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  • MikeF
    Established TDF Member
    • Dec 2012
    • 4077

    Dry suits

    I’m in the market for a new suit. So what to get?

    Otter appear to have lost the plot. Shit neoprene seals that are perished in less than a year, shoddy work, socks that leak, inability to read an order form and make the suit as requested. I’ve completely lost faith in them which is a shame as they were the go to suit for many years and always provided a good service.

    Santi are on a forever waiting list and won’t fit Kubi rings to their suits and are exorbitantly priced.

    So who can I speak to that are still making good suits and providing a good service? O’three?
  • BcDiver
    TDF Member
    • Jan 2013
    • 227

    #2
    I've always had great service from o3 and have had a couple of suits from them. I do find them not very flexible suits but practically indestructible (2-100). Anyone that I know who dives them also have been very impressed.

    Comment

    • notdeadyet
      Nicotine, valium, vicodin...
      • Jan 2013
      • 8977

      #3
      Don't know what DUI are like now but mine has lasted 12 years and not showing signs of giving up.
      Caliph Hamish Aw-Michty Ay-Ya-Bastard, Spiritual leader of Scottish State in England

      Comment

      • jturner
        Established TDF Member
        • Jan 2013
        • 3627

        #4
        Originally posted by MikeF
        I’m in the market for a new suit. So what to get?

        Otter appear to have lost the plot. Shit neoprene seals that are perished in less than a year, shoddy work, socks that leak, inability to read an order form and make the suit as requested. I’ve completely lost faith in them which is a shame as they were the go to suit for many years and always provided a good service.

        Santi are on a forever waiting list and won’t fit Kubi rings to their suits and are exorbitantly priced.
        Re Santi, have you checked recently? I'd heard it was getting better. As for the price, if you buy a Rolls Royce, you don't expect it to be cheap. Santi market themselves as a premium brand, so... As for the Kubi rings, their own ring system is pretty damn good, so why would they sell someone else's? I think they can fit them locally if you ask (speak to Will at Divemaster Scuba Notts).

        Originally posted by MikeF
        So who can I speak to that are still making good suits and providing a good service? O’three?
        O'Three and Fourth Element I'd suggest are worth a look. That UK support is nice.
        The views expressed are my own, worth what you've paid for them, are not on behalf of anyone else and not those of any company I worked for etc.

        Comment

        • MikeF
          Established TDF Member
          • Dec 2012
          • 4077

          #5
          My DUI has started to leak and gone a bit tight. But otherwise a great suit but last I checked they make Santi look cheap. I specced up my cf200 and it’s now £3800 for a standard size large! They’re clearly on drugs

          I have a Santi as well but it’s coming to end of life as I’m at the chasing leaks stage. When I got it they were not much more than grand, now it’s well over 2. I could live with that but if I’m buying a RR and want it in pink I’m pretty sure RR would paint it pink. Lexus markets itself as a premium brand but it’s still a Toyota…I’ve done more repairs to my Santi suit than any other suit I’ve ever owned.

          The only suits I’ve had that never leaked were an old ND 5mm compressed and an othree Ri2-100. The last ri2-100 i had was a bit stiff compared to a cf200. And the ND had to be folded with a cricket bat.

          The othree 9090 suit is nice but fragile.

          I was going to just order an otter but I don’t know if they have been having temporary difficulties and are now sorted or just don’t care anymore. Last time I called in I’d driven from Aberdeen as I needed to get a suit fixed in a hurry, I was the only customer and left feeling like I was interrupting something.

          Comment

          • notdeadyet
            Nicotine, valium, vicodin...
            • Jan 2013
            • 8977

            #6
            Originally posted by MikeF
            My DUI has started to leak and gone a bit tight. But otherwise a great suit but last I checked they make Santi look cheap. I specced up my cf200 and it’s now £3800 for a standard size large! They’re clearly on drugs
            Jesus I think I'll be taking a bit more care of mine then.

            Otter wasn't great pre-covid, it's changed a lot since John Womack's days. I remember ordering my first Brittanic and walking out the shop with a box of stuff John gave me that he wouldn't take a "no" for and he still knocked about 25% off the RRP. It's a shame, like you say I would just have ordered a suit without even thinking about it but not now.
            Caliph Hamish Aw-Michty Ay-Ya-Bastard, Spiritual leader of Scottish State in England

            Comment

            • BcDiver
              TDF Member
              • Jan 2013
              • 227

              #7
              I had a cf200x a few years ago and it was a great suit, like wearing a tracksuit it was so comfortable and flexible but eventually the neoprene went porous and leaked like a sieve. Always preferred neoprene over membrane for the added heat. Price of all suits has gotten ridiculous when you count add ons.

              Comment

              • graham_hk
                Established TDF Member
                • Jan 2013
                • 2023

                #8
                Predator all the way. But to get the best out of a custom fit by Dennis probably worth a visit in person

                Comment

                • MinimalMayhem
                  TDF Member
                  • Aug 2015
                  • 429

                  #9
                  I love my predator suit and it has seen some rough use in five years and still okay. I changed to an O3 ri 2100 for warmth (and it is much warmer than the membrane predator) but I hate the floppy pockets and I'm not convinced about the neoprene seals they fit to kubi rings/sitech quick neck (have reverted to silicone for those and much happier and drier). O3 customer service etc. was good.

