drysuit ?s

[upton75]

I searched and was unable to find a thread, but it may be out there and if it is sorry. I found a drysuit locally used. IT is a DUI CF200. It is a little long on me but otherwise a good fit. With it being a little long make much of a difference or can i just fold it over. Also what kind of questions should i ask about the suit. The seal look good and plan to find out if it has ever been puncutured. It is said to only have 5 dives. The asking price with rock boot is 750.

I am probably going to jump on that price.

Also how are Mobby's suits because another dive shop has them new but discounted for 700.

Thanks for any help

[navyhmc]

$750 for a DUI 200 is a pretty good price-especially if it's in near new shape.

[cummings66]

Plus being long isn't that much of a problem, it's being too large in volume that causes the most trouble, IE wearing a 46 waist when you're a 36 for example.

[snagel]

Keep in mind that with fit you will also have undergarmets. I believe the CF200 is a crushed neoprene suit, so you won't need as much as with a shell suit. Sounds like a very good price. I'm thinking the originial cost for this suit was/is in the $2000 range.

Things to check: Seals are they latex or neoprene - regardless you want to make sure they are not torn. If they are too big you will have to get new ones. Does this have the Zip Seals? Zipper - make sure it zips good and that none of the teeth are missing - it will leak if it has a bad zipper.

Snagel

[Rogue]

If length is the only size issue I would buy it on the stipulation that it doesn't leak. Are you allowed to take it on a test dive and not just to the pool?
I tried a used suit once and it was fine in the pool but at about 20 feet the inflator started leaking from a bad o-ring inside.
Another item I like to check is the manufacture date. Should be on the inside shoulder blade area. If it's new, say 2008 and only has five dives I wouldn't question as much as one that was manufactured in 2002 with five dives. I would wonder about how it was stored and whether the zipper is in good shape.
Test dives

[WaScubaDude]

Good advice here. In addition. You can tell alot by looking very closely at the suit. Is there patina on the zipper (green and/white or black coloring?) Are there lots of threads dangling in the zipper area?
Look really close at the seals, is there checking as you stretch them a bit? Are the seals fluid and soft or stiff?
Does the suit material still feel supple or is it a bit hard and stiff? Are the colors still crisp? All the above help to tell you the shape the suit is in both in age and in care. A few pin holes are easy and pretty inexpensive to fix, bad seals or zipper are expensive.

Last, Don't be afraid to negotiate, it really is a buyers market right now.

[CompuDude]

Scrutinize the zipper most closely. That's the single most expensive repair a drysuit can have. DUI will charge you nearly $400 if the zipper needs replacing.

The good thing about the crushed neoprene drysuits is they're pretty easy to patch if there are any leeks. And that's a fantastic price, assuming all is well with the suit. If I stumbled across one like that in my size, I'd pick it up if I had the dough, for a spare if nothing else.

As for the size, I agree, width fit (as Cummings said) is more important than length, to a degree. Worst case it only costs a couple hundred bucks to shorten the legs up a bit. It's one of the easier repairs, and done often anyway to change the feet (socks to turbosoles, different size feet, etc)