Ordering suits from Elios

[Broseidon]

Just placed my order for two new custom suits from Elios, one for me and one for my girlfriend - I thought it might be useful make a thread on the ordering process, up to the delivery of the suits so that new customers can get an idea of how it goes.

Having looked at their website, which isn't particularly clear, it took me 3 weeks to finally get enough info from them to place my order; they are not the quickest at replying to emails but they are very diligent and helpful. A lot of this is my fault as I'm quite new to freediving / spearfishing, and had a fair few questions - each time, Elios were more than willing to help.

They offer a HUGE selection of neoprenes, interiours, exteriors, almost to the point of overwhelming you for choice, interestingly, they offer a choice of seam and logo colours too - I sent numerous emails back and forth discussing which options would be best and finally made my choices.

My only issue so far is that the website isn't clear enough. Being a bit fussy about how my wetsuit looks (a little silly, I know) - I wanted to see the different colours of seams and logos I could choose from - they kindly sent me through some images, but the majority of them weren't very clear and obviously were not taken for the purpose.

Regarless of this, I'm very pleased with the service thus far, and everyone I dealt with has been friendly and professional.

I emailed my order through yesterday - although I'm not 100% sure exactly how I'm going to pay yet, I'm guessing that they'll let me know!

Here are the two suits I ordered, I included this image I made in with my order so that everything was nice and clear for them:

Super Soft 5mm Neoprene, Black Nylon outer, Open Cell inner, Knee Pads and Loading Pads.

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I'll keep this updated as things progress!

 

[Mr. X]

Oh no, you should have got them without logos!:head Now the fish will be able to read the logos and tell that you are a spearfisherman. Won't the orange seams be a bit of a give away or will you cover them with gloves/socks? Sounds great though. Knee pads probably not necessary with a nylon outer unless you plan to weight yourself down a lot and crawl around the bottom.

 

[Broseidon]

Spoken to Elios a couple more times - I'm looking at about a 50 day production time.

Elios have said that on women's suits, you can't have the logo on the upper chest due to the stiching needed to accomodate boobs - so a slight change to my original order.

I've taken Mr. X's advice and ditched the knee pads as on consideration, they're probaby overkill. I don't think the orange seams specifically will give me away, I recon I'll do a pretty good job of that myself! To be honest, they won't be massively visible.

Having changed my order slightly, Elios wrote to me with a full list of my requirements to confirm - so far so good! I'm going away in early June and have asked is it's possible to get my suit done any quicker - they said that they'd try but apparently everyone's asking for their suits by end of May / start of June so they can't promise

The total price, including shipping comes to 375 Euros which I think is very reasonable!

Next job is to pay for it which I'll do later this evening!

 

[Broseidon]

Bit of a testing morning - firstly, I couldn't work out how to use the payment system the Elios website - worked out that it was trying to open in a pop-up that my browser was blocking.

Once I'd ok'd pop-ups, I still couldn't get it to work... after about 5 minutes I realised that I needed to add the cents as well as the number of Euros. i.e, I was typing in 375 in the 'Amount' box when in fact I needed to put in 375.00.

Completed the form and hit OK - slightly confused as to why there's nowhere for me to put my address in....

I hit OK..... nothing happens... up pops a new window, it some anti-fraud thing from Visa... I put in all of my details... PAYMENT DENIED.

Just to be clear, this is Visa, NOT Elios

Do the whole process again.... PAYMENT DENIED. One more time... PAYMENT DENIED.



My card is now blocked and about half an hour I've got the Bank's Anti-Fraud Team on the phone asking me what's going on

Making a trip into town now to transfer money into a different account and try again

Again - this is an issue with Visa, NOT Elios

 

[Broseidon]

New Card - Payment has gone through!

Better go and email Elios my address

 

[spaghetti]

I remember reading on an italian magazine that, at the Elios factory, the stitchings are handmade by 3 sexy afro-cuban women (I saw the pictures...mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh).
This is why I always quiver when I wear my Elios trousers. Mhhhhhhhhhh....afro-cuban ladies....mhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......quiver........

 

[salibandy]

I remember reading on an italian magazine that, at the Elios factory, the stitchings are handmade by 3 sexy afro-cuban women (I saw the pictures...mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh).
This is why I always quiver when I wear my Elios trousers. Mhhhhhhhhhh....afro-cuban ladies....mhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......quiver........

roflroflrofl

 

[SurfnSpear]

I've taken Mr. X's advice and ditched the knee pads as on consideration, they're probaby overkill.

There is some to and fro on this and although down to personal preference, I however have my opinion. Near enough every fish I shoot, even when returning to the boat slip, gets scaled, gutted and rinsed one by one, quite often down on one knee or kneeling on both. That is in addition to any leaning on knees when actually in the water/climbing in and out/etc.

 

[podge]

I’m with Surfnspear, go WITH the knee pads.