                  Comment

                  • MarkA
                    TDF Member
                    • Nov 2021
                    • 355

                    #10
                    Originally posted by MikeF
                    My DUI has started to leak and gone a bit tight. But otherwise a great suit but last I checked they make Santi look cheap. I specced up my cf200 and it’s now £3800 for a standard size large! They’re clearly on drugs.
                    Where do people get their cf200x repaired nowadays? Was looking at getting the knife pocket replaced with a bellows pocket.

                    Mine went a bit tight. Too many pies for me. Loosing 15kg helped.

                    At that price it has to last for the rest of my life.

                    Comment

                    • Tens
                      Established TDF Member
                      • Dec 2012
                      • 954

                      #11
                      When my old, loved Seaskin started to leak left, right and centre, I thought I would pay (quite) a bit more and get something that would last me. Went for an O3. The ordering service was brilliant. After filling in my measurements, they sent me 2 suits and got me to send them photos of me standing in different poses in each. Then from those they made me mine. Very professional service in every way. Emails from them to say when it was being made, and then posted etc etc.

                      And it's beautifully made, fits well and obviously hard wearing..... But....

                      As well as diving, I use the suit on my rib because it's on a mooring and I fin out to it. The suit is certainly heavyweight. I was finding that after a couple of hours on the boat, with the 200 metre walk there and back plus the fin out and back I was feeling knackered. Couldn't understand why. And a bit of an effort getting it on and off. And one day I put on my old Seaskin and went out on the boat. It was like wearing a onesie (no, I have never worn a onesie). Movement became so easy again. I didn't feel like Maggie Simpson dressed to go out in the snow.

                      I feel embarrassed to say, I straight away ordered a new Seaskin and I now use that most of the time. At a bit more than half the price (as it was then, don't know about now). The 03 comes out if I'm on a liveaboard for a week, because, well, it needs using; but if there's any walking about to be done, Seaskin every time. I know it will eventually deteriorate, but, to me, that's worth it for the comfort.

                      Comment

                      • Energy58
                        Established TDF Member
                        • Jun 2014
                        • 2287

                        #12
                        Originally posted by BcDiver
                        I've always had great service from o3 and have had a couple of suits from them. I do find them not very flexible suits but practically indestructible (2-100). Anyone that I know who dives them also have been very impressed.
                        Always been happy with mine too (2-100). They do advertise a suit with more flexibility (MSF500) but I have no idea what its like - I suspect that the "no such thing as a free lunch" factor will bite somewhere in the durability/flexibility trade off.

                        Mate of mine has a new, very expensive, Otter suit which leaks very heavily through one foot after only a couple of dozen dives (he is currently buying shares in black witch pending sending it back after the summer is over) but another buddy is super happy with hers bought about a year ago. Santi seems to take an absolute age for anything so you have to have a spare suit and Hammond seem to be overwhelmed with orders: several people I know have missed promised delivery dates by several weeks recently.

                        Comment

                        • barnaby_s
                          Established TDF Member
                          • May 2017
                          • 665

                          #13
                          For my most recent drysuit after looking at reviews and discussions on here I went with a Predator in 2019 and am I really pleased with it
                          The service from Denis was spot on, he really worked with me to go through all the options and discussed the pros and cons of them, you do need to be aware that he is a very chatty guy and factor that in to the time allowed when getting measured etc.

                          Comment

                          • N Bailey
                            TDF Member
                            • Jan 2013
                            • 390

                            #14
                            SDS still repairs and deals with DUI, I have a CF200 and it has the replacable DUI neck seal system on it.
                            Though the European importer is now BTS and it's making it very expensive to get spares etc as I was told when I last went in to SDS and spoke to them.

                            Comment

                            • Energy58
                              Established TDF Member
                              • Jun 2014
                              • 2287

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Tens
                              When my old, loved Seaskin started to leak left, right and centre, I thought I would pay (quite) a bit more and get something that would last me. Went for an O3. The ordering service was brilliant. After filling in my measurements, they sent me 2 suits and got me to send them photos of me standing in different poses in each. Then from those they made me mine. Very professional service in every way. Emails from them to say when it was being made, and then posted etc etc.

                              And it's beautifully made, fits well and obviously hard wearing..... But....

                              As well as diving, I use the suit on my rib because it's on a mooring and I fin out to it. The suit is certainly heavyweight. I was finding that after a couple of hours on the boat, with the 200 metre walk there and back plus the fin out and back I was feeling knackered. Couldn't understand why. And a bit of an effort getting it on and off. And one day I put on my old Seaskin and went out on the boat. It was like wearing a onesie (no, I have never worn a onesie). Movement became so easy again. I didn't feel like Maggie Simpson dressed to go out in the snow.

                              I feel embarrassed to say, I straight away ordered a new Seaskin and I now use that most of the time. At a bit more than half the price (as it was then, don't know about now). The 03 comes out if I'm on a liveaboard for a week, because, well, it needs using; but if there's any walking about to be done, Seaskin every time. I know it will eventually deteriorate, but, to me, that's worth it for the comfort.
                              If you want a suit to drive a RHIB just buy a cheap surface suit from a sailing supplier - half the price of a dive suit and much more comfortable

                              Comment

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