My indepth review of the Hollis NeoTek Semi-Dry

[Birddog1911]

I think in any wetsuit, "a little loose" means more water flushing through. For a 3mm, that may not be a huge deal as you'd only use that in pretty warm water anyway. For a semi-dry, I think that would kind of defeat the purpose.

Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and made arrangements to exchange the suit for a Large.

 

[Squiddle]

I'm interested in this suit and found this thread after googling for reviews.
The integrated hood is putting me off, a shame they don't make it without the hood.
I currently have an O'Three 1-100 drysuit for UK diving and a 5mm wetsuit for warmer holiday diving.
I am looking for something for holiday diving where the water temperature isn't quite high enough for the wetsuit and I bought the drysuit so I can dive in the UK but don't want to be lugging it around the world because of its weight and bulk.
But the hood is an issue, even in the UK I don't wear a neoprene hood just find them to be uncomfortable and too restrictive.
Has anyone any experience of removing the hood, it looks pretty well attached and would the neck seal be good enough without the hood.

Thanks everyone, some great comments on here.

 

[sibermike7]

The integrated hood is putting me off, a shame they don't make it without the hood.

But the hood is an issue, even in the UK I don't wear a neoprene hood just find them to be uncomfortable and too restrictive.
Has anyone any experience of removing the hood, it looks pretty well attached and would the neck seal be good enough without the hood.

If you are going to dive without a hood, then you must be diving in warmer water. Surely you don't dive BELOW, oh say 14°C without a hood, do you? I would not recommend this semi-dry about 16-18° because it is just too warm unless you are taking photos and so are not moving much.

That said, if you are intent on taking off the hood, then my advice is to leave yourself a part of its neck portion, thus forming a collar.

 

[Squiddle]

If you are going to dive without a hood, then you must be diving in warmer water. Surely you don't dive BELOW, oh say 14°C without a hood, do you? I would not recommend this semi-dry about 16-18° because it is just too warm unless you are taking photos and so are not moving much.

That said, if you are intent on taking off the hood, then my advice is to leave yourself a part of its neck portion, thus forming a collar.

If you are going to dive without a hood, then you must be diving in warmer water. Surely you don't dive BELOW, oh say 14°C without a hood, do you? I would not recommend this semi-dry about 16-18° because it is just too warm unless you are taking photos and so are not moving much.

That said, if you are intent on taking off the hood, then my advice is to leave yourself a part of its neck portion, thus forming a collar.

Thanks Sibermike

It sounds like this is probably the wrong suit for my needs. I'm looking for something to use in 13 - 20 range which will provide a bit more warmth than my current Oceanic 5mm. Maybe I'll have a look at o'three one.

As for the hood, I just find them really uncomfortable so I use a thin lava core one which is just enough and a lot more comfortable. But I don't do much during the winter so the temp. is normally 13+ unless it's at one of the inland sites and those dives are usually shorter.

 

[sibermike7]

Thanks Sibermike

It sounds like this is probably the wrong suit for my needs. I'm looking for something to use in 13 - 20 range which will provide a bit more warmth than my current Oceanic 5mm.

You're welcome!

Oh good. My manliness is still intact! I was getting worried that I was a sissy and couldn't handle cold water - not a good thing for icedivers!

I would suggest using a 3mm shorty to boost the warmth of the 5mm. That would give you 8mm over the torso and no reduce the flexibility.. I love the neotek and dive it almost exclusively in cold water. I own a very nice BARE drysuit, but I like the Neotek more as it is a bit more flexible.

 

[swimlikethefish]

Just had to leave a comment about this suit....

Bought it 2 days ago and couldn't wait to dive with it, so I went out this morning. Took the trip to Jamestown, RI. Not the greatest idea with air temperature of 43 and a surface temp of 41. Dove to a max of 66 feet with a bottom temp of 39 degrees F. The suit kept me surprisingly warm, no other layers other than the suit. Hands and Feet were a different story. We spent 73 minutes in the water, diving doubles, just couldn't feel our feet anymore so we called it a day after one dive.

