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And walks out with a 2000€ obligation for yet another drysuit and a new undersuit, and an idea about a clickbait headline on SB 
*Sigh* It'll be my third suit, and I still haven't reached 200 dives. Oh well. OTOH, I don't quite see how it could have been done differently.
My first drysuit was a Scubapro Everdry. 4mm compressed neoprene. I certified OW in a suit like that, and it was a breeze. Wonderful suit. Fits like a wetsuit, virtually no air migration and as easy to dive as a wetsuit is. One of my clubmates switched to one of these, just for that reason. Downside is, when it's as snug as that, there's not much room for undergarments. And the socks are on the small side, definitely not fitted for Scandinavian feet, so no thick socks. It was a challenge to find the right balance between rockboot laces tight enough to keep the boots from slipping off, while at the same time not restricting circulation which is a recipe for cold feet. So after some 40-ish dives in that and some experience with chilly water and sub-freezing topside temps, I decided I wanted a shell suit.
Enter the Waterproof D7. Plus a 200 - or is it 300? - gsm Thinsulate undersuit with thick fleece on the inside. Room in the boots for thick knitted wool socks, with room to wiggle my toes. No more cold feet, no more struggling to pull a snug neoprene suit over several layers of wool underwear. Bliss. And I loved the silicone seals. Extremely comfortable, much better - IMO - than either neoprene or latex seals. But the suit definitely hurt my ego for a few dives until I learned to manage the significantly larger suit bubble. I still use the old neoprene suit in balmy 13-15C water and nice warm (18-20C) topside temperatures, though. It's still the closest I can come to diving a wetsuit while staying dry.
Problem was, the D7 really was a bit on the large side for me. When I bought it I didn't have one dive in a shell suit and had no idea about what a proper fit is. And it didn't help that I have fairly short legs and arms compared to my torso length besides having a BMI somewhat above 25. After close to about 100 dives in that, and becoming more aware of the lack of fit during my recent 3* class, I decided I wanted something that fit me better. Third time's a charm, right? And now I had a pretty decent idea about what a good fit would be for me. I considered ordering MTM, but was a little reluctant since I've been told that different manufacturers have slightly different ideas about what is a good fit and how thick the undergarments should be. I wanted to be able to try the suit, with the undergarments I was going to use. And speaking of undergarments, since my torso is on the long side for a person my height, my undersuit kept tearing in the crotch seam. So I wanted a new undersuit, too.
Enter the customized Ursuit. There's this store where they offer a somewhat customized version of the Ursuit One Endurance. Their version has some minor modifications to Ursuit's own version, like the location of the shoulder dump valve and the width around the calves. They sell it without the Ursuit brand label, but under the same model name. The customer can get individual adjustments of leg length, arm length, torso length and boot size for no extra cost. And unlike the Santi suits they also sell, it didn't crash my budget completely. It only stretched the budget pretty severely.
So, yesterday this man walked into a dive store. And ended up signing up for one of those suits, with custom arm and leg length, arm rings for the Ultima rings I have on my current suit, a SiTech Orust neck seal ring and a red overlay. Oh yes, and a No Gravity Sea Lion undersuit. Unlike the Thinsulate undersuits, it's rather stretchy in every direction, so I'm expecting some increased mobility when I'm slightly squeezed.
They say it's some six weeks delivery time. I'm fretting already.
*Sigh* It'll be my third suit, and I still haven't reached 200 dives. Oh well. OTOH, I don't quite see how it could have been done differently.
My first drysuit was a Scubapro Everdry. 4mm compressed neoprene. I certified OW in a suit like that, and it was a breeze. Wonderful suit. Fits like a wetsuit, virtually no air migration and as easy to dive as a wetsuit is. One of my clubmates switched to one of these, just for that reason. Downside is, when it's as snug as that, there's not much room for undergarments. And the socks are on the small side, definitely not fitted for Scandinavian feet, so no thick socks. It was a challenge to find the right balance between rockboot laces tight enough to keep the boots from slipping off, while at the same time not restricting circulation which is a recipe for cold feet. So after some 40-ish dives in that and some experience with chilly water and sub-freezing topside temps, I decided I wanted a shell suit.
Enter the Waterproof D7. Plus a 200 - or is it 300? - gsm Thinsulate undersuit with thick fleece on the inside. Room in the boots for thick knitted wool socks, with room to wiggle my toes. No more cold feet, no more struggling to pull a snug neoprene suit over several layers of wool underwear. Bliss. And I loved the silicone seals. Extremely comfortable, much better - IMO - than either neoprene or latex seals. But the suit definitely hurt my ego for a few dives until I learned to manage the significantly larger suit bubble. I still use the old neoprene suit in balmy 13-15C water and nice warm (18-20C) topside temperatures, though. It's still the closest I can come to diving a wetsuit while staying dry.
Problem was, the D7 really was a bit on the large side for me. When I bought it I didn't have one dive in a shell suit and had no idea about what a proper fit is. And it didn't help that I have fairly short legs and arms compared to my torso length besides having a BMI somewhat above 25. After close to about 100 dives in that, and becoming more aware of the lack of fit during my recent 3* class, I decided I wanted something that fit me better. Third time's a charm, right? And now I had a pretty decent idea about what a good fit would be for me. I considered ordering MTM, but was a little reluctant since I've been told that different manufacturers have slightly different ideas about what is a good fit and how thick the undergarments should be. I wanted to be able to try the suit, with the undergarments I was going to use. And speaking of undergarments, since my torso is on the long side for a person my height, my undersuit kept tearing in the crotch seam. So I wanted a new undersuit, too.
Enter the customized Ursuit. There's this store where they offer a somewhat customized version of the Ursuit One Endurance. Their version has some minor modifications to Ursuit's own version, like the location of the shoulder dump valve and the width around the calves. They sell it without the Ursuit brand label, but under the same model name. The customer can get individual adjustments of leg length, arm length, torso length and boot size for no extra cost. And unlike the Santi suits they also sell, it didn't crash my budget completely. It only stretched the budget pretty severely.
So, yesterday this man walked into a dive store. And ended up signing up for one of those suits, with custom arm and leg length, arm rings for the Ultima rings I have on my current suit, a SiTech Orust neck seal ring and a red overlay. Oh yes, and a No Gravity Sea Lion undersuit. Unlike the Thinsulate undersuits, it's rather stretchy in every direction, so I'm expecting some increased mobility when I'm slightly squeezed.
They say it's some six weeks delivery time. I'm fretting already.
