Howzit Guys, Im sure you have all been down this road before. When you in the market for a new suit, and the thought of waiting weeks / months for a suit to arrive from Europe is bugging you. Its just seems much easier to go down to the Dive Factory or Freedivers to get one off the shelf or have one made in half the time. This thread is to find out your thoughts and opinions on the topic. In my personal experience its way better to wait for the Elios / European suits and the quality and workmanship is far superior. Your thoughts?????

A very interesting topic.

I've been diving with Freedivers wetsuits for the past 10 years and have had nothing but pleasure out of them. I mean this in all aspects; the price on the suits has always been affordable, the quality of the material has always impressed me with its durability and strength, the service I have received when it has come to the minor repairs from kneeling on the bricks or getting tossed in the shore break, the wide range of suits and patterns that I have had to choose from and not to mention how comfortable they feel.

It might be nice to buy a suit from Elios or Cressi but once you have waited weeks for the suit to arrive and it doesn't fit correctly, then what do you do... send it back and wait again...

What about if you get a split or tear in your imported suit, who will fix it? You’ll probably send it to your local wetsuit manufacturer for repairs, which could be quite costly or DIY it and that could be a disaster.

Then there is the fact that when you buy a local wetsuit, say, from Freedivers you are supporting the local companies and local products.

Just look at how popular the local gear is abroad... guys from all over the world are willing to buy South African gear because it is right up there with the their home made suits.

I have now handed my old Freedivers suits on to my brother and his friend who have started free diving recently, yes they might be old but they still work after all this time.

To sum it up: at the end of the day it comes down to personal preference, and I am 100% happy to stick to my Freedivers wetsuit.

Local is lekker

Yes these suits might me "pretty" and be of decent quality. But do you really want to buy a suit from a foreign supplier that takes 5 weeks to get here, and WHEN something goes wrong or you get dragged over the bricks at South Ledges or Umdloti, you then need to somehow try and ship the suit over to them and wait a further 5 weeks before you get it back.

Iv been diving with Freedivers gear for many years, I have used foreign suppliers namely sporasub and omer, and I am yet to find a suit that comes close to Freedivers quality and comfort.

Freedivers is the whole package. Exceptional quality and attention to detail, very decent prices and honestly the best service I have received from anyone anywhere. The best thing of all besides the quality that rivals all these international brands is that they are around the corner!

And not just the suits, I have recently upgraded to a pair of their carbon fins and my diving has taken a huge leap froward!
Freedivers gear is world-class, I will never change.

And lets be honest, supporting the local guys is the cool thing to do!

T

This is a topic that could be debated till the cows come home. I believe that the after market support that we have when we buy local is what is really going to sell product. In addition to this and the facts are out there Freedivers and Rob Allen are 2 of the best product manufacturers in the WORLD. In addition they back there product to the bitter end. If you want to import a suit go for it i have imported fins but knowing that if there are issues bye bye money and fins..... I have seen suits (imported) not fitting correctly either by measurement or what ever the case. in addition some painted suites start to loose their paint after a while. then guys have to take to local guys for repairs etc.... a bit embarrassing in my opion. Sorry i didnt buy your suit cause i believe this one was better quality but could you please fix it as your repairs are first class. just saying you know, buy what ever you would like but know the risks involved. I have just ordered a sheet of neoprene to get a new custom farmer john in a different camo that i believe no one has seen bear in mind that there are more camo's and chicle patterns availible then what is availible... if this is what you are after something a little different then ask your local guys what they have or can get.... Cheers guys...

Ive had suits from most of the local manufacturers and Ive been replacing my suits every year, mostly due to compression. Now all of these suits have compressed to half its original thickness within 4 months of usage.

To me a suit should last a bit longer than that, so this time around I decided to buy a suit from one of the European manufacturers. I bought a Mares Technica camo suit from www.scubastore.com. I was pleasantly surprised at how quick the suit arrived at my office. (5 days) The quality of the material was superior to the other suits I had, the suit is super comfortable and built well. The total price of the suit was also a welcome surprise which came in at R1900.(The Rand was still strong then) Now its 5 months down the line and the suit has minimal compression and is still very comfortable.

A couple of my mates was very impressed and soon they also ordered. Unfortunately Mares wasnt being shipped to SA any more. (Due to SA already having a Mares agent) So they settled for Cressi and Sporasub suits. I was very impressed with the Cressi suits, but not so much with the Sporasub one. The Sporasub one looked awesome but the neoprene does not seem to be very durable.

Personally I wont go for a Elios chicle suit as a suit like that wont last with me.

To conclude... Im all for supporting local manufacturers and all of them have their positive points. But my experience has made that when it comes to replacing my current suit I will look at a European suit first.

To answer the question i would most definintely choose local.
1. You would rather buy from a mate then a starnger, and at Freedivers you get that indivdual attention.
2. As mentioned before, you will get nicks and cuts and you will have to get them repaired, what better way then your local supplier.
3. I am not sure what depths Carl.Werner dives to but i can tell you my Freedivers wetsuit is now 18 months old and i can manage 23m and the compression is very minimul.

I'm sure you have enough info here to make the right decision.

Cheers