Pros:
Very warm
No Additional layers needed
Easy to put on
Hood is excellent, doesn't trap air, great seal
POCKETS
DD-RINGS

Cons:
Difficult to zip last 3 inches
Very snug in the shoulder pocket area
Velcro on pockets will tear up your gloves quickly
Difficult to put back on for a second dive

Other things to note:
This is not a dry suit. It works just the same as a regular wetsuit even though it is a semi-dry. It just let's the water in at a slower rate. This allows your body to heat the water at a more manageable pace. Use the bathroom before jumping in, as water doesn't flush the suit and turn over quick like a normal wet suit. Glad I made the purchase. Size runs true. I'm 5'7 155 and bought a medium. My brother has the same suit in a ML he is 5'8 165.

 

[Fdzzaigl]

After seeing all the rave reviews of this suit I decided to buy it last december. I normally dive a double 7mm spearfishing suit (yeah, crazy huh) in colder water, because of the combined warmth and flexibility the open cell material offers. But I wanted a regular semi-dry to compare and possibly to take with me to colder destinations (bothering with soapy water on vacations isn't really handy).

I did about 15 dives with the Neotek both in open water (temperatures between 6-10°C) and in an indoor test center where the temp was 17°C (not deep though).
Here are my impressions:

Pros:
*Seams are very well made
*Size table is handy to follow and the fit was pretty good when I received the suit
*The inner lining is quite different from what I've seen on other suits and does make you feel very warm
*Despite the thickness the suit still feels very flexible to me. it's noticeably thicker than my 5mm but I can't say it really restrained me underwater
*Compression resistance: in comparison to other suits I've had, the Neotek seems to lose less insulation at depth. Often I begin to feel the cold way more at 25-30 meters and beyond. The Neotek seemed more stable at those depths. That's potentially the biggest advantage for me.
*It looks cool: not a serious diving advantage, but the suit does combine the "tech" look of a drysuit with the sleek look of a wetsuit.

Cons:
*The water dam on your chest is a bit of a struggle to tuck in right and the trickle of cold water coming in is still very noticeable.
*Unlike many other semi-drysuits, the zipper is not a waterproof drysuit-style zipper. That is disappointing for me given that a number of the suits that do have such a feature are much cheaper than the Hollis.
*The previous con leads to this one: there is more water penetration than is warranted for the price imo. The stories of staying almost dry were not true for me. Whereas through my job I've tried cheaper suits that did keep me almost dry.
*The hood is just too damn small: the biggest disadvantage for me. No matter the amount of fiddling you do, there is always a noticeable piece of forehead skin showing. This is a serious problem in colder water as your sinuses remain partially exposed. Hollis should have put a lot more material on the hood, then you could trim it yourself to the desired length.

Mixed bag:
*The pockets: I find them handy to use and didn't have trouble with the velcro. However, they also make it more difficult to do additional layering if you're going out in more extreme circumstances.

So overall, the Hollis is a nice and warm suit. During my dives in cold 6-7° water I was OK for the most part (except hands / feet), then again I was shivering extremely hard after the dive.

I might be taking the suit with me on a vacation in 2 weeks to the Canaries where the water is currently like 19°C, which might be just a tad too cold for me in a 5mm at depths beyond 30m. The Neotek will likely keep me quite snazzy there.

I'm not very disappointed with the suit, but I probably wouldn't buy it again for the price. There's likely better deals to be made.

 

[spencerthePA]

How true to size does the Neotek seem to fit?
I currently dive a Xcel hooded 8mm in Medium but according to the Hollis sizing guide I am between a L/SH or XL/SH.

 

[tdmp]

I decided to pick one up as well and did my first dive in it this past weekend. Water temperature was 62f / 16c, the dive was relatively shallow and I was only in the water 40 minutes. I can say I was VERY WARM during the dive. I worked up a bit of a sweat getting down to the water (beach dive, walking down a steep trail) and my chest / torso NEVER COOLED OFF THE ENTIRE DIVE. This suit tops my previous favorite, an Xcel 8mm, easily. The suit is very flexible as well. My only cons would be the velcro on the pockets require a lot of force to open and I have a little trouble getting the first shoulder out of the suit. Other than that it is great.

I wear a size large, am 6'1", 180 lbs and the Large fits me well. My hat size is 7.5 and no issues with the hood.

 

[Wbflyer]

I know this is old but any more reviews after many dives in this suit? Thinking about buying