Hey Paul,
I always wondered who bought my old suit...
Seriously, you can do a lot worse than getting a Picasso or an OMER. Here in No Cal, the terrain on the beach and in the water are pretty similar so I feel comfortable in making my recommendations. My personal suits are currently all Picasso, all 7mm and I'm just nuts about them with one big exception, which I'll go into in a minute.
They are both 2 pc, farmer john style with the hood attached and no zippers to jam leak and tear off. They're both nylon exterior and also bare rubber or open cell on the inside. One is their Commercial model that has a coating of the glue at the knees, elbows and on the seams for abrasion resistence and water-tightness and it also has their Termic coating on the inside which is advertised as anti schmeg and easier to put on. I agree. It also has bent arms which is a real blessing when you try on a suit that just has straight arms and legs. A damn good suit.
The other is a Camu model, with this funky green/brown pattern that fools the fish into thinking I'm there to feed them. Just ask 'em! It is a basic wetsuit meant for basic fartin around, nothing special- no interior coating so it takes a bit more soap, (or lube if you're with Anderson..:hmm ) to put on and the sleeves are cut straight, so at the end of the day, your elbows are a bit worn out. But it's real comfy and has held up great. You can see my camo'd legs in it at the "It's a contest!" thread. Pretty sexy. Leave an entry while you're there.
Now the bummer...:waterwork The rubber that they are made from is real stretchy and flexible and soft. Not a bad thing. But those features mean that the rubber tends to compress more at depth than a conventional rubber, so you feel the cold a bit more sometimes. I was in 50 F water last Friday and after about 30 minutes at 60 feet (OK, I was wearing tanks...:duh ) I was getting ready to head up for some Sun. But when I'm freediving and working a bit more, kicking, going up and down, and all that, it's a non issue.
Henderson and some others are bonding titanium, krypton and diamonds o their suits to help keep you toasty and all, but the physics of that is beyond my belief. Thing is though that the rubber they and I think Xcel and the like use, Rubatex or whatever, is a bit stiffer, and less prone to compression. So there you go. If you're looking for a basic, trasher suit, I'd go with the Henderson or whatever, but you'll be waaay ahead in looking into getting a Picasso or OMER. I think you can order them online from some sites other than theirs and maybe save some schekels, which I guess is the only other bummer- they're both pretty proud of their pricing, but I guess you get what you pay for. And a good suit is still less than a really good gun, and a lot lessthan a so-so woman.:blackeye
(here goes...
![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
and you can post your photo holding up your fish on the site and get real style points...)
sven