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20 DRY SUITS Aquatek X480 Aquion Pro Rear-Entry Beaver Iceberg Ultra Body Glove Pro-Lite Diamond Saxon 200 DMS Atlantis DUI FLX50/50 Gates PRO-VSN 1100 GUL Commercial Hydrotech Evolution IST Dive Team Proline Northern Diver Vortex Oceanic Flex O'Three RI 2/500 Otter Technical Superskin Poseidon Jetsuit TNG Roho Tech Seaway Arctic Pro Typhoon Nexus Viking Pro 1000 Return to GEAR Page |
DUI FLX50/50 First impressions Probably the smartest-looking drysuit a diver is going to get. Evoked comments like "You look like you're going diving in your dinner suit!" Looked to be made to a very high standard. Price £896 (includes neoprene hood, hose and bag). Material and construction A mixed construction. The top half is tri-laminate spliced to a bottom half made with DUI's unique and reputedly hard-wearing crushed neoprene. (The neoprene is crushed after the suit is constructed.) Where the two materials are joined there is a large area of overlap glued and stitched. The coloured part of the tri-laminate forms an extra layer of protection at the shoulders, upper arms, chest and zip; it adds some insulation for the throat over the latex neck seal. The elasticated waist (at the back) incorporates an internal elasticated cord which may look crude but can be easily user-adjusted. Boots DUI has traditionally taken a soft approach to bootees by welding a hard-wearing sole to the neoprene sock end of the leg. This is likely to cause problems with wear at the heel. Now DUI offers the alternative of pure sock ends which you wear inside its Rock Boots (even while diving). This is likely to be the most hard-wearing solution to drysuit boot problems (see picture on intro page). Zip The diagonal front zip has a convenient toggle pull. The outer covering zip is equally substantial. This latter is, generally, a good feature, but we feel that every new FLX50/50 owner will enter the water at least once with only the outer (non-waterproof) zip closed! Seals Latex neck seal, glued both sides, and long latex wrist seals. Their conical nature and calibrations mean that the seals are easily adjusted for the owner's size, even at the last minute. Wrist seal contact length 50mm. Knee pads Crushed neoprene very heavily stitched. Valves Apeks. The inflation valve is at chest centre. It has no gaskets or internal padding. The standard auto-dump at the upper arm had no gaskets and we felt it could pull out if badly snagged. Other features Velcro-covered ankle straps, non-detachable internal braces with reinforced anchor points. A crotch-strap secures the tuck in the extra body length needed for easy donning. Ease of dressing This was the only suit that was donned without help from anyone else. However, the black internal (non-detachable) braces are hard to see against the black suit inside, which can lead to annoying tangles. "Dressing is easy when you know what you're doing. A very sleek fit." In the water "Fantastic mobility under water. Very comfortable, with the inflation valve very smooth and easy. The auto-dump is perfectly sited. If every other suit's shoulder dump was so well positioned, no one would ever buy a cuff dump." Approx weight of test suit 4kg. Made-to-measure Stock sizes only. Tested by Gerry Gooch. |
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