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Skin for Dynamics

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 have a New Orca RS1 for sale. Size 8
Tried on once, never used.

Ad in the for sale section of the forum

PM me if interested.
 
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Last week i switched from Blue Seventy comp back to RS1 for no fins dives, because i noticed i was a bit faster in the RS1 with same effort and same amount of strokes per 25 (2). Today i did this dive in the RS1 and over a similar distance (about 140) was 20 seconds faster than i was in an Arena swimsuit

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk6sm7Kzxi4]YouTube - freediving: flying without fins[/ame]

I'm thinking that in DNF, it is beneficial to have your arms covered, whereas in DYN, you want your shoulders as free as possible and therefore it's better to have a sleeveless suit. For DYN i still much prefer the Blue Seventy.
 
Orca wetsuits - model clarification

Hey guys - just popped in to check out the thread as I know there have been some questions and a bit of confusion in the past. I see above some people have been looking at the different Orca wetsuits, with the Equip being the main culprit. It's important to note that when you're searching around the different websites in different countries, and even within the Orca website for that matter, there will be wetsuits with the same name, but from different years. Here's a run down of key suits and the changes over the last 3 years:

2008
- RS1 Fullskn: Many free divers use the original RS1 Fullskn, which is the 1mm wetsuit with flatlock stitching. This was produced a few years ago so only very limited stock/sizes are still around.
- RS1 Swimskn: this is the thin sleeveless, short leg suit, originally designed to be worn over a tri suit in non wetsuit swims. The garment (more like a pool swim suit) used a hydro-dynamic material for speed through the water, but has very little buoyancy
- Equip: there was also an Equip wetsuit in 2008, but this was a more standard tri wetsuit with 2-5mm panels
- Apex 2: the suit Will Trubridge was using for a long time - super flexible arms, with 3-5mm body

2009
- Equip Lite: In the 2009 range a couple of markets (Germany and the US from memory) asked for the RS1 Fullskn to be made for their markets. This was re-badged the Equip Lite with a change to blue stitching etc.
- Equip: the Equip was revised to include 1mm arms with flat lock stitching, but still had a 3-5mm body
- Free: the Orca Free was launched. This is the free dive specific wetsuit we developed with Will Trubridge and is the top end, performance free dive wetsuit
- RS1 Swimskn: in the US and Europe a revised version of the SwimSkn was launched with a new PU fabric and long legs.
- Alpha: replaced the Apex 2 as Orca's most flexible tri wetsuit

2010
- The wetsuit range remained unchanged for 2010.
- Breathe - I'm getting confirmation of the development of the Breathe. This is based on the RS1 Fullskn/Equip Lite, but with some of the features of the Free, and will be a lot more price pointed

The Orca wetsuit codes include the year in them, e.g. WEQF08 would be a 2008 Equip. WEQF09 would be the 2009 model. Hope that makes sense!
 
Thanks for peeking in and explaining the details. I think that Orca did a huge mistake when they removed the RS1 Fullskn from the offer. The Equip is not a good replacement for it. On my mind you have lost a huge number of orders. Only in my own club, there were at least 15 people who wanted to buy RS1 Fullskn, but finished with the Aquasphere wetsuit. Although I found (thanks to DB members here) Orca UK still offering the RS1 at the beginning of 2010, and made a big order with them for our club, Orca UK was then finally unable to fulfill the order, hence we ordered 1mm wetsuits from Aqualung.

The same situation will repeat at the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011 - our club has 50 members, and each year we order 20-40 wetsuits for dynamics and for depth and statics. Sometimes even more. Same goes for about 100 other freediving clubs in France. Most freedivers here buy the Aquaspheres, because they are well suitable and inexpensive (can be found for ~120€).

The removal of RS1 was a very unwise, and completely incomprehensible step, and as long there will be no equivalent for an accessible price, Orca will continue losing the share it had in the freediving market. I warned you personally about it in email in 2009, but for some reason you did not care.

Some our club members are not very happy with the quality of Aquasphere's suits (others have no problems at all), so we will look into alternatives for the next season. However, unless Orca brings back RS1 or starts offering the Breathe quickly and under $200, there is little chance we order any Orcas.
 
