More Elios questions

[Marwan]

hi, about wearing the wetsuit comfortable check out the elios website, they have easy to follow instructions to put it on and take it off, very easy and no claustrophobia. it is also important to follow so that you dont accidentally rip your wetsuit when taking it off.
the best thing with weight would be trial and error. normally you would need 1 kilo (2 pounds) extra when you go into the sea versus what worked for you in the pool due to the difference in desity, i would expect that 4-6 pounds should do the trick, be careful not to use too much weights, ideally you should be on the positive buoyancy side (tend to float upwards) during the last 15-20 feet of your dive. this is for your safety

[MKDVR]

Originally Posted by Marwan

hi, about wearing the wetsuit comfortable check out the elios website, they have easy to follow instructions to put it on and take it off, very easy and no claustrophobia. it is also important to follow so that you dont accidentally rip your wetsuit when taking it off.
the best thing with weight would be trial and error. normally you would need 1 kilo (2 pounds) extra when you go into the sea versus what worked for you in the pool due to the difference in desity, i would expect that 4-6 pounds should do the trick, be careful not to use too much weights, ideally you should be on the positive buoyancy side (tend to float upwards) during the last 15-20 feet of your dive. this is for your safety

Thanks for the tip. I'll check the site again. I had no idea that info. was there. Most of my diving will be in fresh water but may get the chance this weekend to break in the suit in Ft. Lauderdale and test the weighting.

[jimdoe2you]

Just by coincidence, I ordered an Elios 3mm Corifena just about the time I caught wind of this thread. There were a lot of rants about Elios suits taking a long time and understandably I began to get a tinge disheartened (see post #20).

Well, good news! My suit arrived today after a mere 23 days from date I sent my order form in on May 3rd.

One of the things I noticed first is that Eliossub and Oceanos Diveskin both buy some of the same exact material to make some of thier wetsuits. The only differences could be the cut, quality of craftmanship, and speed of production and shipping. The two Blue camo 3mm suits shown below represent a prime example of this.

Let's break it all down and take score.

THE CUT: Although the tops are cut differently, both are very comfortable. The difference between the two really shows through in the bottoms. The Elios bottoms have the same cut as riding trousers that are used when showing horses. The Diveskin uses a rather simple, straight front to back seam. It is the bottoms that hurt Diveskins score on the cut.

QUALITY OF CRAFTMANSHIP: This comparison will be a revelation to all those with preconceived notions that Diveskin is just a budget wetsuit and Elios carefully assembles their suit with the care of a surgeon. After analyzing both suits for 15 minutes, I found the quality of craftmanship regarding seams and stitching to be the same. The quality and craftmanship differences I did noticed really pertained back to the catagory of "The Cut". This score is a dead heat.

SPEED OF PRODUCTION: This is a tough subject and I believe it would be an unfair comparison since each of the to companies can potentially become overwhelmed by an influx of custom orders at any given time. Should the score take into consideration the ability to instantly buy "Off the Rack" suits from local dive shops like Mike Damms' Florida Freedivers shop? Hmmmmm. I really can't comment on each companies abilty to rely on employees to work overtime, nor can I comment on their individual work ethic and willingness to work 14 hour days should the need arise. I simply don't know. Based solely on hearsay, I have heard good things about Diveskin and Elios, as well as the occasional complaint. The score will be the same for each company because of the old cliche, ......."Results may vary on an individual basis".

CUT: Diveskin 78% and Elios 94%
CRAFTMANSHIP: Diveskin 95% and Elios 95%
SPEED TO PRODUCE: Diveskin 90% and Elios 90%

Final score: Diveskin 87.7% and Elios 93%

Jim



PIC #1: Diveskin on the left and Elios on the right.

PIC #2: Tops are face up, but the bottoms are face down to show Elios's rear "Riding Trouser" cut.

PIC #3: With my new Elios Corifena I recieved small samples of their various linings and coatings (nice touch).

.

