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Permalink Reply by Aaron Jacques on April 21, 2009 at 4:35pm

Divex makes what they call an Armadillo Suit which is kevlar re-inforced crushed neoprene. They're very comfortable, come with integrated recovery harnesses and are not restrictive at all. They are the most abrasion resistant that I ave seen so far.

Bushbees used to make (not sure if they still do) Denim hot water suits which were also great. Not as resistant but lightweight. I've used one down as far as 600FSW, any deeper and it wouldn't provide enough thermal retention to be useful. They're great for shallow SATs in warm water though.

Take care.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Rupp on April 22, 2009 at 1:11pm

Thanks for the info Aaron,
I agree I really like the Armadillo suits with the integrated harness (it's what we currently use) but I have not been able to find those any more. It seems that they don't make them now. It seems that kme and a few other manufactures make one that is Cordura nylon but I am suspecting that they might not hold up for our purposes. (Pier welding in very cold water) That's one of the reasons we picked the Armadillo suits before. They held up well and the harness system was good for hogging in to the pier in the surge with a big magnet. fun stuff....

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Permalink Reply by Aaron Jacques on April 23, 2009 at 5:20pm

Steve,
Might just be easier to have some re-inforcement (cordura) added on to a regular hot water suit? Just a thought...and probably cheaper.
Best of luck either way, be safe.

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