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i'm a lucky owner of the RS1 fullskin and think it's a great wetsuit
the only thing i would change is the neck
i tried the aquasphere and my opinion it is a great suit, too, with a much better neck, wrist and ankle sealing

now i'm keeping the RS1 for training but soon move to an aquasphere for comps
 
Trux - how do you like the aquasphere suits - they have a very nice pricepoint!
how is the fit and sizing?

I had an equip which I bought for the bahamas - I found it stiff, too buoyant and too warm - I sold it and was lucky enough to get one of these.

I would like a suit with just a tad more insulation though - 1.5 or 2 mm at the most.

 
I did not try the Aquaspehre myself, but the majority of club members have one. You better order a size smaller - they are quite elastic and fit better if small. At the beginning they may feel too tight, but they stretch quickly. If you buy one that is fitting just right at the beginning, it may be too loose after a few weeks of use.

Some users experience sever damage on the suits rather quickly - literally falling apart in all seams. However, I think it was just a bad batch (I've read here the same happened to Orca too), because others use the same suits without any troubles for over a year.

Without testing it, just by the external impression, I think the RS1 is more stretchy and softer, hence giving more freedom and water feeling than the Aquasphere, but I may be completely wrong.

As for your suit - I believe it is the 0.5mm polyurethane model - knowing your resistance to cold, I think you'd be fine with a 1mm wetsuit. It already insulates quite a bit more. The PU is not such a good insulator. If not, the above mentioned 2mm Blueseventy freediving wetsuit may be the right choice. Or the standard Orca Equip, which has some thicker pads on the body. However, I do not like the parts under the arms on the standard Equip, that are not in smooth neoprene, but made in some Lycra or something in that way.
 
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hi Fondueset,
i checked out an aquashpere for 4 training sessions and found it really nice, soft, and for what it may mean, "waterproof": water is actually spilling (just a little bit) from the bottom of the zip, no water spilling from wrists, ankles nor neck
and of course i found it really good for gliding

i was wearing an S size (i'm 177cm tall, 72kg), which was tight but actually absolutely comfortable

i also tried a new TOP SUB one-piece which was not my size (too large for me), but Gaspare uses that one a lot (2mm thick) and always appreciating it (he needs a bit more buoyancy on his legs)
Top Sub
 
Hi Trux - I think it's unfair to say "we do not care" and ignored your advice. As you know, the RS1 Fullskn was not designed as a free diving wetsuit - it was initially designed for triathlon/open water swimming in warmer temperatures. However, it turned out to be a wetsuit that suited some free divers. By the time we started collaborating with Will Trubridge the next season's wetsuits were already being designed, and as explained, the RS1 Fullskn was re-badged as the Equip Lite. In the meantime we spent about 9-12 months developing a free dive specific wetsuit in the Orca Free. Using tri wetsuits for free diving will always have draw backs, especially with regards to the zips, water entry through the neck etc, so through working with Will that has been what Orca has been working to resolve. In the meantime there have been wetsuits in the range that many free divers have been able to use. Hopefully this provides more explanation.
 
Thanks, it is nice to have the confirmation Orca Equip Lite is a rebagged RS1. It was not entirely clear, because often the photos of the wetsuit are not conclusive, and even Orca's own website was not quite clear about it. And when I asked directly Orca, I was told that RS1 was discontinued, and was not told about the Equip Lite. I only learned about it later here in this thread, but still was not sure whether it is really the same wetsuit, or rather another model of the Equip that I do not really like.

I understand that it is a triatlon wetsuit, but it suits to many of us, and since only few can afford buying the Orca Free; Orca Breathe is not available yet, and it is unclear when it will be, and for how much, the RS1 (or Equip Lite) is a decent choice.
 
Cool - no worries. I can definitely understand how all the models can be confusing, especially when they're primarily being sold to the tri market. After the posts yesterday I e-mailed our product team to ask about an ETA on the Breathe. When I get an answer I'll let you know.
 
Hello,

Has anybody any info about the Blueseventy Descent wetsuit? I read Kerian's article, but not to much details were disclosed. When does it come to the shops and how much will it cost?

Or info about the Orca Breathe?

Balázs
 
Hi Balazs - following on from my last few posts I've been chasing our product team re: the Breathe. They are finalising pricing with our factory at the moment. Obviously we're trying to achieve a good price point for the Breathe to make it a viable option for more free divers.
 
Hello,

any news about the Orca Breathe ?

As the Free is quite expensive, knowing the Breathe price and its characteristics would be interesting...

Jerry
 
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