First order at Elios, choice of material

[joshmeyer]

Hello everyone!

I've tried several Cressi-wetsuits so far and unfortunately seem to be too thin and too long^^.
As I don't think I'll have more luck with other off-the-rack suits and don't want to spend the summer trying I'm now willing to pay the extra money
and go tailor-made with a suit from Elios ( as this seems to be the company to go to).

And that's where I have some questions regarding
- the procedure of ordering a suit at Elios
- the choice of material


1. Ordering

I've done all the measuring which is requested and entered it at the Elios-site. The website now shows a loooong list of "neoprene models" to select from.

After every entry ( e.g. "Black coating cell inside/Superstretch nylon black outside","Black coating smooth inside/Superstretch nylon black outside", and so on...) there is a checkbox.

Am I right thinking I have to check just the one for the material I'd like my entire suit to be made of ( as one could check multiple boxes...)?

Then at the bottom of the page I'd choose "Jacket - closed with hood incorporated" and "Pants - long john trousers".

And now that's about all? Just hit the "submit"-button and they'll send me an email including the price?
Because somehow I'd like to see how much that suit will set me back BEFORE I order ( well, I sure could cancel my order, they won't start working on that thing until they've received my money, that's for sure^^)


2. Material

I'm diving in German lakes which i personally find very cold, so I'll go with 7mm ( or 7mm for the jacket and only 5mm for the pants? not sure yet...).

Outer lining and a coating inside would be my choice, but that leaves a lot of options and unfortunately there's nothing about the prices of the materials on the website.

So what did you people order, what are your suggestions?

The suit needs to be quite durable and I want to slip in without any lubricant except from water.
The cressi-suits I've tried so far all had that "blacklite" coating inside and were just fine to put on.

As far as my depth goes, I'm still hovering around in quite shallow waters but my goal for this season is to be comfortable at 20m.



Thank you in advance for your replies, I really hope you can help me here because I'm a little afraid of having to figure out complicated issues with Elios after ordering^^.

 

[Jonny250]

Hi Josh,
I have had 4 suits from elios now and i have always emailed them first rather than using the online form. You can email all the measurements by copying and pasting the table.
discuss with them directly, telling them your requirements and they will list for you the choices and their opinion of what would be most suitable. You will probably get several choices...
imo for warmth the black shadow is the best, but its not very flexible and so i personally now prefer the yamamoto 45 neoprene, open cell inside and nylon outer -for durability.
dont forget you can go with a 5 or 6 mm jacket and use a neoprene vest underneath which may improve flexibility of your arms...

 

[martin366]

I recommend Heiwa, because its more durable than Yama, and Heiwa also dont compress so much. Heiwa isnt so flexible than Yama, but that is very small difference

 

[joshmeyer]

Thanks folks, I'll send them an email.
But somehow it's surprising they don't have a more informative website, regarding that they probably have to handle lots of requests by mail now for most customers.

 

[maui400]

Yeah, you're absolutely right. A rather confusing website.
Regarding thickness of your wetsuit, I wouldn't take more than 5mm. I have an elios daiwabo smoothskin/open cell 5mm and I've been four times in the lake (Germany) in March. My dive buddy even has a 3mm elios Yamamoto. We were fine for 45 minutes.

 

[joshmeyer]

Concerning the thickness:
I've found it really hard to go down with a 7mm suit (jacket and pants) with a reasonable amount of lead. I used 8kg and wasn't neutral at 5m ( only could try it in a pool).

What do you think how big the effect of switching to 5mm in both jacket an pants is compared to pants 5mm and jacket 7mm?

 

[maui400]

I don't know. Maybe one or two kg. But 7mm will probably restrict you quite a bit.
In case you also like to dive with your suit during the warmer season, I would go for 3mm pants and 5mm top (open cell inside). This would be fine from April to October.

 

[Shark2307]

I was diving the Sundhäuser See last week, at around 4 degrees. was perfectly fine for over 1,5 hours. only problem were hands and feet.

Considering how warm my 3 mm Heiwa open cell Elios wet suit is i would't go for much more than 5mm+5mm. 7 mm would probably only the right choice if you would do a lot of diving in winter.

for April/May- November 5+5 or 5+3 probably will do the job.

Just send your measurement and wishes to Elios they will reply with good suggestions.

And yes, the website is really the total opposite to their wetsuits.

 

[joshmeyer]

Thanks Shark, so I'll go with 5mm on both pieces.
I've already sent elios an email and am now awaiting their answer.

What are your experiences with their response time and how long does it actually
take until you receive your suit after ordering?

 

[martin366]

Response time depends, but order take usually about one month, in diving season even longer

 

[Shark2307]

First Email: 14th of January
Order: 17th of January
Delivery 25th of February

 

[Shark2307]

But it was totally worth it. There is no alternativ in my eyes to a custom made wetsuite regarding price and function. Actually it seems almost as a little bit cheaper compared to a lot of wetsuits...