Tls350?

[drysuit repair dave]

Not trying to start a ruck, but I would be genuinely interested to know why the TLS350 is the DIR suit of choice (other than the fact that JJ uses one ), and more specifically what makes it better than a Protec or Polar Bears?
cheers
dave
drysuitrepair.co.uk

[Clare Gledhill]

First things first - you do not need a DUI suit to dive DIR. A suit should keep you warm and dry (sadly not always true in any suit) not restrict movement in any way and inflict minimal buoyancy changes through the water column.

Given that I have just bought another TLS 350 though, an honest answer from my own point of view as a customer.

Protecs are nice suits having many of the features that the DUI has without the exhorbitant price tag. What I personally don't like is the zip cover, the way that the overlay is not attached to the drysuit inflate, the boots and the neck collar.

Polar Bears appear to be good if you can get one which fits and if you can get the dump valve positioned correctly. I do know of a couple of divers who have spent time working with Polar Bears to get a nice suit - and suceeded.

DUI suits have their problems of course, but I'm probably wedded to them now because of zipseals which, especially when travelling which I now do quite a bit, are just so convenient.

Their undersuits are another matter - they have changed the cut to a point where I just won't buy one and am trying to decide at the moment what to replace it with. Santi looks like a good bet at the moment but perhaps Polar Bears would be OK.

[Keiron]

IIRC:

The Protec overlay was purposefully not attached to the inflator so as to remove a potential failure point, in much the same way they added a piece of material to form a crotch "band" to stop the well documented leaky TLS syndrome.

[Garf]

we don't all use DUI, I wouldn't change my protec for anything other than another protec. DUI are so overpriced I refuse to get one on principle, and they offer few real benefits over the protecs. Polar Bears - sorry just heard too many horror stories about ill-fitting suits.

[ratcliffe]

So this would explain why generally you don't see any DIR divers in neoprene suits, as you get the buoyancy changes as you descend ?

[milldog]

I have a Explorer from Polar bear in Devon (in fact i have two) fantastic suit and i would stand it next to the DUI any day cost for mine £600 DUI £1500

I have all the stuff the DUI have and repairs can be done in the UK sometimes same day

Graham

[colinicky]

Again genuine questions as I know nothing about DIR ,but I was of the impression that the latest crushed neoprene suits had only minimal changes in buoyancy or am I wrong ?
Also from somebody who has never managed to get used to an auto dump were is the correct position ? or is DIR cuff dump only ?
Sorry to be thick but having just bought a 2nd hand DUI Cf 200SE with auto dump I wondered.
TIA

[ratcliffe]

Thats kind of what I was thinking Colin, whilst the older neoprene suits and the 4.5 mm compressed ones will have quite a big buoyancy change, something such as my 3mm hyper-compressed (or whatever its called) suit will have a relatively negligable change. I would think the main drawback is that it takes more weight to get a neoprene suit down than a membrane such as most DIR divers use.

[Howard Payne]

I have to say that Adrian's Polar Bears suit looked terrific when I saw it the other day and it fitted him beautifully.

The main thing with any TLS style suit (Protec, PBE etc) is that they are made of a relatively thin material material which along with a telescopic torso really does give you a huge range of movement - much more so than most neoprene suits. The first time you try one of these suits on - it just doesn't feel like you're wearing a drysuit.

The lack of buoyancy change is also a major factor - but you do need good undersuiting in order to stay warm as a consequence.

Looks like a few of the other manufacturers like PB are gaining ground on DUI fast - they need to watch out - the pricing is just stupid these days

[colinicky]

I actually went to Stoney (yes I know sad isn't it ) last Monday purely to try a DUI CF200 front entry suit with their 2mm compressed neoprene & I found I had far greater range of movement than I have ever had in my ND membrane suit .Also I needed the same amount of lead to sink with ,exactly none ! & that was without torches reals etc. I didn't buy a new DUI ,I found a very nice 2nd hand 1 on ebay for £250 which I think is a much more sensible price