Elios vs Marea

[daiquiri]

Hi,

I'd like to buy a custom made wetsuit for the winter, and I can't decide between Elios and Marea.
I know that many of you have Elios suits and they are praised everywhere, but I heard some good things about Marea as well. I never had the chance to see any of the two though.
From Elios I'd buy a 6mm brown camuflage suit with open cell inside, or if I choose Marea, I'd buy a shark skin mimetic 6,5 mm. They are approximately the same price, but I have to admit I love the mimetic color of the marea
I mean this one in the picture: http://www.mareasub.it/index.php?opt...emid=4&lang=en
Certainly the color is not the first priority when buying a wetsuit, but if I knew the quality and design of Marea is on par with that of Elios, I would choose Marea.
Also, I don't know much about this shark skin outside, only that it looks cool on the picture. Anyone has tried such suit?
So what do you guys say, Elios or Marea?

[johnny]

looks really nice that Marea shark skin suit, i wish i knew more so i could help you out, the camoflage looks awesome !!! i have an elios heiwa medium density, camo benthos 645 black/grey, smooth skin, i got it made to measure and it fits really well, my buddy says he can not see me when i am doing aspettos the camo is awesome.

i am sure the difference between a smooth shark skin suit and a nylon exterior elios suit is quite a difference, the smooth skins always fit better in my experience.

ask Shane, he may know something about Marea,

[Aquagenic]

I am not too familiar with those suits, but I would highly recommend Spiros at www.diveskin.net.

He makes everything out of high quality Heiwa neoprene. Custom fit for the same price as standard sizes. His quality (from what I know) is on par with that of Elios and his prices are MUCH better. Drop him an e-mail if you have any questions or requests, he's really a great guy to do business with. I just got my first suit from him, it's a work of art, I really can't say enough nice things about him! Till later...

~James

[Asturven]

The Spiro’s wetsuits could be good, could be cheap but it is not even close of an Elios or Marea.
Is a custom made wetsuit with a very good price but we are talking of a totally different league here. If you say neoprene Heiwa or Yamamoto you are only mentioning a brand, but inside that brand there are different kinds of neoprene.

The most important thing about a custom made wetsuit is the cut of the wetsuit, it can be made with the best materials but if the design is poor is going to be a poor suit.
I can not talk bad about anybody, but I know very well the wetsuit from Marea, most of you know that I sell Marea here in USA, but we are the brand that uses more measures in the fabrication of the suits and like Elios and other excellent wetsuit from Italian artisans we use “State of the Art” designs and materials.

How many of you wear an Elios or Marea and them decided that they suck and prefer a Spiro’s?

Is going to cheaper but not better, not even close. Why people buy a BMW if they could travel in a Geo Metro?

Cheers

Ivan

www.freediveforlife.com

[Aquagenic]

Not sure about all that, but like I said, I do not speak from experience.

I do not have the same stake in this that you do. I am not trying to sell any specific brand. On the other hand, I'm sure you have had a lot more experience handling wetsuits. However, if you have not handled a Spiros suit, then why the hostility?

How many of you wear an Elios or Marea and them decided that they suck and prefer a Spiro’s?

Is going to cheaper but not better, not even close. Why people buy a BMW if they could travel in a Geo Metro?

First off, no one is saying that Elios or Marea wetsuits sucks.

Secondly, I don't think we are comparing BMW's and Geo Metro's here. We are not comparing a stock SCUBA shorty to a custom made freediving suit. We are comparing a custom made Heiwa freediving suit to a custom made Heiwa freediving suit.

That being said, if I had the money to spend, I might consider an Elios. I don't, but I am not going to buy a stock SCUBA shorty in place of a custom made suit. Elios and Spiros are definitely in the same ball park, even if they are not necessarily the same quality.

Till Later...

~James

[Asturven]

James,

There is no hostility, excuse if you think that I was attacking you, but I did not answer any guy in particular like now that I writing to you. It was not the idea, and I did not say that I have not handled a Spiro’s wetsuit either.

To properly compare both wetsuits you need to know them and them do it, so I did it.
The problem is that there are a lot of people that only think that the tag Custom Made is exactly the same for every brand and if you find it cheaper you will get the same quality for less.

You will receive the quality you are paying for. If you say Heiwa it is does not mean the top neoprene for Heiwa. That is why when you go for a custom made with other brands you always have a lot of options. If it were that way you only would have one Yamamoto model, one Heiwa model, one Daiwa and one Sheico model.

If you want a custom made wetsuit you do not need to go to any of both extremes; there are some options in the middle with an excellent quality and a very good price. If you do not believe me PM me and I would be glad to give you the details of where, when and how much.

Cheers

Ivan

www.freediveforlife.com

[Murat]

my elios suit is on the way, and used spiros suits for 2 season. I will let you guys to know the difference between two. But i am certainly can say this you get what you pay for, spiros suits is not top of the cream. They are just ok not the prefect.

[Jon]

I had a couple of Elios suits and decided to try out a Spiros since the price was so good. The suit is ok at best, but the cut is goofy and thus will only be used on really warm days. To be fair to Spiros, he did offer me my money back, but I would have to pay the shipping on it. In the end it was cheaper just to keep the suit.

I recently bought another ELIOS and will never go back to Sprios again. I would also never go back to picasso, cressi-sub or Esclapez again because ELIOS can build me a better suit, custom cut, for the same or cheaper.

I don't know anything about Marea but it looks interesting. Let us know what kind of luck you have with it if you end up buying it.

Jon

[Roan]

I've never seen a Spiros suit here in So Cal that looked liked it fit well. I've seen a few that look more ill fitting than an off-the-rack mail order suit.