Custom or off the rack?

[Kingpatzer]

What are the thoughts on custom versus off-the-rack dry suits?

It seems like there's not much difference in price, and custom you get boots that actually fit, arms the right length, etc.

Does anyone have strong feelings one way or the other? Or am I the only cold water diver who's not averagely shapped?

[thesmoothdome]

I paid for a stock CF200x, but I guess the order went in as a special production suit, so I ended up custom. It fits very well, but as I'm working on losing 30 pounds, it will end up fitting like a stock suit soon . If you can find a stock suit that works, I'd go for it. You're going to change underwear depending on condtions and thats going to change air volume anyway. Of course, if it's just ridiculous, go custom. You'll be sure to get exactly what you want.

[mm_dm]

If the price difference isn't that much of an issue to you then go with a custom suit by all means. Be sure to talk with them about what undergarments you plan to wear and all. Good luck!

[BusDiver]

Do to my body size the stock large DUI was not a good fit. I was not able to cross my arms and touch my shoulders. I had a custom 50/50 made and am in love. It fits like a glove.

[tc_rain]

I would say that largely depends how far off you are from a stock suit. If you are of “average” height and weight then a stock suit should be a fairly good fit. If not then a custom is the only way to go. Try the one on you want to buy first before deciding which way you want to go. Who knows, it could fit you perfect.

[terrillja]

The shop that I bought my Bare suit from sells only custom suits. I went to the shop for a few hours, and they took all the measurements, tried boots, gloves, hoods, and picked my options, including pockets, etc.

[ScaredSilly]

i am ab normal so I went for a stock suit. The fit is fine even after 10 years.

[ChrisA]

I think it depends on the type of fabric. That thin kind of trilam DUI uses works well on an oversize suit. My Bare HD Tech suit has much thicker trilam and needed to be customized. After the fact comtomization is not that big of a deal. If you are getting a seal replaced or the feet swapped out that can adjust the arm/leg lenght for not much aditional charge.

To small can't work as it restricts movment but if the material is thin to large is not so bad. I think neoprene suits have to fit the best

[Tod]

Of all the things you can buy for scuba diving, I always tell my friends it comes down to this: If you're not comfortable (i.e., warm) then you won't be having too much fun. So unless you have an off-the-rack body size, you may want to look into getting a custom fit suit to ensure everything is going to work for you and not be tight or sloppy.

[CompuDude]

Fit is especially important with a drysuit. Too small and you can't move, too large and you will have a hard time managing buoyancy, because the air bubble will be all over the place.

I'm lucky enough I can fit into a stock size DUI drysuit (Large). But it was well worth the extra $200 I paid for a semi-custom size that fits me better (Large-Tall, just a stock large that's a little longer). For me, it wasn't quite worth the considerably larger bump it would have cost to go full custom, but that's only because I fit the semi-custom size so darned well. Otherwise, I would have needed to go full custom.