Poseidon Flexisuit - Test Dive Report

I just had an opportunity to dive a Poseidon Flexisuit and it was awesome!

I have done many dives with every drysuit material imaginable, from 7mm non-stretchy neoprene, "crushed" neopene, laminated woven fabrics, to vulcanized rubber.

I have a 5mm real stretchy wetsuit and I regularly dive a real stretchy 3mm suit, which for warm tropical waters at 82 degrees, I can't imagine a more comfortable suit to get on and off, and in 82 degree waters, I can stay in all day.

But now and then I hear about certain seasons and regions where the waters might be as cool as 75 degrees F even in the tropics and for that the 5mm wetsuit can come into play. I have used a 5mm neoprene suit in 70 degree F waters, and it was not warm enough for me.

So 2 weeks ago I had an opportunity to dive a new Posideon Flexisuit which is a stretchy 3mm drysuit. I did not find the material as stretchy as some ridiculously stretchy wetsuits, but for a drysuit made of neoprene, it was the most stretchy of any I have used. I think a drysuit made of the ridiculously stretchy material might be a problem when adding air to a suit, and some of the slightly reduced stretch of the Poseidon Flexisuit was due to the significant addition of the abrasion resistant material in high wear areas. Some harnesses are murder on the woven fabric surface of wetsuit material, so the Flexisuit abrasion resistant material reinforcements are a welcome addition to anyone wanting a suit to hold up to heavy dive use.

The Flexisuit zipper was a diagonal across the shoulder design, and the light boots were attached. The boot soles were a bit heavier than straight 3mm neoprene as it had Armatex and kevlar reinforcing, and they fit perfect in my tropical open heel fins without having to change fin foot pocket size.

I do not like separate boots, it is just one more thing to loose or forget to pack, and the loose fit ankles make getting in and out of a attached boot drysuit much easier. I think some guys like separate boots just because they are marketed as "rock boots" and that sounds macho, but the day I dive climbing over lots of rocks in and out with a full sized rebreather on my back is the day I need my head examined.

However for those that need the extra insulation or need really heavy overshoes, Poseidon makes them as an option, and yes, they call them "rock boots" for you guys who succumb to products with tough sounding names. ;)

Now I am not a fan of diagonal zippers, having used drysuits exclusively with across the rear shoulder zippers since I was a late teen and I find donning and removing a breeze. I have tried on a local well known drysuit manufacturer with a diagonal zipper and had real difficulty getting in and out compared to a rear shoulder mount.

I am told that once you have done a lot of dives, either zipper location becomes quite easy after you learn the technique for diagonal across the chest zippers. I know diagonal zipper drysuit divers who learned on such suits tell me that they find rear shoulder mount zippers much harder to get into, so i suspect it has to do with what you are most familiar with.

With the Poseidon Flexisuit, I did find I was able to get in with no technique used on the very first try, which says a lot about the suit, not my technique!

I looked closely at all the Posedion Flexisuit inside seams, and the stitching were spot-on and the quality of the assembly looked really tight. Cosmetically, the construction was what you would expect from Poseidon.

Swimming in it was more like a wetsuit than a drysuit, and due to the stretchy neoprene, I never felt "bound up" or wishing it was either a baggier suit or had waist "bellows" like some bulky drysuits. Perhaps part of the wearing comfort was because the arms and legs are cut and assembled in the partially "prebent" position combined with the Poseidon Flexisuit using stretchy neoprene. I found the Poseidon Flexisuit easier to swim at a decent speed in also by virtue of it not being bulky.

I dove the suit without the hood. I am not a fan of attached hoods, having used an attached hood drysuit for years. Drysuits can be so warm with proper insulation that you can sometimes dive without a hood in temperate waters since the rest of you is so warm, so your head feels fine, and you get the added freedom of movement of not using a hood, yet still maintain the versatility of adding a hood when needed. In between dives, one can easily remove the separate hood but keep the suit on which increases between-dive comfort.

I had always wondered why nobody made a thin neoprene stretchy drysuit, and with the Poseidon Flexisuit, a niche is finally filled where one can now dive anything from cold waters to warm tropical waters just by adjusting the thickness of or removing the undergarment.

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