Elios Suit for Uk Spearing

[Namron]

Hi,

Can you lot help with a couple of q's on Elios suits. I am looking at treating myself to one for my spearfishing, it will be used in UK waters (Guernsey) so from temps 8degrees (very occasionally) through to about 18 degrees. To date I have used a 5mm/4mm/3mm surf suit and I am a bit fed up with getting cold and so getting a new suit. Most of the fishing I will do will from the shore so it has to be robust for bouncing off rocks etc. so therefore will need an outer lining. I understand that the Open Cell option on the inside will be more difficult to put on but warmer - is it worth it? I am tempted by sacrificing some warmth by the ease of putting on.

So far I have come up with this:

*Fabric - 5mm Heiwa (medium density??)
*Model - High waist trousers and jacket with integral hood
*Outer Lining - Nylon??
*Inner lining - not sure??
*Colour - Black (not really in to the Guns and Ammo look)
*Knee Pads - Not sure??
*Anything else??

I have sent Elios and email form but to be honest I am a bit confused by the Elios site. Can anybody offer advice on what is the most suitable (excuse the pun).

:duh

Many thanks,
Adrian

 

[Erik]

I dive in similar conditions with a 3mm, open-cell interior, nylon ext, medium density suit+ a 3mm vest over top. It's a little cool below 12C, limiting me to 1.5 hours diving, but above that it's perfect, giving me 3+ hours in the water.
I think you've nailed it right: get a 5mm in those stats and you will be happy.
E-mail Elios and they will be helpful.
Cheers,
Erik Y.

 

[Alison]

Might be worth having a look at Spiros's suits (diveskin), my husband has an Elios and a diveskin suit and he prefers the diveskin hands down he says. Genuine made to measure and 1/3 the price of Elios, cant be bad.
I wouldnt worry about putting on an open cell, its actually easier than a nylon linned IMO just dilute a 10% solution of hair conditioner rub into the inside of the suit all over and you will just pop into it literally
Dont take my word for it though, do a search on them first.
Oh and you can have it in black too

 

[Fondueset]

I have a 5mm elios 'black shadow' neoprene suit with superstretch nylon on the outside ('black coating cell' incide - not sure what that is but it's sort of silver colored - bottoms go on with no lube but top definitely needs it). It is extremely warm and I've used it down to 3c. I also have a thermic plush lined interior/nylon exterior 3mm suit which I've been using down to 8c quite comfortably - also from elios. I was in about 90 minutes with a surface temp of 8c - colder at depth - with no discomfort.
They generally take about a week to respond to email but are very very helpful.

If I had it to do over I'd get thermic pile in my 5mm suit - these things are incredibly warm and I'm often diving sort of on the fly - be nice not to have to slime up.

 

[donmoore]

Nice tip Alision! www.diveskin.net also seems to work.

 

[portinfer]

Hey Adrian !
As you know I have an Elios suit.

What I got was this :
5mm mid density Heiwa
inner is open cell
outer is kanoko

(I also have a 3mm top and 3mm bottom opencell//black nylon Elios that I am waiting to bust out when the water hits 15C or so...)

I saw that Fabio bought a couple of new suits (camo but that is his choice...)
He split the thichnesses.
So he got one suit with a 7mm top and 5mm trousers
The other was a 5mm top with 3mm trousers.

This gives him the choice of 7-5 or 5-5 or 5-3 etc etc

If I were to buy another suit i would buy this for Guernsey :

5mm top with 5mm bottom
open cell innner
black nylon outer

I am not convinced by Kanoko.... I think that normal nylon would be fine.

You seem to get cold pretty fast so it might be worth getting a 7mm top and a 5mm trousers ?

The neoprene is pretty flexible so it would only be a bouyancy issue with the 7mm and the waters here are cold the whole time.

I'm tempted to buy a 7mm top for the winter - even with a 5mm top this winter (until a few weeks ago) it has felt cold after an hour or so (having said that I was motivated to go for 3 and a half hours with Fabio last Saturday morning.... mad).

Another option (stop when you're bored) is to go for the 5mm top and bottom in opencell//nylon and then get them to make up a 2mm sleevless vifebeater to take the chill of morning starts or winter dives.

The water is 12C (open water) to 14C (shallows) at the moment.

Personally I used to last 45mins in a suit like yours without a hood last year in 12C water....

One dive in winter in the snow was in 7C water for about 30mins.... feet and hands let me down - body was ok for an hour I reckon.

So anyway I guess most of this ramble is saying that the water for fishing in is going to be between March (10C) and November (12C) with the summer being about 16C to 18C maybe 20C if we are very lucky.

