We only use dive grade neoprene – no compromise.

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Squeeze a ripe tomato and what do you get.  This same logic applies to neoprene.

 

Soft = Compression = Collapse = Cold


Before buying your Semi Dry, feel it, squeeze it, stretch it.
If it feels like a piece of elastic, lacks density and guts, it will let you down in more ways than one.

Neoprene

Dive / Surface Neoprene – The difference and why you should be concerned.

Please take a little time to read and think about what is explained below, before you buy a wet / semi dry suit for diving.

Neoprene was invented by DuPont in 1930 and remains the best thermal insulator for any water sport, above or below the surface. As you would expect, neoprene has evolved in those 85 years. Refined techniques and huge investment has created a range of Neoprene suitable for applications from Running Tracks to Triathlon Wetsuits.

The vast majority of people who enjoy water-sports and wear a wetsuit remain at the surface.

The demand for extreme flexibility and movement has been and remains the overriding factor for the surf and surface water sports industry.  It is this sector that has been driving that neoprene evolution.

We have neoprene available today which has been specifically developed to be super light and ultra-soft, which is then laminated with ultra-stretch super extend materials, that has quite simply surpassed what any of us in the industry thought could have been achieved only 8 to 10 years ago.

However, it is only diving that inflicts a sustained compression on your neoprene product.

It is the thickness of the neoprene that is your insulator.   The softer the neoprene, the thinner it will become at depth.   A really soft 5mm suit will be half its thickness at just 2 metres (6feet).   At 30 metres it’ll be paper thin.

Softer neoprene will allow over stretching, creating thin spots even before you get under water.

Softer neoprene will not recover from compression.

The longer and deeper your dives, the quicker this will happen.

O’Three use several types of neoprene.  The vast majority of which have been developed specifically for diving.  These neoprenes have more mass and strength, whilst remaining flexible and comfortable.

It may take a little longer to don and doff and therefore to sell an O’Three semi dry, but we will not compromise the diving grade materials we use.  Ultimately, it is these materials that are helping to keep you warm and in the most extreme circumstances alive.