Pinnacle Black Ice Drysuit: Mini Review

[Paco II]

I recently purchased my first drysuit, a Pinnacle Black Ice. It is, to quote Pinnacle, "[c]onstructed completely of 7mm neoprene thermocompressed to 4.5mm." Surprisingly little seems to be written about this suit, in terms of reviews, so I figured I'd write my own. I am calling it a 'mini review' because I have only dived it twice, both as part of my drysuit certification course. So I don't have a lot of time with it yet, but figured I would start with this, and update this thread over time. First a short disclaimer: This is the only drysuit I've ever owned, so the only comparisons I can make are to other suits I tried on prior to purchasing this one.

The suit appears to be very well made. All the seams and such look solid. There is nothing about the suit that appears to be fragile or easily torn/damaged. The latex wrist seals appear to be of high quality, as does the neoprene neck seal. This suit comes with attached booties. (Afaik, there is no attached boot option)

Donning the suit is surprisingly easy, even alone. After just a few practice runs, I was able to completely zip the front diagonal dry zipper and cover zipper. I'm still mastering the neoprene neck seal rollover, but I imagine that will come over time. Regarding the neck seal, it is INCREDIBLY comfortable. And during my two dives, both to only about 25 feet, and with a lot of wiggling and having to do some drills, it did not leak at all.

Doffing the suit is also pretty easy. Since the neoprene has some 'give', I had no problems getting the upper portion up and over my head. I am able to get my arms out of both sleeves without any assistance.

Now, to talk about the warmth of the suit. Due to it's neoprene composition, and the merino wool lining, this suit does in fact have quite a bit of warmth to it. I was diving it with a lightweight jumper (125g/m2 technical fleece) in water temps of roughly 55F-59F. Keeping in mind that this was my first couple of dives, and that the weather in Monterey, CA was incredibly warm that day, I was actually too warm. I could have dived it with just shorts and a t-shirt. I imagine over time the jumper or some other lightweight undergarment will be needed, but my point is that I was warm and dry. What a delight!

Well, that's about all I got right now. I know this was not that useful, but wanted to share anyway. It's way too soon to know if I made the 'right' purchase, but all I know for sure right now, is that the suit is comfortable, kept me warm and dry, and I am looking forward to diving locally more than I had in quite a while.

 

[RoyN]

Thank you for the wonderful review. However, is the suit pretty stretchy like a wetsuit? Another thing if you could do but just an option is, maybe post some picture of the suit?

RoystonN

 

[helimvee]

I have the same suit. Previously, I had the Evo2 and like the BlackIce much better.

I find it more flexible than the Evo2 - especially for valve drills. It is not "stretchy like a wetsuit", but I guess if you pulled hard enough it would stretch.

I agree that the neoprene neck seal is very comfy and I would never go back to a latex neck seal. I find it much warmer and less likely to leak - just my personal opinion.

The only downside for me are the neoprene socks. I prefer the attached boots like the Evo2 and will be having these installed.

Enjoy your suit.

 

[Paco II]

RoyN - the suit is indeed stretchy. Not quite as stretchy as a wetsuit, but it definitely has some nice 'give'. Also, pics attached.

helimvee - I am still too new with the suit and drysuits in general to have an opinion about the socks. I do see that having an attached boot would be easier. You wouldn't have to put on an overboot, and it's one less thing to deal with. But so far, I do like the added warmth of it.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Great review on a great suit!

One small helpful hint with the Black Ice. You will probably be wearing a TON of weight in the beginning. Just make sure before each dive, after about 8, that you start doing a weight check before you dive. You will be able to drop weight every few dives, and settle in after about 40 dives when the suit is fully broken in One of my Instructors had a new one, had 42lbs to sink....after it broke in, 18lbs

 

[Paco II]

Thanks for the heads up on that! I typically carry about 24lbs diving wet (using about 14mils of layered neoprene), and went up to 31 for my drysuit cert dives. Tried to do first descent, nope, didn't go anywhere :shocked2: But instructor clipped on another 4lbs, and I was good to go. Between the suit breaking in, and me getting better at managing air in the suit, undergarments, etc, I am definitely hoping to get back to the 20's.

Great review on a great suit!

One small helpful hint with the Black Ice. You will probably be wearing a TON of weight in the beginning. Just make sure before each dive, after about 8, that you start doing a weight check before you dive. You will be able to drop weight every few dives, and settle in after about 40 dives when the suit is fully broken in One of my Instructors had a new one, had 42lbs to sink....after it broke in, 18lbs

 

[ScubaSteve]

Do you work for Walmart by chance?



And to keep it on topic, I dive with Helimvee and can vouch for how much he likes the Black Ice suit.

 

[RoyN]

Thank You Paco 2, I know you were wondering about the suit back then and glad somebody broke the ice. I just dropped a downpayment for the suit and will be hoping to get it soon.

 

[catone]

Great review on a great suit!

One small helpful hint with the Black Ice. You will probably be wearing a TON of weight in the beginning. Just make sure before each dive, after about 8, that you start doing a weight check before you dive. You will be able to drop weight every few dives, and settle in after about 40 dives when the suit is fully broken in One of my Instructors had a new one, had 42lbs to sink....after it broke in, 18lbs

I just took my brand new Black Ice for a salt water diving, my third dry dive ever. The first two dives were SM with LP95s so I didn't need any weight. For the ocean dive, I figured 10 lbs of lead with one AL80 in BM would suffice, since that's the same weight I need to dive wet with my 7mm wetsuit. Boy, was I wrong!! I got the guys on the boat to add 5lbs more in my upper cam band pockets and I was still severely underweighed, I had to pull myself down by the anchor line, used the same on my way up. The second dive I found 3lbs more for a total of 18lbs, still not enough. I guess I will need at least 25 for diving with one AL80 on my back. Either that or just do SM with my steel tanks off of chartered boats.

On the suit in itself, I had leaks around the neck seal but all got soaked in the merino lining, keeping me dry overall. I loved the dry feel, while everybody else on the boat was shivering during the surface interval, I was actually hot and sweating to the point where I had to get out of the upper half

 

[Paco II]

@catone congrats on your new BI as well! I'm curious what kind of undergarments you were using? Also, are you new to drysuits?