Review Seaskin Nova drysuit

[marcin.a]

This post was actually meant to go to thread Drysuit Alterations

Sorry for a bit off topic question:
Seaskin has very mediocre opinions on UK diving forums. Poms are... Poms. Stuart, Others: What's your experience? Years ago two friends of mine had Novas and were happy. Plus the suits looked good. Now, I need a new suit and am not sure if Seaskin is the way to go. I live in AU now. Have only one shot on it.

To stay honest on topic: I got my Waterproof Draco (now they call it D10) altered - legs shortened, booties replaced with the right size. Done by Waterproof itself. Nobody could even guess that it was altered. And I never had any problems from those alterations (300+ dives). But had problems from repairs done by other, often very well esteemed shops. My suggestion: If altering go with manufacturer or their authorized agent.

 

[JohnnyC]

My suit is fantastic and has been from day 1. It continues to keep me dry, continues to keep me warm. Whether or not their quality has changed in the years since I purchased, I can’t say. All I can attest to is that the drysuit I had made 3 years ago is still holding up incredibly well, and doing its job admirably.

That being said, if my primary diving were lots of really pokey, stabby, rippy, and potentially dangerous wrecks, I would choose a suit better suited like an SFTech or similar.

 

[marcin.a]

Thanks Johnny,
Yeah, I know. Norwegians rocky shores ate my Draco. It's actually unbelievable how much it withstood. Now I need something lighter but sound and honest. Do you have the kevlar knee pads? Are they very stiff?

 

[stuartv]

@marcin.a i have the Kevlar knee pads. I don’t notice them at all, so I don’t think they are stiff.

I have had my suit about 9 months now. It is still great!

 

[marcin.a]

Super, thanks. If I may: Do you have the warm neck collar? I'm thinking to get the Warm Neck Simple option, but not sure if it really holds the hoods rim. My previous suit had a tall collar with velcro hooks - like the Standar option. Kept the hood all right, but was limiting head movements. My wife suit's collar is nice and flat, but doesn't keep the hood at all... Choices...

 

[vioch]

Seaskin has very mediocre opinions on UK diving forums.

Could you provide with links to threads with mediocre opinions ? Thank you

 

[marcin.a]

Could you provide with links to threads with mediocre opinions ? Thank you

Sure, links from thediveforum.com and ukdivers.com:

Which drysuit?
Opinions on Seaskin MTM Neoprene suits
Top quality drysuit recommendations
Need a new suit​

I think it was more, that's what I recovered from my morning searches. But honestly, most of those people opinions are... rather opinionated.

 

[lexvil]

I have two Seaskin suits, I’ve replaced the zipper in the shell suit with a TiZip nothing else to report, it’s dry and dives as well as any other shell suit that would cost three or for times more, I have had it about 5 years now. They don’t make the zipper so nothing to say a more expensive suit zip wouldn’t fail at the same time, plastic zip is great. My other suit is neoprene, I like diving it more than the Nova but don’t care for the rear zip, once they decide they can make a front zip neoprene I’ll buy one.

 

[vioch]

Almost odered Nova, but tensed up after reading this post
Shipping suit forth and back overseas for chopping the suit in half (taking into account I wear Exreme+ and SeeSkin performs adjustments for this type of undersuit ) and adding length of the body to reach valves is not an option.
Any thoughts?

 

[stuartv]

Super, thanks. If I may: Do you have the warm neck collar? I'm thinking to get the Warm Neck Simple option, but not sure if it really holds the hoods rim. My previous suit had a tall collar with velcro hooks - like the Standar option. Kept the hood all right, but was limiting head movements. My wife suit's collar is nice and flat, but doesn't keep the hood at all... Choices...

I have the Simple warm neck option. But, I can't really say if it holds the hood's rim as I don't think I have ever tried to tuck the hood in under that collar. I just pull my hood on and let the neck of the hood lay down wherever it wants to.

Almost odered Nova, but tensed up after reading this post
Shipping suit forth and back overseas is not an option
Chopping the suit in half (taking into account I wear Exreme+ and SeeSkin performs adjustments for this type of undersuit ) and adding length of the body to reach valves is not an option either...
Any thoughts?

That just sounds odd. Add 6" in the middle? Maybe they didn't get the telescoping torso option. I did get the telescoping option and the suit definitely has 6" of extra length I could use, if I needed it.

One thing I will add is that I can reach my valves okay with thin undies on, but when I put my thicker undies on, it is pretty difficult. But, I was looking at the Seaskin site the other day and watched this video.


In short, it says to talc the entire inside of your suit to make it "slippy". I have never done that. I have only put talc on my neck and wrist seals. In this video, the guy says that after talcing the inside well, it can make the suit feel or wear like it's 1/2 size bigger. I have noticed in mine that when I put on my thicker undies, it does feel like it restricts my reach to my valves because the suit grabs onto my undergarments and won't slide. So, I am really looking forward to following these instructions and seeing how my suit does afterwards. But, it will probably be a month or so before my next chance (need?) to dive dry, so I won't be reporting back on results very soon.