A Tribe Called K2 Buhl-oog!

Written by X

I’m an independent instructor in Arizona.  I’m keeping my identity cloaked so that I can tell the buying public the truth and keep you informed. Tevis of K2 has the balls to publish this on the K2 blog. . . cheers for his courage!

The below testimonial from DiveMatrix is not an isolated incident, in fact it has been the dirty little secret of that diveshop owners have kept from the buying public.

Dive shop owners have known for years that the Henderson Hyperstretch, the most expensive the wet suit  full suit in the Henderson arsenal, only lasts for a year of cold water dives,  before its fails thermal protection.  When  I asked dive shop owner that I taught classes for, “ . . .  well isn’t this kind of crappy and for such an expensive wetsuit, and aren’t we kinda  fleecing our customers? He replied,  it keeps them coming back, and I can keep selling them the Hyperstrech year after year!”

Incidentally, he was a jerk and eventually went out of business. Good riddance!

So, in other words there is a built in failure/ obsolescence to those amazingly comfortable, mondo stretch, in this form-fitting  type F4 hybrid neoprene material.  What you achieve in comfort you eventually  gives up in the thermal protection. Said a different way, the reason why the suit is so comfortable, is because of the large diameter of the blown nitrogen bubble resident in the neoprene.

You will be able to actually witness  the role that compression plays in this K2 video, you will witness  when neoprene compresses the bubbles burst.

From the first dive, neoprene compresses, and it doesn’t uncompress, it has burst. . . . so each and every time you  descend on your dive,  you lose both thickness as well as thermal protection.

This is part and parcel of the saying that “cheap costs.”  This is a given with most cheap bargain basement wetsuit  (see chapter 9 Cheap Does Cost)  What is an anathema, is that Henderson (a great and solid company) has the one of the most expensive, retailing at $455.00. . . and it has a usability life of one year.

[Editors Note:  Henderson IS a GREAT Company, and K2 IS a Henderson Dealer.  We have included this Chapter to share with you some of the nasty little secrets that Dive shops perpetrate on the buying public.  The Hyperstretch is what it is, and for a non conforming body type diver, it is the ONLY suit that fits comfortably.  But don’t you deserve to know that your wetsuit only has a year or two worth of dives before you will need another one?]

As soon as 20 to 30 dives, you begin to lose both thickness and warmth as the neoprene bubbles burst.  After  40-60 dives,  there has been such a catastrophic loss of the neoprene bubbles that it loses its ability to keep you warm at all.

A Question of Warmth

Please read the testimonial below about the Henderson Hyperstretch 7mm.  Pay close attention to how many dives were completed before the wetsuit failed thermal protection

So, I thought I’d post my thoughts on my Henderson Hyper Stretch wet suit.

Having owned a very warm and extremely durable old neoprene (Rubatex aka N231 neoprene) 1/4 inch farmer john style Blue Water wet suit for many years, I was ready for a new suit. The old suit was built like a tank, but was a real pain to get in and out of.

My number one consideration for a replacement was comfort. I don’t get cold easily, so this was secondary. I was not really looking for durability, but would not have minded finding something durable that was extremely comfortable. I decided that a 7mm full suit would fit my needs and that for me, anything else would be overkill.

I tried many wet suits on one day and left the Henderson for the end since I had been told by quite a few people that this would probably be the most comfortable one. I tried on so many suits that I actually had blood blisters on one finger of each hand. I was exhausted and somewhat over heated. It was now time for the Henderson.

Well it popped on so easily I couldn’t believe is was really a 7mm wet suit. That was enough for me. I had found what I was looking for.

Now I’ll tell you my experience with it up to this point.

I’ve got 180 dives on it.

At about 100 dives it lost a good deal of its thermal protection. That doesn’t really bother me because I don’t get cold very easily. When it was new, I was quite comfortable for an hour long dive down to about 50º. Now it’s fine down to about 55º for about 45 minutes. From about 48º to 52º, I do notice I now get quite a bit colder than when it was new. I have not noticed that it has lost much more of its thermal protection since around 100 dives.