 

[Broseidon]

I’m with Surfnspear, go WITH the knee pads.

Thanks for the input guys - too late though, all ordered and paid for! (Although I suppose no-one would really mind if I changed my order...)

To be honest, as I live as far away from the sea as possible (Shropshire, the most landlocked county) I won't get to use my suit that much so I doubt the knees will wear out any time soon

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On a separate note - I had a reply for Elios today acknowledging my order, they've said that they will try to get my order done by early June for me which is very kind of them!

 

[Mr. X]

Broseidon, mentions" lady-bits" and inevitably . . .

I remember reading on an italian magazine that, at the Elios factory, the stitchings are handmade by 3 sexy afro-cuban women (I saw the pictures...mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh).
This is why I always quiver when I wear my Elios trousers. Mhhhhhhhhhh....afro-cuban ladies....mhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......quiver........

roflIncorrigible Italian! Probably hand rolled on their thighs, like fine Cuban cigars. Now, whenever we slip on our Elios suits on, we'll be "gettin' our mojo on".

 

[Mr. X]

... Near enough every fish I shoot, even when returning to the boat slip, gets scaled, gutted and rinsed one by one, quite often down on one knee or kneeling on both. That is in addition to any leaning on knees when actually in the water/climbing in and out/etc.

Interesting point. Boat diving is probably different. For example, slick-outer wetsuits are sometimes preferred by boat divers because they dry much quicker between dives. However they would also be more vulnerable to damage from rocks/reef, which you tend to encounter a lot shore diving. For a slick suit, esp. in a rocky environment, I'd think about getting knee pads.

I was planning to get knee-pads originally, having read a post from an American spearo who does weigh himself right down and crawl along the bottom -- he wrote that he wore a pair of big old jeans over this wetsuit for the job! I carry 22lb of lead and that's not enough to put any significant weight on my knees. Knee-pads can look good too, provided they appear in the right location. However, it was one of the points I discussed with Elios and they said not really necessary with a nylon outer. My suit is getting quite old now but there is very little wear considering so, for me, the Elios advice was good (I tend to look after gear, wash it after each trip, drip dry it out of the sun, etc.).

... I don't think the orange seams specifically will give me away, I recon I'll do a pretty good job of that myself! To be honest, they won't be massively visible.
...

Yes, I normally do that myself too.

I don't think Elios had on-line payment when I bought mine. I seem to recall splitting my credit card details across several different posts - not really secure but it was the way it was done in the early days of the internet, 10 years earlier. Certainly wouldn't recommend it!

 

[trullalla]

I remember reading on an italian magazine that, at the Elios factory, the stitchings are handmade by 3 sexy afro-cuban women (I saw the pictures...mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh).
This is why I always quiver when I wear my Elios trousers. Mhhhhhhhhhh....afro-cuban ladies....mhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......quiver........

spaghetti, be serious! or all the horny guys will order only elios suits, and i'll have to wait another 6 months before i get my order shipped!

 

[spaghetti]

spaghetti, be serious! or all the horny guys will order only elios suits, and i'll have to wait another 6 months before i get my order shipped!

Just tell Morosini to hire MORE afro-cuban ladies: problem fixed!

(not necessarily afro-cuban: my wife is tusco-tuscan but I get the same effect when I slip into any garment :inlove)

 

[podge]

Just tell Morosini to hire MORE afro-cuban ladies: problem fixed!

(not necessarily afro-cuban: my wife is tusco-tuscan but I get the same effect when I slip into any garment :inlove)

Spaggie, tusco-tuscan that’s got to rate up there with the finest of pork pies and the best bottles of wine.:inlove:inlove

Oh good luck with the new suit

 

[Jon]

I've mailed Elios a couple of times in the past week or so and have gotten no answer from them. Maybe Spaghetti, or someone else, knows if they're on holiday right now?

My old Elios opencell is still irritating my skin and my new Beuchat (opencell) is too. I need to get something along the lines of my Elios 3mm, with a blackshadow inner lining, that doesn't seem to bother me.

Jon

 

[cebaztian]

Having looked at their website, which isn't particularly clear, it took me 3 weeks to finally get enough info from them to place my order;

A GUIDE TO ORDER A TAILORMADE ELIOSSUB SUIT

Sebastian

 

[fcallagy]

They are a bit like that aren,t they I don't think they do it on purpose but maybe its a marketing thing. They are known as one of the best for freediving and if they seem too busy or interested it adds to the exclusivity of the brand. it only works because the gear is good in the end.

 

[Jon]

In the past when I've ordered suits from them they've always gotten back to me in one or two days at the most. I know they close down for extended periods of time at certain times of the year.

Jon

 

[cigarlung]

Jon hope your not getting a latex allergy these can be serious my wife has severe latex allergy from years of latex gloves while working in the lab. Good luck keep us posted.