jridg
Contributor
I got to dive the vest this morning in La Jolla - here are my thoughts:
Delspring Pro 40W heated dive vest review:
Dive #1 - La Jolla Cove - 7/30/2020 - Dive duration - 63 minutes
Surface temp - 63F
Bottom Temp - 57F
Wetsuit - Elios zipperless two-piece with integrated hood - 3mm suit (6mm over core)
Gloves - 3mm Camaro
Boots - 5mm standard dive booties
This was my first dive in the new wetsuit and the Delspring pro
The suit was custom fit to me - and the bulk of the batteries with the vest on was a bit odd - the batteries are definitely not small - I don’t think there is a better way to place them or make them smaller - it just is what it is. They were not painful or terribly uncomfortable - however I knew they were there the whole time. I am fairly fit and they dug into my ribs a bit - This may cause some discomfort if you dive a jacket BCD - I dive a BP/Wing so it was not bad.
Entering the water at 63F - I turned on the vest with the remote - I immediately felt the heat come on (I wore the vest next to my skin for this first dive) - I left it on low for a couple of minutes - as we descended, I turned it up to high - the haptic feedback buzzer makes it VERY obvious when you change the settings. The wrist remote worked perfectly.
During the entire dive I was moving very slowly - no hard swimming or kicking - very low effort. The vest kept me pretty comfortable for the entire 63 minute dive. I could feel the warmth for the entire dive and it was very nice to have this extra heat generation. I did feel the chill a bit as we got to around 40 minutes - however the vest generating the heat made this very much a non-issue for me (Your mileage may vary). I think the fact that the vest was generating heat that my body did not have to was helping a great deal for my overall comfort.
Initial impression is that down to 57F - no issues - I would dive this setup again easy. Much less weight, easier don and doff of gear in a 3mil than my drysuit.
I will be attempting a dive in Monterey in a couple of days and we’ll see how that goes - I expect it will be 5 degrees or so cooler so it may make a difference....
Delspring Pro 40W heated dive vest review:
Dive #1 - La Jolla Cove - 7/30/2020 - Dive duration - 63 minutes
Surface temp - 63F
Bottom Temp - 57F
Wetsuit - Elios zipperless two-piece with integrated hood - 3mm suit (6mm over core)
Gloves - 3mm Camaro
Boots - 5mm standard dive booties
This was my first dive in the new wetsuit and the Delspring pro
The suit was custom fit to me - and the bulk of the batteries with the vest on was a bit odd - the batteries are definitely not small - I don’t think there is a better way to place them or make them smaller - it just is what it is. They were not painful or terribly uncomfortable - however I knew they were there the whole time. I am fairly fit and they dug into my ribs a bit - This may cause some discomfort if you dive a jacket BCD - I dive a BP/Wing so it was not bad.
Entering the water at 63F - I turned on the vest with the remote - I immediately felt the heat come on (I wore the vest next to my skin for this first dive) - I left it on low for a couple of minutes - as we descended, I turned it up to high - the haptic feedback buzzer makes it VERY obvious when you change the settings. The wrist remote worked perfectly.
During the entire dive I was moving very slowly - no hard swimming or kicking - very low effort. The vest kept me pretty comfortable for the entire 63 minute dive. I could feel the warmth for the entire dive and it was very nice to have this extra heat generation. I did feel the chill a bit as we got to around 40 minutes - however the vest generating the heat made this very much a non-issue for me (Your mileage may vary). I think the fact that the vest was generating heat that my body did not have to was helping a great deal for my overall comfort.
Initial impression is that down to 57F - no issues - I would dive this setup again easy. Much less weight, easier don and doff of gear in a 3mil than my drysuit.
I will be attempting a dive in Monterey in a couple of days and we’ll see how that goes - I expect it will be 5 degrees or so cooler so it may make a difference....
