Any Spearos using Elios smooth skin wetsuits

[aquatic ape]

I am about to order an Elios wet suit and I am considering getting the camo smooth skin (no external liner). I have heard that if you are fairly careful you wont rip it, but these were freedivers only not spearos. So, if you ordered an Elios for spearfishing what did you order?

 

[Snorkel Bum]

Hello,
I have a fully smoothskin suit and I use it for spearfishing. I like to use it because I like to glide down drop offs and get deeeep Well, I have not ripped it yet doing spearfishing... but I have ripped a bit off the pants when I pulled myself onto the boat and it caught the handle.... it is a little rip and I can easily fix it with some neoprene glue. It is a bit annoying when I am diving around rocks since I am always watching out and not always 100 percent concentrating on my technique and fish, but when I am at my drop offs and lying in the algae its perfect

I suggest getting a smoothskin top and a normal jersey bottom because the legs are the most prone to ripping, the top is no problem

BTW I am using a Merou Race Hunter suit... check it out at www.merou.fr

 

[fuzz]

I remember scott saying that he does something similar, smoothskin top & nylon bottom. Makes sense since the top is where all the drag comes from with suits. Personally I am way too hard on my bottoms to ever use smoothskin, but rarely have any scratches on the tops so I've been planning on picking up a couple tops(different mm).

 

[Murat]

Most of the professional that i see in the videos uses smoothskin up and nylon bottom.Speros that i talked on the net also reccomend the same. Even high end wetsuit brands started to produce complete set of nylon bottom smoothskin top or combo of it... Also look to the TOP-SUB before making decision, has smillar price range with Elios but somehow there are many italians preffer to use TOP-SUB suits. They have very nice green camo smoothskin top...

 

[aydin]

I have an 3mm smooth skin Elios and used this summer till this month in the Aegean Sea but recently I have changed my suit for winter 5,5mm camo smooth skin Marea.For both of the suits I am very glad for both of the suits ,you can go for the Elios but for the Spearfishing and the quality Marea is a little bit further...Gracias..
Aydın

 

[shaneshac]

In what ways is the quality of Marea suits better than Elios Aydyn?

I have heard Marea suits are real good but never had the pleasure of seeing one.

Shane

 

[Murat]

Sorry in my previous post i meant POLO-SUB instead of TOP-SUB, though TOP-SUB produde good suits..

Shane, i don't surprise if MAREA makes better quality suits coz they cost 400-500 euro.

By the way liked your videos, currently downloding one instead of going bed and sleep... Those AJ looked out of range to me, even for your tahiti. For the second AJ you missed i couldn't see any aiming mistake. According to the moment you pulled the trigger you should hit it from the tail..

 

[uvjagt]

my friend has just bought a marea and a elios, the marea is softer than the elios and has some nice details btw, room for the ears... But the elios has extra neoprene gluued on the inside for making it tear less easely a feature i like very much. At the end of 3 weeks diving the marea started to disconnect in the gluing near the knees... Noot good Elios has not so good knee pachtes and loading pactes it is rubber glued on after wards.

Have not seen a top sub suit

 

[icarus pacific]

makes sense since the top is where all the drag comes from with suits.

Huh? :hmm

Stylin' Jay Styron uses and likes the Elios suit you describe. He ventilated it pretty good his first time out, but the glue seemed to be holding up a year later.

 

[Mikko]

Currently using three Elios suits.
All have brown camo nylon exterior, knee pads, loading pad (3cm higher than usual for loading ZA made guns) and gold metalite interior.

I have these suits in 3mm, 5mm and 6.5mm thickness.

I have never seen a better suit.
The stiching is of superior quality and glue seams are very well done. The materials are of outstanding quality.

The Marea suits I have seen are IMHO not even close to this quality.

I would not bother buying a smoothskin suit if you hunt among rocks.
I managed to put so many cuts to my ancient OMER so I'll happily stick to nylon.
There may be some tiny difference in stiffness, but I really do not think this is an issue to any spearo.

My EUR 0,02

Cheers,
Mikko

 

[fuzz]

Huh? :hmm

Main advantages of smoothskin is less drag. Most of us drop down head first when diving. Therefore less drag on the surface that encounters most resistance - head, shoulders, arms. You have some top-secret tehcnique that you drop down feet first? :hmm

 

[icarus pacific]

Yeah, that's all good on paper, but to put it in perspective, you don't see fish having rear-ward facing scales, wearing scales going forward as the scales near the tail. It's my opinion that the legs going up, down and sideways add a considerable amount of resisitance going through the water, and that they too should be smooth-skinned just as much as the upper torso.

And yeah, there are times when you have to go feet first.

 

[fuzz]

Whatever tickles your pickle


:friday

 

[sturgeon]

My Elios suits are made with smoothskin out jackets and nylon out pants. I'm a bottom laying/crawling type of spearfisherman so I think I'd trash smoothskin out pants pretty quick. I like smoothskin out jackets for easier movement through water but more importantly they keep me warmer when diving from a boat being in and out of the water all day continuously exposed to the wind.

Scott

 

[Mikko]

Hey Scott....fair enough...
I dive mostly in Finland....so your wind factor in FLA???

Gimme a break...;-)
Outside temps just dropped to -10C!!!!

Really, for a spearo, that smoothskin should not be of that much of importance if you are not doing long boat rides in northern european conditions.

Scott.....do not be surprised if you'll see us in your spots soon...plans are on their way.

Cheers,
Mikko

 

[sturgeon]

Mikko,

I get cold easy. I pretty much wear some kind of wetsuit year-round here. Yes, even in the summer when water temp is 82-84 degrees. It does get a little cold here sometimes in the winter though. Air temp can get as low as 40 degrees F and water temp makes it down to around 70-72.

If you make it to FL, you're definitely welcome to come diving with me on my boat anytime.

Scott

 

[aquatic ape]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I will order the camo smooth top and lined exterior for the farmer johns. I might get the pants in a camo too. Maybe I can get them to mix up the bottoms with one leg camo and the other black to break things up. They also have a broken camo on the smooth skin.

 

[sturgeon]

I wouldn't get farmerjohns (not even sure Elios makes farmerjohns)! Go with high waist pants instead and get them to make you a separate vest to go with it. You'll be much more versatile this way.

Scott

 

[frogman]

I used my new 3 mm Elios suit yesterday. AWESOME. I have plenty of experience with different manufacturers (Picasso, Sporasub, Cressi, Dessault). This suit is in the league of its own. I felt like I was wearing a skintight lycra suit. It was that comfortable. I have the open cell in, smoothskin Benthos out suit. Niiiice.

Angelos

 

[Rabih]

As with every smooth skin wetsuit, you will still need to be extra careful. I have several Elios wetsuits (2mm, 2.5mm, 2 x 3mm, 5mm, 6mm and 7mm) and have been very pleased with the quality, comfort and durability.

I use a mix of conditioner and water to lubricate the wetsuit and only use the palms of my hands to fit it on correctly after I slip into it (don't grip with your fingers/nails). Smooth skin wetsuits are the best for boat diving as they quickly dry out after you get on the boat. I would only wear a lined wetsuit if I were diving off rocks with rough entry/exit.

Good luck,
Rabih