Hi all, so I have a new wetsuit and thought you might appreciate a little review.
My first ever proper spearfishing suit was a Picasso black line or something like that, I loved it... Mostly as it was a significant improvement over the surfing suit I had worn till then... Anyway fast forward 17years or so and I've been using Omer and cressi suits no complaints on either but they just don't seem to be lasting as long as once they did. With some local lads starting supplying Picasso UK gear I thought why not support them and get my next suit from there. It started like most things these days with a quick yell on their Facebook page and we arranged a date to view what they had and figure out what I wanted.
The day came and we discussed all things diving and suits over a nice coffee, my first thought was one of their keenly priced standard suits in a camo flavour, but about ten minutes into the discussion I was sold on the top of the range 'ultimate skin' suit and the many benefits it promised, quick drying, warmer, more flexible but at a cost both ££ and in being more fragile. The ultimate skin is a smooth skin suit, open neoprene both sides so smooth sexy super stretchy but more prone to tears than a normal nylon outer suit. I went for a 2xl 5mm one in the end (I'm tall and slim but with fair shoulders making many suits a bit tight one way or another)
So first impressions were impressive, the quality was clearly fantastic with a great finish (brown camo in my case). Dealing with the lads from Picasso UK was a pleasure with no pressure and a fair and frank appraisal of their gear. So armed with the suit and instructions on taking care of a smooth skin cash exchanged hands and I headed home a very happy bunny!
Fast forward to today and plans for a dive and suit test were hatched, tides and vis ended up dictating a long hike to the dive site but all was good. The suit went on fine and following the instructions from the Picasso UK boys, plenty of lube and 'sliding not pulling' saw it on with no issues. It certainly fitted well and felt stretchy and really comfortable, even on the long walk down a cliff! In the water my first thought was.. Mmm no sudden influx of cold water? No matter what position I was in I couldn't make any water enter let alone flush through, and as for the positions I managed... If there was a karma sutra for spearos this would be the suit to wear! Flexible doesn't even cover it, compared to a normal suit the difference was night and day and it was only wearing it that made me realise how restrictive standard suits really are. Even my legs felt 'lighter' something I can only contribute to a combination of the cut and flex.
So the dive went on with me playing like a seal gliding all over the place. The water was 13-14 degrees Celsius and I will be the first to admit I feel the cold when diving... I don't wimp out but I normally moan about it! Today however I had been in about 2 hours and actually had to break the face seal (which was excellent and stayed securely on my chin the whole time) as I got too warm! My max depth for the day was only about 6m but I see no reason for it not to perform as well if not better at depth. As for the camo... Well my buddy mentioned that it did a fair job of breaking me up in the milky vis, I guess the real thing that stuck out for me was while floating through some string weed I saw a nice bass, he was off to the side and had clearly seen me but I still managed to get in range and nail him before he decided I was dangerous... Maybe he was just not bothered by me or maybe the camo did its job. I guess time will tell.
In short I can't speak highly enough of the suit, I LOVE it! and the boys from Picasso UK, in a butch manly way of course! To me the extra care needed is a small price to pay to feel like I have an extra warm second skin while diving, a feeling I always thought all suits gave you until now!
Oh and the bass was a healthy 6.55lb
Thanks
Joe
My first ever proper spearfishing suit was a Picasso black line or something like that, I loved it... Mostly as it was a significant improvement over the surfing suit I had worn till then... Anyway fast forward 17years or so and I've been using Omer and cressi suits no complaints on either but they just don't seem to be lasting as long as once they did. With some local lads starting supplying Picasso UK gear I thought why not support them and get my next suit from there. It started like most things these days with a quick yell on their Facebook page and we arranged a date to view what they had and figure out what I wanted.
The day came and we discussed all things diving and suits over a nice coffee, my first thought was one of their keenly priced standard suits in a camo flavour, but about ten minutes into the discussion I was sold on the top of the range 'ultimate skin' suit and the many benefits it promised, quick drying, warmer, more flexible but at a cost both ££ and in being more fragile. The ultimate skin is a smooth skin suit, open neoprene both sides so smooth sexy super stretchy but more prone to tears than a normal nylon outer suit. I went for a 2xl 5mm one in the end (I'm tall and slim but with fair shoulders making many suits a bit tight one way or another)
So first impressions were impressive, the quality was clearly fantastic with a great finish (brown camo in my case). Dealing with the lads from Picasso UK was a pleasure with no pressure and a fair and frank appraisal of their gear. So armed with the suit and instructions on taking care of a smooth skin cash exchanged hands and I headed home a very happy bunny!
Fast forward to today and plans for a dive and suit test were hatched, tides and vis ended up dictating a long hike to the dive site but all was good. The suit went on fine and following the instructions from the Picasso UK boys, plenty of lube and 'sliding not pulling' saw it on with no issues. It certainly fitted well and felt stretchy and really comfortable, even on the long walk down a cliff! In the water my first thought was.. Mmm no sudden influx of cold water? No matter what position I was in I couldn't make any water enter let alone flush through, and as for the positions I managed... If there was a karma sutra for spearos this would be the suit to wear! Flexible doesn't even cover it, compared to a normal suit the difference was night and day and it was only wearing it that made me realise how restrictive standard suits really are. Even my legs felt 'lighter' something I can only contribute to a combination of the cut and flex.
So the dive went on with me playing like a seal gliding all over the place. The water was 13-14 degrees Celsius and I will be the first to admit I feel the cold when diving... I don't wimp out but I normally moan about it! Today however I had been in about 2 hours and actually had to break the face seal (which was excellent and stayed securely on my chin the whole time) as I got too warm! My max depth for the day was only about 6m but I see no reason for it not to perform as well if not better at depth. As for the camo... Well my buddy mentioned that it did a fair job of breaking me up in the milky vis, I guess the real thing that stuck out for me was while floating through some string weed I saw a nice bass, he was off to the side and had clearly seen me but I still managed to get in range and nail him before he decided I was dangerous... Maybe he was just not bothered by me or maybe the camo did its job. I guess time will tell.
In short I can't speak highly enough of the suit, I LOVE it! and the boys from Picasso UK, in a butch manly way of course! To me the extra care needed is a small price to pay to feel like I have an extra warm second skin while diving, a feeling I always thought all suits gave you until now!
Oh and the bass was a healthy 6.55lb
Thanks
Joe
