DUI - worth it??

[Fraser]

Hi all,

Following my recent post about 400g undersuits I received my new PB400 recently and first impressions are very good. It seems to fit very well (although I haven't dived in it yet) and I have a full range of movement.

So I thought I would have a look at a nice DUI suit too, only to find that when the current stock runs out (SDS have about 3 TLS350s remaining) any new suits will be over £1200! And that's off the peg too.

That's a big vote for Polar Bears' Explorer in my book, are there any other DIR suits worth a look? Or is the TLS really worth that?

Cheers,

Fraser.

[Steve L.]

A large increase in the price of anything from the US is difficult to understand, bearing in mind how the dollar has fallen against the pound.

Looks like someone is making a large profit

DUI suits are excellent quality, I`ve got one. But the TLS ain`t worth 1200 quid - go for something cheaper and just as good

[Dinger]

What about the Otter Britannic suits - I think there about £550 or so MTM without the undersuit so look at them I think some of the DIR ones in the UK use them - saw one in the Diver article being used by a staff member i think or maybe it as just the hood but as far as i know they are accepted
Dinger
and yes £1200 for any suit is far too much someone is thinking of a figure and doubling it me thinks

[And]

<font color='#000080'>Hi

This is because the German DUI dealers have complained about british dealers undercutting them on suits. DUI have made Hydrotech (Stoney Cove) the main distributor and put the prices up.

I'm sure they'll fix it when they realise that the suit sales go down to almost zero as they will simply price themselves out of the market. They should have just dropped the German price to match.

I don't mind paying a bit more for the suit I want but for that price and the current exchange rate I'd be tempted to have a holiday in the states and buy one while I'm there.

Andy

PS Halcyon prices are now cheaper on DIRDirect.com due to the better exchange rate.

[Steve L.]

Andy

So there is another reason to blame the Germans for something. I think you are right about DUI eventually having to drop their prices. A Brit. friend of mine who owned a dive shop in Florida was amazed at the lage number of drysuit manufacturers in the UK when I gave him some of our dive mags.

We`ve probably got one of the worlds most competitive drysuit markets

Steve

[Bob Cooper]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Fraser @ Mar. 09 2004,18:53)]

I was aware that DUI had raised their prices, but I didn't know they had gone up that much!

DUI prices have traditionally been much lower than those in USA (where the suits are made). &nbsp;I guess the price hike means that the cost of a TLS here in UK is closer to that in USA.

In my opinion, they are worth every penny (I've got a CLX-450 and a TLS-350) I wouldn't use anything else now. &nbsp;My advice would be to snap up the UK stock before they sell out. &nbsp;If I remember, the price of a stock TLS-350 was about £740. &nbsp;If you need a signature suit, you will pay much more. &nbsp;I'm lucky, a stock size small fits me perfectly.

[Mr T.]

DUI - are they worth it?

In confessing to being a TLS 350 user/wearer, I can say, unequivocally, YES!! They are the 'nads - comfort, durability, exceptional ball space, vent easily with the shoulder dump on fully-auto with a mere raising of the left shoulder, seriously techie/DIR-black* (*delete as appropriate) and goes well with your choice of sling-backs and eye-liner!

Seriously, a damned fine suit in all respects. I've had mine over three years and am just sorry I didn't take Hayhurst's advice earlier.

The only other suit I'd conisder is an M-T-M crushed-neoprene O'Three.

[Mark Chase]

DUI aparently sacked all their UK distributors except Stony and fixed the price of the suits. I have herd a few horror stories about leaky DUI suits having to be sent back due to seem failurs. That said the ones that work aparently work very well.

For £750 I would go for the DUI. For just under £1000 I would go for the 03 crushed resin injected neoprene made to measure which I have herd only good things about (apart from the length of the waiting list to get one.)

For me to pay £1250 for a dry suit it would have to have thermostaticly controled central heating as standard

ATB

Mark Chase

[John N]

Bought my CF200 (compressed neoprene) for £350 2nd hand. &nbsp;It's dry, does the job and looks good. &nbsp;If I was buying new I'd be looking at O'Three.

[Jeremy]

Are DUI suits worth it? Had you asked me this question 3 years ago I'd have said definatley yes. Now I'd say no.

Over a year ago I replaced my DUI CF200 self donner with the up to date version. (Previous one was a fantastic suit). The new one started leaking like a sieve after 30 dives. Half a dozen seam leaks. DUI’s after sales service was to be frank, really bad. It took a real effort on both my part and the shop I’d bought it from for them to admit liability. (The emails I have from DUI initially suggested the LDS should repair it!). Eventually I have received a full replacement – which incidentally fits rather better than the faulty one.

During these negotiations I became quite friendly with the shop and got to know a lot about DUI. Wet Lettuce is correct the prices are to go up. Sacking the three shops appears to be a deliberate attempt to push up the pricing. I’ve heard that £1800 is felt to be an ‘appropriate ’ price for the MTM !!!! Stoney will be the only importer. I think other shops will be able to get them but they’ll have to buy them through Stoney. Obviously they’re not happy with this, as they’ll be no money in it for them. The shop I dealt with were very bitter about their treatment by DUI. I think it's generally felt that DUI are now about to disappear from the UK diving scene. No-one in the UK will pay those kind of prices here. O3 must be rubbing their hands together with glee!

After all DUI suits are great but really they should be priced around £1000 perhaps £1200 MTM with all the extras. Also bear in mind that other makes now seem to be offering telescoping torso suits for half the price. If only they’d done that a year earlier!

The shop I got mine from has a large stock of off the pegs at the old prices – if you want one these are probably a good bet! Email or PM me for tel number.