If you need pointers for measuring let me know - there are videos on the site. Also the guy at Elios is called Stefano I think - very helpful. Make sure that they take off the VAT (20% there...) I think that a 5mm suit will be about £120 or £130 ? You might want to go for kneepads - they dont charge for them normally, and for a chest pad if you load there (I load from hooking the gun in the weight belt).

Other Elios orders...
Charlie got a 5mm olive green suit with kneepads that looks quite cool.
My cousin got a 5mm nylon/opencell suit that she loves (just snorkelling).
Pete got a 5mm suit with a black lining that is more slippery and easier to get on.
Mary got a nylon outer and nylon inner 5mm suit as she couldn't be bothered with liquids/lubes.

Personally I use warm water to get into the suit - works ok as long as you are in no rush. I have noticed that over the year it is harder to put on as I think the inner has got rougher.

One of Fabio's suits has a light blue 'plush' lining that looks easy to get into and warm...

I think that a custom fitted Elios is a very good thing to get - great suits - just get the measurements right and know that they say 3 weeks but it is anywhere up to 5 weeks to Guernsey. They also make socks and gloves (Fabio had 3 finger mitts that looked really warm and still essy to pull a trigger - well it certainly didn't stop him shooting about 5 bass over the weekend... and grabbing a nice lobo/)

Hope that is helpful ?

Cheers
Ed

 

[Namron]

Blimey Ed where do you find the time to type so much? Thanks for all the pointers and hopefully see you in the water this weekend, I'll give you a shout Friday/Sat.

Has anybody heard anything of Black Shadow Neoprene (http://www.eliossub.com/html/en_pesca.html)? From the spiel on the Elios site is seems pretty ideal for my needs?

The more I think about it the less keen I am on the open cell inner sometimes head out on some mates RHIB and the thought of greasing up like a pig to get in to my suit is not really appealing.

Any advice welcome....

Adrian

 

[Bill]

Adrian
If it's only occasionally, you can grease up the suit before going on the boat. We used to use corn starch to get into suits (old high density neoprene) and dusted the suit at home, the night before.
A better idea is to order a copper lining for a few dollars more, you can suit up dry or use a thin baggy over your hands and feet to make it even easier. You'll be warmer without the nylon lining.
Aloha
Bill

 

[Fondueset]

my 5mm is black shadow with suprestretch on the outside. Inside is a slivery smooth coating that is not bad to get into - very stretchy and comfortable and freakishly warm.

The suit dries almost instantly and does not get smelly. That's my suit they are showing in the pics.

I have never felt the least bit cold in this suit - even swimming with icebergs.

 

[JPPLAY]

I say go with opencell as all it takes is a little lube then it will be closer to your skin and keep you warmer. The suit all about being warm and fitting close to your skin.

 

[portinfer]

Adrian - too much coffee does it !

Anyway - Pete went with a black lining - sort of black/silver and it feels like opencell but is more slippery - he can put it on without any lubes/water - just dry. I guess it is a happy medium between nylon immer and opencell inner.

Might be black shadow...

I have a full sample set from Elios if you want to 'cop a feel' sometime. Different thicknesses ... different outers ... different coatings .... etc Might help you make up your mind.

Catch you at the weekend as have a beach bbq on Friday.

Cheers
Ed

 

[pdice]

Do you use lube to get the black shadow suit on?

 

[Murat]

Namrod,

whether you get open cell or coated open cell, at the end you will need to lube them to get in. I have 3mm open cell inside and 5mm tit. coated open cell and i need to lube them both to wear.

Portfiner,

I am thinking to get one of those olive green suits at 3mm. What is your firend's impression about the suit? Although i am a carefull guy, i am bit scared of to rip it while putting on and off. How long does your friend use it and had any problem with durability? I don!t know why they stoped to advertise this model in their website though, may there is a problem about the suit?

 

[grahamfoster]

I've got an elios with 5mm top and hight waist bottoms, camo nylon outside, gold coating inside, knee pads and loading pad and it's absolutly perfect for the mostly shore based spearing i do. The coating on the inside makes it much easier to get on - my mate Matt has got the same but just open cell on the inside and it allways takes him much longer to get in - if he forgets his lube he's stuffed and has to wear it inside out! With the coating all you need is a bit of water and your fine. Your nose will appreciate the coating as well! We're both very pleased we went for knee pads and the loading pad is good too. If your not bothered about camo then that black shadow material looks really good. I've got one of the little 2mm wifebeater vests that portfinder reccomended and it makes your suit loads more versatile (I haven't got a wife but if I did I would make sure I wore it when I gave her a good thrashing after blowing my wages in the pub - her fault for nagging me after a hard week down the pit).
I got mine off Spearo Dave - he did all the chasing and was very helpful with the advice - most of the above basically. Enjoy your new suit whatever you go for.

