one, as long as it works well...



And yes, getting the gloves onto the Ultima rings can be challenging!! That is not a reason to shun them, though, since you only have to do it very occasionally. But, the Kubi rings are definitely a lot easier, in that regard.

 

[lexvil]

No exposed o ring on ultima, plastic won’t get bent, you can use without wrist seals (you do need part of the seal but can just be the minimum) they are not cheap but still a lot cheaper than KUBI.

I could have bought Si Tech QCS when I had rings installed on my old Waterproof suit. I thought the Kubi were worth the extra money, so I got them.

I liked them so much that when I ordered my first Seaskin, I got the Kubi again. I still think they are worth the money.

They have different size rings, so you can get ones that are pretty much exactly big enough, without being any bigger than necessary.

You can use them with dry gloves and have wrist seals also, or not. Your choice.

They are machined aluminum, so they are very durable.

When not wearing the dry gloves, the wrist ring on the suit does not have any exposed O-rings.

The fully assembled Kubi rings, with gloves on, are less bulky than any other option I've seen. I.e. the length of your forearm that is taken up with the ring assembly is relatively short.

If I didn't get Kubi, I would get a setup that allowed me to use the Waterproof Ultima rings. They are also good. But, they sacrifice most of the details I just listed, in order to save some money. Plastic. One size fits all. Exposed O-ring on suit sleeve when gloves are not attached.

 

[lexvil]

But, how many options do you need? I only need one, as long as it works well...



And yes, getting the gloves onto the Ultima rings can be challenging!! That is not a reason to shun them, though, since you only have to do it very occasionally. But, the Kubi rings are definitely a lot easier, in that regard.

I like having all of the options.

 

[azstinger11]

I've dove with Kubi, Rolock, and DUI dryglove systems. The DUI dryglove system is stupid simple and easy, but it's my least favorite. I hate having my hands trapped in the blue (or slighly better orange) smurf gloves on the surface. My favorite is the Kubi system. Just feels like quality and I like their gloves the best in terms of dexterity. The only real con I see is that if the O-ring isn't lubed they can be a royal PITA to get off. Rolock is the middle ground, they feel okay quality wise better than most but not as nice as Kubi (I think just due to the fact its plastic vs machined metal). Didn't dive them too much before I took them off, wasn't thrilled by them wasn't really disappointed by them either. They did bind a few times and were hard to take off.

 

[Bierstadt]

QCS will get you dry gloves for a lot less money than Kubi, at the cost of a bit more fuss and more bulk, and let's you upgrade to the Ultimas in the future if you want to. Is that a good trade-off? Entirely up to you. I ended up picking the Kubis for my order because I decided to buy once, cry once, and going Seaskin saved me so much money I could fit it into my budget. But thousands of divers are pleased as punch to dive QCS and have no interest in switching.

For my two cents, If you want the best system, go Kubi. If you want a good system for a very good price that can easily be upgraded, go QCS. Nothing too complicated, just a personal value judgement. Good luck.