Posted by Chris on April 24, 2001 at 23:03:55:
In Reply to: Wetsuits posted by Jonah on April 23, 2001 at 22:52:58:
Excel makes very excellent quality wetsuits, however skin-in wetsuits are warmer.
I have a dive buddy, who has also been a commercial diver, who bought an Excel wetsuit, that he found very nice, but not quite warm enough.
About two months later he bought a custom three piece skin in wetsuit from AquaFlite which he found to be much warmer and more comfortable than the Excel suit.
There were two reasons he found the suit warmer.
1) The skin in material acts as a seal against the skin and allows much less water to flush through the suit.
2) The suit fit him better since he does not have an off the shelf body.
A custom skin-in suits from AquaFlite, Kettenhoffen, or other wetsuit maker will be warmer than any off the shelf wetsuit.
AquaFlite custom suits are priced such that they are very competitive with off the shelf prices, and superior when you consider they will fit better.
The only wetsuit manufacturer that I know currently offers off the shelf skin in suits is Henderson.