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Orca Breathe arrival and Trubridge Videos - update

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
I bought the TRN in MT and must say it's way too loose around chest and belly (water accumulates quite a bit). I'll probably take it to the tailor...
 
i was thinking of the MT too. I am 179, 70Kg and 96cm chest inhaled. I have the size 6 breathe but it is very tight, at least two people need to close it for me. Funny thing is my size 5 RS1 is a better fit, maybe the upside down zip and neck seal of the breath just makes it seem harder to put on and tighter?

Maui: is that your inhaled chest diameter or at rest?
 
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hm, 6 and MT have the same horizontal measurements. In your case I probably wouldn't go for the MT.
My chest inhaled is also 96cm, normal 93cm and waist is 76cm. That's why a lot of water accumulates around my belly :-( . Even long versions seem to be too wide for me.
 
the MT was because my torso seems quite long, monkey dimensions...:) I assume the torso is longer too in the MT or would it just the legs?
It's kinda weird you and I, being the same weight and chest size, have completely different experiences with the same size suit. My 6 (same chest as MT??) is way way tight.
 
You are talking about the breathe, right? Maybe the TRN has a different cut. I guess somebody in this thread wrote that the freediving suits where tighter than the Tri suits ...
We could measure and compare dimensions of the flat suit.
 
orca breath, quality, poor zip and wrong size chart

i got an orca breath last feb, which it hasn't even been 2 months yet, and the tooth on the zip, i contacted the repair shope that deals with orca wetsuits, the prices were a bet high and a long period of time to get it fixed!

plus the size chart is just wrong, i am 73 kg and the wetsuit size 8 fits me but unconfertable, my body is normal not too high or too wide, plus i know another 2 people had teh same problems with the sizes and having trouble puting the wetsuit on and off

so i paid 400 dollars for a wetsuit that did not last 2 months and the zip is already gone!

been told by the repair craftman that the zip on the orca breath wetsuit are poor, and for a 400 dollars i thought i would get something good, so before you buy just try it on if u can and have a look....
 
Hi William,

I'm looking for a suit to swim open water butterfly in. Can you or anyone else comment on the shoulder flexibility on the Breathe or Free? Any differences?

I'm assuming it's good, considering it's designed for CNF and swimming with a monofin, hopefully, better than a tri suit.

The other that interests me is the neck seal, as with butterfly and the arm stroke, I tend to get water sloshing through most tri suits.

For anyone who currently has a Breathe or Free, do you mind swimming some fly (if you know how) and letting me know how it goes?

I'm likely to spend 3-4 hours swimming and hoping to find the right suit for the job.

I'm considering a sleeveless wetsuit, but I've found that most are still too buoyant in the legs for fly and I have a habit of leaving my wetsuits at the Blue Hole....

Also, do you have a rough idea of shipping times to North America?

Cheers,

Pete
 
Hi Pete,
3-4 hours of open water butterfly?? Will that be a world record? I can hardly swim 3-4 strokes before I'm done - always hated that discipline.
Shoulder flexibility is very good on both suits - you won't really notice any hindrance to movement. The neck seal is better on the Free than the Breathe. If you fasten the velcro while your arms are above your head then it will seal better and you shouldn't get any water entry.
I still have your suit shoulderless suit hanging in my closet in the Bahamas!
Cheers, Will.
 
Hi Will,

No world record...for me, it will be!

Longest swim is 62 hours by Vicki Keith and she also swam 90+km fly. :duh

Just a quick confirmation on sizing:

I'm 78 kg and 184cm, slim build. 104 cm chest. MT?

Thanks again for hanging on to my Xterra suit. I checked on UPS/Fedex and the cost of shipping it back is almost the value of the suit itself!

How reliable is the Bahamanian post?

Pete
 
yes, I think you could squeeze into an MT.
Bahamian post is as reliable as any, but crazy slow.
 
Breathe - my opinion

I got my Breathe in March and have now used it for a period - this is my evaluation.

I got a size 8 which was quite tight, but as I was coming from fitness/bodybuilding, I meant to loose weight anyhow. I am now 4kgs lighter and the suit fits like a glove (just returned from a SSI level 1 course on Malta - that alone 'cost' 1,5kg).

If donned correctly, there is no influx of water, and the glide is comparable to my swimskin. My technique is not top rate, but even so 25 meters is 2 strokes/kicks if slow and 2,5 if adding some speed.

Bouyancy is moderate, I use 3kgs for the neck-weight. Temp isolation of course excellent.

I am very pleased with the suit and readily recommend it.
 
Hi Will,

I tried to order an Orca Free and they apparently don't ship to Canada!

What's the story on that? I'll probably go for something else as I need the suit asap and would rather not pay duty twice.

Any solutions?

Cheers,

Pete
 
I do not know why this suits are notbavailable in the shopes sonpepole can try them out before they spend few hundred dollars on them. If i had tried my suit before i buy it then i would have changed it to a different one!!!

And still do not get it that they are so bloody tight? Well if anyone know plrase replay

Regards
 
Hi Will,

I tried to order an Orca Free and they apparently don't ship to Canada!

What's the story on that? I'll probably go for something else as I need the suit asap and would rather not pay duty twice.

Any solutions?

Cheers,

Pete

Order one to the Bahama's, go to Deans blue hole and pick it up :D
 
Order one to the Bahama's, go to Deans blue hole and pick it up :D

I already have a suit there that I left behind on the beach at Will's. But it is a good idea.....

Funny that Orca might ship to the Bahamas (would they?) but not to Canada.
 
I do not know why this suits are notbavailable in the shopes sonpepole can try them out before they spend few hundred dollars on them. If i had tried my suit before i buy it then i would have changed it to a different one!!!

And still do not get it that they are so bloody tight? Well if anyone know plrase replay

Regards

Because Freediving is a very tiny market. I asked a local shop and they said they knew about the suits but had no plans to carry them in stock.

I do think that they could build a demand in the market from swimmers who don't want super thick suits, but the techno babble of suit makers so far is all about thick 4mm or 5mm panels putting you in an optimal swimming position, blah, blah, blah. Most people swim with their legs dragging behind them, so it does work for a big percentage of triathletes.

However, the better you are, the more likely you want a thinner suit for better kicking and leverage (I'm talking freestyle swimming, of course).

Women, also, would greatly benefit from thinner suits, especially in the hips and legs. Huub is moving in that direction, but not enough, in my opinion.

Ranting...sorry.
 
What is funny is that the suits made in nz and i live in australia when i orderd mine there were none in nz so they sent it from uk and when i returned my first one to uk coz it was way too tight and accorind to the size chart it was perfect. Do any how i ended up spending another 50 dollars then another 59 to get the zip fixed lol
 
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Any ideas where I can get a size 7 Breathe? Stock seems to be thin on the ground at the moment.

Cheers,
Ben
 
i just got my TRN, a cracking suit, really good value for money. runs a little bigger than the equivalent breathe/free sizing.
 
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