 

[Fondueset]

I can get the bottoms of my black shadow suit on dry, with no lube and no problems. My heels tend to stick a bit at the bottoms but I just stretch the ankles of the suit up around them - quite easy. The topdefinitely must have lube - I've done without but it's nearly impossibly and resulted in some small tears around the neck. Don't need much though.

 

[Mr. X]

Suggestion: 5mm high waist spearo suit in econo rubber (the cheapest one, with black nylon outer, open cell inner & a loading pad -- its great) -- really warm, even Nov. 20th. No vest required.

New thoughts: I am thinking 3mm high waist trous with 5mm jacket might work even better (less chance of over heating --especially in the all important crotch area -- & less leg bouyancy).

Custom fit is well worth the money (then no worry about a bad fit or expensive return). Just check all the measurements (per their on-line videos) 3 times over several days to ensure you get them right -- you body changes a little throughout the day and day-to-day. Also, measure right and left side. I was surprised to find my right calf an inch larger than the left ...probably from all the driving I have been doing recently (accelerator, brake, accelerator, brake,...).

 

[fcallagy]

Hi Guys
In the same boat and waiting a reply from elios as to what they would recommend. Just a silly question are all the suits two piece or do they do any one piece or would you never get it on in a one piece ? . The diving I do is in and out of rocks but dont think I,d have the paitence to put on open cell so will probably need a lining both in and out. Just using a 3 mm surf suit at present and is way too cold except in summer but even then I,d be cold after an hour.
Regards Feargus

 

[Fondueset]

I also used a 3/2 surf suit and now, during the summer I have an eliossub 3mm suit with nylon out thermic plush in. It also has a separate hood because I like to dive without a hood when possible, and is two piece. This suit is absolutely great from mid-june through september. The hood adds considerable warmth as the water cools - partly by preventing any flow through the neck. It is very easy to get on and is one of eliossub's 'premade' suits - though they asked for measurements and very obviously customized it (I'm 6'1" - 160lbs). My daughter has the same. Two piece suits fit better, can be made with no zipper and provide more insulation over the body core.

I also have a 5mm Elios black shadow suit - open cell in/superstretch nylon out. It took some getting used to but is now very easy to put on and incredibly warm. It has an attached hood and I've really grown to love this suit. The interior does not retain odors and dries almost instantly. It's incredibly warm and comfortable.

summary: 'Premade' or not - Elios suits are custom. They fit perfectly and the freediving suits have no zippers - which makes them much warmer. You want two piece for fit and body core coverage.

You want some kind of nylon outside for durability against rocks and stuff.

Inside my 5mm has the 'new black' coating - not sure what this is but it is silver in color and makes the suit easier to put on. Bottoms go on with no lube - top with a little diluted hair conditioner - esp around and in the arms and neck. They also have a fabric lining available for 5mm suit called 'thermic pile' that is supposed to be good and would make the suit more durable. But I have to say the open cell really adheres to the skin - often after a dive the Hair conditioner is still in the same place in my suit - very warm! With a little lube this suit is as easy to put on as my other suit.

My 3mil suit is light years beyond the surf suit I used to use - there is no comparison.

 

[matrixed82]

I think they only make one-piece scuba suits and those have a zip either in the front or back. I have been using a one piece scuba suit and the cold water just keeps flowing in.

I have recently confirmed my order for the following:
5mm med-density heiwa
open cell inside
kanoko outside

I emailed them about what density to get (low or med) and they suggested the medium density if I plan on diving to more than 30m, it will be warmer because there is less compression but if I am more concerned about flexibility to go with low density. I chose to go with the medium because I want something warm and even medium will probably be less restrictive than my current scuba wetsuit.

I also asked them what outter linning I should get and this was their reply:
nylon elastic 300% stretchability
kanoko 400% stretchability (and more resistant to tears)

This will be my first freediving suit so I wanted something resistant, I figure that the extra 40 or 50 euro for kanoko is a good investment if it will keep my suit intact for a few extra months.

I was quite confused about getting open cell or a coating inside. The response I got from elios is that they both offer the same warmth but I read on some threads that open cell would be warmer because it fits closer to the skin, allowing less water to circulate. So I decided to go with open cell, I will likely need to lube up anyways so I might as well save a bit of money (30 to 40 euro for the coating but I'm not sure).

Daniel

 

[Jez]

Namron

I used a surf suit like you this summer. Then I got a 5mm Elios, open cell interior/lined outer. Look at Spearo.co.uk for info.

Sooooo much warmer. Just lube suit with 2 litre water (warm if in winter) and soap and it goes on fine. You'll find that you can still do decent aspetto's after 2hrs. Previously my surf suit would give me 50mins max before the shivers set in. It didn't stop me from diving for 3-4 hours but the shivering really uses your oxygen and cuts down your bottom time.