Jim is a legend!!!!

[Newbie_spearo]

Just letting you all know that my gear arrived today from Jimdoe2you, about 6 or 7 days from state side to melbourne Aus. The Beuchat wetsuit is AWESOME!!!!! TOP QUALITY!!! Will post some pics of my dive this arvo, no underwater camera yet so just some pics of us in the gear.

[Newbie_spearo]

Sorry no pics, I forgot the camera. However I figured I'd give a bit of a review with my first 2 piece spearfishing suit. I purchased the Beuchat Mundial Camo brown 5mm wetsuit, with the omer alien mask and zoom pro snorkel, immersion 3mm gloves and socks. Getting the wetsuit on was a breeze, no lube required, however I think I will use lube just to be safe and also so I can easily adjust the suit if it's not sitting quite right. Never the less if I happen to forget lube it's not a worry. The gloves fitted my hands perfectly, and have a lot of grip around the fingers and palm, at first I felt a bit strange not having the same feeling as bare hands, but then in the cold water your hands go numb if you don't wear gloves so I quickly adapted and found the gloves to be great, fairly good seal around the wrist over my wetsuit with not very much water entry, my hands stayed nice and warm in 14 deg. C. The socks were a little too thin to make my fins fit nicely so I used my old pair. The Alien mask and zoom snorkel were great, really low volume easy to compensate and the snorkel didn't let much water in especially compared to my mares j valve. Easy to clear too. Now the wetsuit, I was not sure what to expect as my previous suit was a 20+ year old 2 piece scuba suit that really was a pile of crap. As soon as I entered the water my feet got a little cold from water entering my sock, a little seeped in up my legs but not much really, as the suit adjusted on me and let any trapped air out I felt a few shivers of water enter here and there but after 2 mins everything was good as gold. I have since added an extra weight to my belt as I was a little too bouyent. We were only in the water for an hour or there abouts, but I was not cold at any stage of the dive. At one point my thighs were getting a little hot I think from all the swimming I was doing and the blood pooling in my legs.

I found the wetsuit to be unbelievable, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good suit to keep them warm in colder waters. I might add that the long johns fit me as if they were custom made. we didn't see much on the dive, a few zebra fish, some leather jackets, 2 dusky morwong and one HUGE ASS Sting Ray (it was bigger than my car). The marine life in port phillip bay has been hit hard by the dredging and where there used to be decent sized Kelp growths on rocks is now bare with only a little bit of seaweed now growing. Hopefully be able to get out to some back beaches next week if the weather is good and see what I can catch.

Dive safe!!

[fleshy]

Jims a good guy. Secondly the beuchat is an amazing wetsuit, I got mine in the green 5mm and have not been cold or uncomfortable since. The omer zoom pro snorkel though... few complaints. It fits comfortably, and is really easy to clear, and is quiet. But it gets flooded A LOT! And spearing in lakes I hardly have any waves. Hows the mask?

[Newbie_spearo]

I didn't have a problem with the snorkel flooding? It might be that my previous snorkel was just that bad that this one seems tons better even if it's not 100%? who knows? The mask is great, field of vision is pretty good, not fantastic but then you can't expect it to be brilliant on a low volume mask, at first when I put it on my face I thought oh god it's not gonna seal, but it seals great, I didn't get any water in my mask at all. The skirt is awesome too, really soft, I love my whole set up now, just gotta work on some strength in my left ankle, as it starts to hurt after about an hour to 90 mins with the picasso black team fins. (I messed it up about 21 months ago)

[Erik]

Check that the Zoom pro is actually seated where it swivels... mine leaked for ages until I realized that it was just slightly off being sealed.
And Jim is a righteous dude!

[blaiz]

I used the OMER alien mask on my last dive, I forgot my mask at home. Though I have heard many great things about it I didnt like it at all.

First off Im used to a single lens, frame-less mask. The Alien was a little lower volume which was nice but I didnt like the loss of my peripheral vision.

Second I dont think the mask fit my face well. I could not keep the water out and when I finally got the mask seated correctly it still leaked a little messing up my vision more.

But I think these are both personal problems

Glad you like all your gear! I think being comfortable in the water is the most important thing.

[Newbie_spearo]

Oh and comfortable I am!!! Now the question remains do I get a pair of Ice fins for my birthday in august or do I get my girlfriend to give me the cash so I can put it towards buying the life saving club's second hand fibreglass bottom Dinghy? If I got the dinghy I would almost certainly negate the need for the ice fins. They are however very cool and I guess I will still be doing shore dives every now and again? I should probably start a different thread with this one but Oh Well, maybe later.

[blaiz]

what fins do you dive with now?

[Newbie_spearo]

Picasso Black Team

[blaiz]

Do you like them? if so GO FOR THE BOAT

[Newbie_spearo]

Yeh they rock!!! Just not fantastic for surface swimming, after about 90mins or so my bad ankle starts to hurt. I think the boat will be a good idea, seems like it'll offer more and be way more fun.

[Mongrel454]

Damn your getting all new toys...I WANT SOME!!!!!


Good stuff mate its so nice to be warm and cosy in the water, My 3/2 steamer was good but now the water is borderline cold.

[Newbie_spearo]

Haha, I'd recommend a 3.5mm for you over there. I think in summer I might be a little warm, it'll be just long john time I think. If you're after some toys and you want good stuff for even better prices - especially since you live in the land of daylight robbery - get hold of jim, if he has what you want then you'll have what you want in just over a week. I'm tempted to order a few more things but I'm just waiting to see what happens with the bank balance and how much I can afford.

[Mongrel454]

I cant buy too many toys as i am going on a fishing trip in 2 months for 14 days in ningaloo reef
i just want to get my mamba kit sorted and a Spring ss shaft before then(ofcoarse if i can i will get as many toys as my wife will let me) hehe

[Mr. X]

Originally Posted by Newbie_spearo

...you live in the land of daylight robbery...

Thought that was Britain. Interesting to read that feeback on the Omer Zoom from two members, as I've only heard positive things before (I use a soft, flexi Beuchat Tubair - seems ok, gets a little droplet of water stuck in the J sometimes, which can be annoyingly noisy).

Blaiz sorry to hear the Alien is not an instant hit with you. I liked mine from the off but I think most spearo masks will cut down peripheral vision, I tried a few others first. I think the popular black/colour flanges tend to blend in with the wetsuit & help obscure your eyes from fish -- but I sometimes wish they were clear silicone, like my big ol' Visulator mask. Some spearos get spooked by lack of peripheral vision - in sharky waters, quite understandable. I don't miss the volume of the big mask though - diving with a low volume mask is far more comfortable, I think. Especially if you do it for 3 or 4 hours at a time. No doubt spearo mask design will continue to improve - they're good now but not perfect.