CAPTAIN SINBAD
Contributor
I have been meaning to write a review of my recent gear purchase, a custom made Deep6 Makara drysuit. Prior to getting this suit, I was looking to buy, not just a drysuit but the “ultimate” drysuit. I had used lower end suits and this time I wanted to go all out and get the BEAST!
A few suit options were considered such as Santi, Flex Extreme, Bare X-mission and 0tter Britannic. There was another suit that I was curious about and that was the Fourth Element Argonaut. It turns out that this suit was manufactured by Ursuit in Europe and that is why when you look at the two they seem quite similar. Ursuit has a very large following in Europe and it turns out that it is also becoming more and more common in USA.
Then a friend of mine who happens to be a dealer for Deep 6 informed me that Chris from Deep 6 has his own version of Ursuit which he specially ordered with his own Deep 6 customizations. I decided to go with Deep 6 because whoever buys their gear is always delighted. My measurements were taken by my friend and he sent those to Deep6 team for a custom made Makara in olive green.
Ursuit is making a lot of suits for a lot of brands and they confused the order. A few days later I received a suit which was the single best suit I had seen or tried but it was the original Ursuit and not the Deep6 version. Chris was very upset with them and called me to tell me that he will get me the Deep6 version of that suit which comes with some upgraded options and meanwhile I could use the Ursuit if I wanted to. I never used the Ursuit because Deep 6 was quick to resolve the confusion and very soon I received the Deep6 version of the same suit. This did give me the opportunity to dry both suits and now I can confidently say that I am one of the very few people who has tried a custom stitched Ursuit VS a custom stitched Deep 6.
Material: Both Deep 6 and Ursuit were made of the same material. It is a canvas like outer shell that has a slight “flex” to it. It feels rugged and durable without being too hard or bulky. I prefer this material over the Santi and the Bare X mission even though those suits are a thousand USD more.
Workmanship: The Deep 6 version beats them all! I think Chris has taken a product which is already in the same line as some of the high end monsters out there and then added his own improvements. The boots that come with Deep 6 are far more flexible and are able to fit into my jet fins without the need of a dedicated drysuit fin. After purchasing my suit I sold my drysuit fins because they were no longer needed. The Deep 6 boot is a slimmer fitting boot that is enforced where it is meant to be enforced (bottom) but does not feel like a rock boot and that takes foot comfort to a new level.
Secondly the pockets have been upgraded as well. Ursuit has pockets on the side of the thigh while Deep 6 has moved them slightly towards the front. If you happen to be a side mount diver then this pocket placement would be a huge help.
There is also reflective Kevlar added to reinforce certain areas with more protection on wrist area and a computer pad.
Customer Support: With Deep6 it is great that you can talk directly to people who are making these products. They will know you by name, they will know what type of diving you are doing and what problems you have been having. In my case, Chris knew that I always have a hard time reaching valves in most drysuits so he told me that he will personally make sure that my movement is not restricted. With most companies it is hard to get that level of personalization in a product.
Conclusion:
This suit is not the most expensive one in the market. Santi’s and DUI high-end versions will cost more. After trying it out, I would rank it to be higher than anything else out there definitely above Santi because while Santi seems to have a plastic like feel to it, Deep6 is more stretchy, canvas-like durable. You can hold the fabric and tell that it will not be easy to puncture this while Santis seem to be more fragile. The material has enough flex to it that when it squeezes you it is a gentler compression than any other shell suit I have been in.
THE ORIGINAL URSUIT THAT WAS MISTAKENLY SENT TO ME
THE UPGRADED AND PIMPED-UP VERSION BEING SOLD BY DEEP-6
A few suit options were considered such as Santi, Flex Extreme, Bare X-mission and 0tter Britannic. There was another suit that I was curious about and that was the Fourth Element Argonaut. It turns out that this suit was manufactured by Ursuit in Europe and that is why when you look at the two they seem quite similar. Ursuit has a very large following in Europe and it turns out that it is also becoming more and more common in USA.
Then a friend of mine who happens to be a dealer for Deep 6 informed me that Chris from Deep 6 has his own version of Ursuit which he specially ordered with his own Deep 6 customizations. I decided to go with Deep 6 because whoever buys their gear is always delighted. My measurements were taken by my friend and he sent those to Deep6 team for a custom made Makara in olive green.
Ursuit is making a lot of suits for a lot of brands and they confused the order. A few days later I received a suit which was the single best suit I had seen or tried but it was the original Ursuit and not the Deep6 version. Chris was very upset with them and called me to tell me that he will get me the Deep6 version of that suit which comes with some upgraded options and meanwhile I could use the Ursuit if I wanted to. I never used the Ursuit because Deep 6 was quick to resolve the confusion and very soon I received the Deep6 version of the same suit. This did give me the opportunity to dry both suits and now I can confidently say that I am one of the very few people who has tried a custom stitched Ursuit VS a custom stitched Deep 6.
Material: Both Deep 6 and Ursuit were made of the same material. It is a canvas like outer shell that has a slight “flex” to it. It feels rugged and durable without being too hard or bulky. I prefer this material over the Santi and the Bare X mission even though those suits are a thousand USD more.
Workmanship: The Deep 6 version beats them all! I think Chris has taken a product which is already in the same line as some of the high end monsters out there and then added his own improvements. The boots that come with Deep 6 are far more flexible and are able to fit into my jet fins without the need of a dedicated drysuit fin. After purchasing my suit I sold my drysuit fins because they were no longer needed. The Deep 6 boot is a slimmer fitting boot that is enforced where it is meant to be enforced (bottom) but does not feel like a rock boot and that takes foot comfort to a new level.
Secondly the pockets have been upgraded as well. Ursuit has pockets on the side of the thigh while Deep 6 has moved them slightly towards the front. If you happen to be a side mount diver then this pocket placement would be a huge help.
There is also reflective Kevlar added to reinforce certain areas with more protection on wrist area and a computer pad.
Customer Support: With Deep6 it is great that you can talk directly to people who are making these products. They will know you by name, they will know what type of diving you are doing and what problems you have been having. In my case, Chris knew that I always have a hard time reaching valves in most drysuits so he told me that he will personally make sure that my movement is not restricted. With most companies it is hard to get that level of personalization in a product.
Conclusion:
This suit is not the most expensive one in the market. Santi’s and DUI high-end versions will cost more. After trying it out, I would rank it to be higher than anything else out there definitely above Santi because while Santi seems to have a plastic like feel to it, Deep6 is more stretchy, canvas-like durable. You can hold the fabric and tell that it will not be easy to puncture this while Santis seem to be more fragile. The material has enough flex to it that when it squeezes you it is a gentler compression than any other shell suit I have been in.
THE ORIGINAL URSUIT THAT WAS MISTAKENLY SENT TO ME
THE UPGRADED AND PIMPED-UP VERSION BEING SOLD BY DEEP-6
