Choosing between 2 wetsuits: Easier to deal with a loose collar or too-long arms/legs?

[drk5036]

If you’re located in Australia, how about one of the probe iDry wetsuits? They’ve gotten really good reviews on this forum:

Probe Wetsuits Australia : Surfing Wetsuits : Diving Wetsuits : Mens & Womens Wetsuits

 

[tursiops]

Being short, ALL my wetsuits (many brands and thicknesses) have arms and legs that are too long. Depending on wetusit construction, that can indded be cut off, but I normally just fold them up to the right length. Never a problem. Oh, and the wetsuit goes OVER the bootie, not inside it, to prevent water from going into the boot while swimming.

 

[Hatul]

Having arms and legs a little too long is not a big deal. If it bothers you there are wetsuit shops that can easily shorten it. It's important that water does not enter easily into the chest area.

 

[DBPacific]

With the Evoke, were you able to try on all of their sizses that you were close too? I went with Evoke because their plus range fit me just right by shortening the arms and legs of the non-plus size that was close. The online size guide is true to size, so if you haven't, you may want to look at that with your measurements written down to see if one of those fits you better. In general though, long arms/legs are much easier to deal with than a bad collar

 

[seeker242]

Legs/Arms too long is much better than an open collar. An open collar will let in cold water, too long legs won't.

 

[fluff_astrid]

Hey @drk5036, good shout! I'd sort of glossed over Probe because they aren't talked about much online in the recommended suits forums, and I always perceived them as being cheap. Ordered one from Melbourne where there's a great return policy & price, so I'll give that a try!

@DBPacific, I tried on a range of sizes and found one that fit everything else super perfectly, just the length was a bit much in the arms/legs. Agree, it sounds like I'd best just go with that if the above Probe suggestion doesn't work out.

 

[fluff_astrid]

Just to close this out, the Probe wetsuit fit the best, so I'll use that for R.A.! I'm a *tad* skeptical of the glue pads they're using at the end of each major stitch intersection, so we'll see how that holds up!

 

[Mike1967]

Probe

Did you get the iDry or iFlex? I have the iFlex(7mm), it's still like new after about 50 dives. It's comfy but I hate the zip sealing flap that has to be pulled up lol the Dry has it too.

Btw all the little pads are still there

 

[fluff_astrid]

Got the iFlex! Great to know about the little pads
Yeah I noticed the zipper issue when trying it on, but otherwise a great suit! And not has hard to zip up as the Everflex diagonal zip, so yay!

 

[Skulmoski]

I would bite the bullet and go custom if you can't find the perfect fit.

That is precisely what I did; I got a 5mm and a 3mm Carpace custom suits. It would have been a waste of money for me to buy an off-the-rack suit since they never fit. An ill-fitting suit for any price is not a good thing to dive in; I dived in lots of rental suits before I bought my first wetsuit - a custom fit wetsuit. I spent 25% more and got a 3mm wetsuit based on 10 measurements; perfect fit. One less thing to deal with underwater. I liked it so much, I ordered a 5mm custom wetsuit.