[dave]

Do Diveskin still claim to use Heiwa neoprene?
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

[naiad]

Originally Posted by matrixed82

Mine was shipped with chronopost but once it arrived in Canada it was taken by Fedex.

I had lots of trouble with Fedex. When I checked with the tracking number it said the package was 'awaiting clearance' because it was a shipment exception. One week later I called fedex and asked them if I had to clear it, if there was nothing that could be done to speed up the process, I was told that I had to wait for customs to find what they need.

I think that two weeks went by before I received a letter from Fedex saying I had to clear the package with customs. They said it took so long because they could not call me, no phone number was supplied on the receipt. Then there was another week of sending emails back and forth with a fedex import agent or something like that before it was cleared.

Regardless of all this trouble with shipping I would definitely order a suit from elios again, its really warm and comfortable.

I also had lots of trouble with Fedex. They delivered my suit to the wrong address, and then took it back to the depot where I had to collect it. This was despite the correct address being written clearly on the package. It was very difficult to keep track of what was happening.

Very good suit though, I would definitely buy from Elios again.

Lucia

[BennyB]

I had issues with Chronopost. Record time for Elios to get the suit out, I was very impressed with how quick it was ready. Then Chronopost got it reasonably quickly to the United Kingdom. Then the clown show started. I was at home off work sick, and was also expecting the suit that day after I checked the tracking status on-line. By 5pm in the afternoon I was a bit annoyed and jumped back on-line and noticed that there was a delivery failure notice, with the reason given that the occupant was not home. By that stage their office was shut so I called them first thing in the morning to let them know that I had in fact been at home all day. They rang the driver who said that he couldn't find my place, even though it's one of the easiest places to find, well marked and on a corner. He said he would look for it again today but I was going to be at work so asked to bring it there instead, not too far from home. He couldn't do it as it had to go back to the depot to be re-tagged So all the good work of Elios slowly came unravelled as it spent 3 days being driven around London

Got it at work the following day, and it was love at first sight....

[naiad]

Exactly the same with me. Can't they find addresses?

[Erik]

Originally Posted by dave

Do Diveskin still claim to use Heiwa neoprene?
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

They do indeed- states so on the website.
Erik Y.

[jimdoe2you]

Originally Posted by jimdoe2you

One of the things I noticed first is that Eliossub and Oceanos Diveskin both buy some of the same exact material to make some of thier wetsuits. The only differences could be the cut, quality of craftmanship, and speed of production and shipping. The two Blue camo 3mm suits shown below represent a prime example of this.

Just incase there was any confusion regarding my post. After very close inspection, it certianly appears to me the neoprene and blue camo nylon outer on both of my suits (pictured in post #33) is identical. It is my opinion that both Elios and Diveskin purchased the same finished material from the same manufacturer to make these two particular wetsuits.

Jim

[dave]

That neoprene is definately from Nam Liong, one of the cheaper Taiwanese suppliers, and NOT Heiwa
I always was a bit suspicious about Diveskins claims to use Heiwa neoprene....
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

[spicer]

Personally I do not care where the neoprene is from as long as it works and lasts well. Perhaps Jim and others can give us a good account of the wear and tear of the two suits so that we can judge accordingly. I am waiting for my Diveskin and am seriously considering ordering an elios as well.

[dave]

There is nothing wrong with Niam long neoprene per se, it is used by the many of the big suit manufacturers.
The issue is that it is (approx) half the cost of Heiwa neoprene, and that Diveskin feel the need to lie about what materials they use
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

[Magpie]

So from what Jim said Elios use the cheaper neoprene as well then, at least for those blue suits.

[dave]

Elios use it on their cheaper suits, and are quite open about it.
What they dont do is claim to use expensive neoprene, then actually use cheap stuff!
cheers
dave
www.spearo.co.uk

[jimdoe2you]

Correct. Elios uses Nam Liong as the supplier to produce that particular wetsuit, just as stated on it's web site.

http://www.eliossub.com/html/en_pesca.html