Northern Diver Cortex vs Divemaster

[Ant P]

Dear Yorkshire Divers

I am going to check out some drysuits in Kent Diving tomorrow and the Northern Diver Divemaster and Cortex suits both look excellent value for money. I have no preference either way with Neoprene vs Membrane. I just want a versatile, hardwearing suit that I can use year round and also take abroad.

Does anyone here have any experiences with either of them and perhaps some tips about what to look out for when I try them on? And have the seals on either of the suits caused anyone any problems?

Ta muchly, Ant...

Personal opinion is don't buy a ND but go and buy an Otter, customer service is much better.

[edward]

Got a cortex, and it is absolutely fine. Comfortable and so far (50 dives) no problem.

However, customer service direct from ND is less than good. Waited 5 weeks for the wifes MTM, when they quoted four. OK if I hadn't booked a dry suit course for that weekend...... I wouldn't have minded if they'd said 5 weeks in the first place. That problem was solved by a day off work and a 400 mile round trip to pick it up myself.

Needed a new neck seal (because I have an 'XL' body but a skinny neck - not ND's fault) and they quoted me 2-3 weeks to do the job. Went to Hammond drysuits (very near to kent diving) and they did it in 3 hours!! fantastic service .

So to sum up - Very good suit - but not very good service and support.

If your getting it via Kent diving, then you'll probably be OK. They are really great, and your lucky if you live close to them. I have about an 80 mile round trip, but often make the trip just to avoid our local shop(s)

cheers

[PeteM]

Originally Posted by RubberBoy

Personal opinion is don't buy a ND but go and buy an Otter, customer service is much better.

Understatement

ND does not do customer service, friend just ditched his ND after it going back about six time over three each time for a month. They never did sort out where the leak came from. Now has an Otter

I trashed my Otter zip (old age and not explaining to a newby to pull it gently) and Otter put a new zip in within three days including posting both directions

[dave archer]

Personally I love my ND Divemaster, and have had good service from ND, although that seems to put me in the minority.

Recently had a small problem with it leaking around lower legs, after about 80 dives, was from the seams, think I'd caused it by pulling hard on it to get feet in - aquasured the seams, being more gentle getting in it, no problems since.

The neoprene vs membrane argument has been done to death, have a search in archives for the pros and cons of each. Personally I love my compressed neoprene, nice and warm, and I love the neoprene seals, no rashes, no splitting.

Have fun shopping

Dave.

[Paul Burgess]

My wife bought a Divemaster suit direct from Northern Diver. She specified quite a few options and even had some fairly extensive adjustments to fit. All of this was done in a couple of days and with a very helpful attitude. So their customer service can be good at times.

If I have any complaint it is that their attention to detail is not as good as it could be. When I bought a CNX suit (which I like a lot) off them, they forgot to include any zip lube. However a quick phone call was all it took to sort it out.

Just my experience

Paul