Drysuit recommendations - Bare vs DUI vs Hollis

[flowerdiver]

I am about to buy my first drysuit. Hesitating between the Bare TRilam Tech Dry, DUI FLX Extreme and Hollis DX-300X. Any advice?
Or, other recommended suits...?
I do most of my diving in Canada, so far pretty much always in wetsuit; 50-75 dives/year recently. No tech diving; although I plan on taking overhead/wreck diving instruction at some point.
I am going to Iceland in September, hence the desire for a drysuit (faster to dry and carry around than a wetsuit).
I am looking for good flexibility, fairly light weight, and fast drying.

 

[spediver1]

Have you ever looked at the Whites/Aqualung Fusion it is very easy to fold for travel light weight and pretty much fits like a wetsuit with plenty of room for different undergarment thicknesses

 

[BoltSnap]

The DUI suit will be my first choice suit by a wide margin.

 

[rwkosh]

I dive in a DUI TLS 350 and love it. It has never leaked and dries very quickly. It's easy to get it on and easier still to get it off. I got it with zip seals, so when a seal breaks, I can fix it on the boat.

My previous suit was the Bare Tech Dry. It felt much more confining (really not a great fit), did not have zip seals, and was much more difficult to don and doff. It also seemed to leak mildly almost all of the time, somewhere in the neoprene socks. I could never find a leak, so I'm guessing it was the seems. It its favor, it was half the price of the DUI. It short, while it's not a bad suit, especially if you are not going to dive dry all of the time, I'd go DUI over Bare.

 

[tbone1004]

rofos is another good travel suit that will work well for you

 

[KevinNM]

I bought a bare Trilam. It's less than perfect. (But unlike the other 3 guys who bought a custom Bare trilam at th same time I did, my standard size did not leak). I had it modified for $300 and it's better, but I bought a Santi as my main suit. I was looking for the FLX extreme too, but couldn't find a dealer convenient to me.

 

[bamafan]

I would consider a Santi also. In my opinion a Hollis isn't even in the same league as a Hollis.

 

[bamafan]

I would consider a Santi also. In my opinion a Hollis isn't even in the same league as a Hollis.

I meant a Hollis isn't even in the same league as a Santi or DUI.

 

[poohbear1]

How about otter? They seems like the shearwater of drysuits...customers service

 

[Chris H]

I have had great luck with Bare suits. In 2005 I bought at Trilam HD, and just this year I bought an X-Mission. The Tech HD is my backup suit now. The X-Mission is considerably lighter than the trip-lam HD, and was made to measure for me. The tech boots are nice and the pockets are huge. I ordered mine with Si-Tec rings so the wrist seals are easily replaceable with any off-the-shelf seal, not a proprietary (expensive) zip seal. I also prefer a neoprene neck seal. Bare also has a lifetime warranty on the seams, no matter who owns the suit. Depending on your body size, Bare offers stock tall sizes that aren't custom. There are always fans, but don't see the draw to the DUI stuff. One of my regular buddies has an FLX and it seems like a nice suit. He hasn't had any of the issues that my other buddies with the TLS350 suits have had.