Best custom wet suit Manufacturer

[Kidder]

I am going to be looking for a custom wet suit for my wife and was wondering who did the best with custom suits? ie: affordability and quality.

[Flatliner]

I dove with a guy who had a liquidfit. He seemed very happy with it. I think that most manufactures will do custom. You might try sending Larry a pm to ask what he could offer.

[Zenagirl]

I've always heard good things about LiquidFit suits as well.

[Kidder]

Liquidfit sounds good I'll check them out
Thanks for the replys

[thesmoothdome]

I have a place in San Diego called Sea-Me Repair, who makes custom suits and does repairs on dry suits. Quality stuff. Karen, the owner, has been doing work for me since the early 90s and I wouldn't go anywhere else. That said, it's not snazzy, slick work. It's functional and top quality though.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Kidder

I am going to be looking for a custom wet suit for my wife and was wondering who did the best with custom suits? ie: affordability and quality.

You really want a local custom maker. How you are measured matters. Best to be measured by the person who will make the suit.

Oour local custom suit makers explains that the off the rack suits have to depend on "ultra-stretch" material in order to get the fit right but because custom is made just for you he can use stiffer neoprene that does not compress as much at depth and will last longer.

One more thing. She may not need a full custom suit. Many times an off the rack suit can be modified for not much money. Anyone who can make a custom suit can modify one. Ask. You can save about $100 this way.

[skdvr]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

You really want a local custom maker. How you are measured matters. Best to be measured by the person who will make the suit.

Oour local custom suit makers explains that the off the rack suits have to depend on "ultra-stretch" material in order to get the fit right but because custom is made just for you he can use stiffer neoprene that does not compress as much at depth and will last longer.

One more thing. She may not need a full custom suit. Many times an off the rack suit can be modified for not much money. Anyone who can make a custom suit can modify one. Ask. You can save about $100 this way.

I second this. I would call a few of the LDS and ask them if they know of any custom wetsuit shops around. That may be doubtful in the Midwest. If not I too have heard nothing buy good things about lilquidfit. www.liquidfit.com

Phil

[CompuDude]

The BEST is a slippery term, because different people define what constitutes "best" in vastly different ways.

The warmest custom suits are made by www.wetwear.com, because they're the only ones still using Rubatex.

If you're looking for stretchy material, don't: it's not needed if the suit is fitted right. Stretchy materials deal with depth compression poorly... but they're comfortable, because the stretch compensates well for the fact that they don't truly fit you as well as they should. Warmth is less critical in a 3mm destined for wear in warm water than is is for a 7mm suit destined for use in cold water climates.

I will say I've heard good reports about LiquidFit's customer service, and people seem pretty happy with their suits, too. I've also heard good reports about AquaFlite as well.

[Kidder]

Do you think that getting measurements from a seamstress would suffice?

[skdvr]

I would talk to the manufacture and see what they recommend that you do. If they have a sheet on their website that shows you where to measure then you would be fine doing it yourself I would think. Otherwise I think that a seamstress would no what she is doing enough to do the measurements correctly. I would just make sure that I explained to the person doing the measurements that it is supposed to be form fitting. Give the companies a call and see what they have to say...

Phil