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Permalink Reply by Russ Warrick on August 24, 2009 at 8:45pm

I'm part of 103-09 i have an Atlan it is not a bad suit for the money. A few features the Bear has that the Atlan doesn't are suspenders so you don't have to hold up the suit if you take your head out of it to cool down or something like that. Inside the zipper the Bear has a flap to keep anything you have under the suit from catching in the zipper or if you don't wear a shirt your back from rubbing on it. The Atlan has neoprene seals and the Bear has latex. Neoprene doesn't need as much care as latex but the latex makes a better seal, especially if you have smaller neck or wrists. Something else to keep in mind, depending on where you go after you get out of school you might need to get a different suit and never use the one you have for school again.

When I was about to get my suit Bear was running a special that you got a thermal suit free. I doubt they have the same offer going now but if they do get it. You are going to be doing most of your diving during the winter months and the water gets cold. That being said when you get sized for your suit make sure that you have enough room to wear a sweatshirt and possibly other layers under it. I didn't know anything about dry suits when i got mine and its a little small across the shoulders. Make sure you have the same range of motion with the suit on as if you are just wearing a T-shirt. I can't in mine.

I have heard good and bad things about some of the shops in the area. If you email me I'll tell you but I'm not going to post anything here.

Hope this helps a little. Feel free to ask more questions.

Permalink Reply by James Bell on September 6, 2009 at 10:46am

Sorry, can not answer your question for those specific suits, the Gates and Viking HD suits are standard and wear like iron. I have used both. My current suit is a Zeagle quad lam custom built. I would suggest buying a suit with plenty of room for layers so you can dress for the job...inspections where you are not working hard may require more insulation than hard work stacking sand bags or working in a current...long exposures becouse you are in less than 30', contaminated water ...even in the summer I just were jeans and a T shirt. These thoughts if you are going inland or North, I have not worked off shore except for fishing boats off Akutan, AK. I don't own a wet suit, the few times we had the luxury of a hot water system, deal with the wet suit issue then. In any case use chaffing gear, over your suit..