A couple elios questions....

Hi waist is better, less bouyancy, probably warmer because it fits closer.

no comment on material

incorporated hood is the way to go. You can pull it back (off) if you don't need it.

Lining outside is good for durability, but bad for warmth after you get out of the water. If you are diving in windy cold conditions, this might be significant. Evaporation off the wet suit can be a real chiller.

Lining inside the suit I don't understand. Coatings can be as about as warm as open cell, but a fabric liner will be much less warm.

When you get to the point of measuring for size, the Elios system will scare you to death. It OK, it really does work fine. Mine is by far the best fitting suit ever.

Connor

I'd agree with all of that except the high waist. I think the long john will be warmer as you have more material over the body. The advantage of high waist is that you don't need to take off the jacket if you need to go to the toilet.

pkmurphys I hope you don't mind me hijacking your thread but I'm also deciding between detachable / attached hood. I'm going for a 3mm suite for both pool and warm water diving. I was thinking of diving without hood in the pool (as 3mm should be plenty warm) and in coldish water with hood. Good idea or not?

I have two Elios custom-made suits and love them both. The first is a 5mm in Ecoline, lined on the outside, opencell inside - and has highwaist pants. The second is 3mm Heiwa and is lined on both sides and has longjohn pants. Both suits have integrated hoods.

Lining on the outside is much more durable - and I'd say essential if you are likely to be scrabbling around on rocks.

Lining on the inside makes taking the suit on and off an absolute breeze. The opencell 5mm I have to use lube, or take on and off in the water - not much fun in cold water. But the advantage of opencell is that you will be toasty warm. You do sacrifice a little bit of warmth with an inner lined suit. But as long as you got your measurements right, an Elios suit will be nice and snug fitting anyway - so the disadvantage should be small.

I'd always go for an integrated hood. You can push it back off your head if you are a bit too warm, but you know it's ready and waiting if you need a bit of insulation again. I just know if I had a separate hood I'd be forever loosing it. If I do have the hood pushed back, I've never found it annoying.

For the 3mm suit I decided on the longjohn pants for versatility. If the water is really warm I'll sometimes not bother putting the jacket on and just wear the pants.

When I got the 3mm I asked Elios about the difference between Heiwa and Ecoline neoprene. They said the Heiwa is a lot more supple and stretchy - thus you should get better ease of movement, especially around the shoulders. It's a bit difficult to say objectively if that's really the case. Sure the 3mm does have greater ease of movement than the 5mm - but that could be down to the difference in thickness as anything else. If you are going to be diving deep, bear in mind that a supple, stretchy neoprene will compress a bit more than a stiffer neoprene. That means slightly less buoyancy, and slightly less insulation, at depth.

Finally, the whole process of getting a custom suit from Elios can seem very complicated and long-winded. But it is worth persevering. You'll get a fantastic, quality suit as a result.

Ian.

pkmurphys said:

i'm done trying to find an off-the-shelf suit because they don't seem to fit tall, thin bodies pretty sure i'm going with elios but have a few questions about the myriad of choices they offer. i'll be using it for both recreational freediving (10-20m) and scubadiving in tropical waters. some of my questions might be basic, but its my first wetsuit

Click to expand...

Just FYI, Elios has standard long and extra long sizes:

Elios standard size chart

Good luck!
David