At around 150 dives, the zipper started to come out and I had it sewn back in at about 160 dives.

At 180 dives it’s looking a bit like swiss cheese with the biggest holes under the arms and in the knees above the knee pads. I’ve noticed that above the knee pads seems to be a common place for these to get holes in them when I see other Henderson suits around the area.

I don’t remember exactly what I paid for it, but remember it being a bit over $300.

So, what’s the bottom line? Would I buy another one?

Absolutely! The comfort level and ease of getting in and out of this thing is worth throwing it away around every 200 dives. I think it still beats the cost of ownership for a dry suit, but probably not by much.

Instead of replacing this one anytime soon, I’m going to buy a dry suit instead. Then I’ll probably get another one that I’ll only where occasionally.

Has anyone out there had a similar or very different experience with a Henderson wet suit?

Christian

[Note:  This testimonial and comments can be read in it’s entirety here: http://www.divematrix.com/showthread.php?t=1340]

Putting my flame suit on.  Bring it.  Im sure the whining will come from dive shop owners and reps that want to keep this hidden.

After more than 200 dives, my trusty wetsuit finally gave up on me. This happened on what I would describe as the “posterior” seam and caused much amusement from my buddies!

I had decided it was time to convert to a semi-dry. Although I generally dive in water that’s never cooler than about 18 degrees, my blood has been thinned by living for years in the tropics.

After some research I went for the Mares Isotherm SemiDry in a 6.5MM thickness, and having completed a dozen dives I can now report my findings.

Suit Quality

The suit is beautifully made and really reeks of quality. It comes with an integrated vest and a matching hood to really ramp up the protection. The zip is a new design using plastic, which I’m a little wary of, but time will tell how well it stands up to use – the package did come with some silicon grease that I have liberally applied. I was slightly disappointed that the inner vest is attached – this means you can’t take it off, and given that I want to dive all year round in this suit, it may well prove to be too hot in the summer.

Getting in and out

Ouch! I had become so used to my worn out floppy wet suit that I really struggled at first. The leg, arms and neck seals are very effective, but very tight! For the first few dives, I needed help to get both in and out of the suit, but with use, things gradually became easier. You will need some kind of Vaseline of even sun tan lotion until the new suit starts to “give” a little.

Once on and zipped up though, the suit is incredibly comfortable. Mares has used what it calls “Trilastic” technology in the construction, which means the neoprene give in several directions – always useful when you have to incorporate those bulging bits some people call six packs.

In the water

I assumed I’d need more weight, but I underestimated how much more buoyant this suit would make me. I used to dive with 7 kilos, and upped it to 8 for this suit. I found out I needed nine and have had to re rig my weights accordingly. One thing that didn’t help at first was not thinking to release the trapped air through the collar seal when I was on the surface – a trick you soon learn.

The sealing is very good, and I’ve only noticed a little water seepage even on some very long dives. It is strange when it happens though, it feels like someone has run their hand down your arm or back! I’ve also had to get used to the trapped air in the suit, which moves when you invert or roll. You soon learn to compensate, but it’s something you don’t tend to think of in a wetsuit.

The Mares is very comfortable to wear, with thick knee pads which make it easy to settle on the sea bed.

Cleaning

The suit has a stunning royal blue lining, which is one reason it’s so comfortable, but it’s also hard to clean, particularly when it gets sandy. So cleaning after a dive is a bit more of a chore than it used to be, and of course the suit takes much longer to dry out afterwards.

Summary

Overall, I’m really impressed with the Mares – it’s well made, decent value for money, and now that I have got used to it, should provide me with more than enough insulation through the winter. As long as it lasts as long as my previous suit, I’ll be very happy.

You can order the suit and see lots of other choices at K2 Scuba!

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