As a scuba diver, one of the most important pieces of equipment is your suit. The best wetsuit is one that won’t distract you during your dive due to a lack of comfort, warmth, or convenience. If you are too cold as a result of wearing the wrong wetsuit, you may even be forced to cut your dive short.<\/p>\n
Limited range of motion can also be frustrating as you try to navigate underwater. Unfortunately, you don’t always know how a wetsuit will perform until you have tested it in the water. To help in your search for a quality wetsuit, we reviewed a few great wetsuits including the 3mm Bare Velocity wetsuit from the Velocity Ultra line.<\/p>\n
Bare is a company that has been making wetsuit and drysuits since 1972. They were founded by two divers who wanted to make the best suit possible, and the brand continues to chase that goal today. They are constantly looking for ways to innovate wetsuits and drysuits which has led to many advanced features and technology being implemented into their suits. The goal when Bare first began was not to make money; it was always to make a great suit.<\/p>\n
Unlike a drysuit, a wetsuit does intentionally allow some water to enter the suit while you are diving. Once your body heat has warmed the water, the suit works to keep that warm water close to your body so that you can maintain that warmth as you dive.<\/p>\n
If the suit is loose or ill-fitting, more cold water can continue to sneak in, leaving you with a constant stream of cold water on your skin which would reduce your body temperature and drain your body’s energy as it tries to heat the water. This is why a good wetsuit is valuable; you will conserve energy and maintain a healthy temperature even when surrounded by cold water.<\/p>\n
The Velocity Ultra line of wetsuits is a men’s wetsuit line designed with warmth and comfort in mind. Many wetsuits will sacrifice warmth for comfort or vice versa, but Bare uses advanced technology, materials, and construction to achieve both of those things simultaneously. This is what really makes the Velocity Ultra stand out from the other wetsuits on the market.<\/p>\n
To achieve comfort, the Bare Velocity wetsuit uses a progressive full-stretch construction which is unique to the Bare brand. This is unique because it is a proprietary blend of three different full-stretch fabrics. Wearing this suit is so comfortable, it has been compared to wearing flannel pajamas.<\/p>\n
One diver, after testing multiple other suits and then changing into the Velocity Ultra, said he was the most comfortable he had been all day. Not only is the Bare Velocity wetsuit made with a comfortable fabric, but the construction of the suit also focuses on comfort. For example, the seams are strategically placed so that they won’t be in the diver’s underarms.<\/p>\n
The Bare Velocity wetsuit uses Ultrawarmth Celliant Infrared Technology to provide more warmth without sacrificing comfort. This technology reflects your body heat back toward your body rather than allowing it to escape, effectively converting your body heat into infrared energy. Minerals are woven into the fabric to create this heat-reflecting barrier in the suit. Zippered ankles provide easy doffing and donning on this suit which adds to the comfort and convenience provided by its other features.<\/p>\n
The Bare Velocity wetsuit is available on Amazon, from Bare, or from various diving gear retailers. It can be purchased for around $260.<\/p>\n
[amazon box=”B07193NB2W,B004I44QK4,B07P8BHQF2,B015HVTD3G” template=”list”]<\/p>\n
We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare.<\/p>\n
[amazon box=”B07193NB2W”]<\/p>\n
The seams are strategically located on this suit for your comfort, avoiding the underarm area. The seamless underarms also provide durability and mobility. The mobility is due to more underarm stretchiness in the absence of seams. The durability is improved because underarm seams generally take a lot of pressure from arm movement, so a lack of seams there prevents potential damage and pulling apart that can occur.<\/p>\n
Bare uses a flat-seam construction throughout the entire suit which gives it additional stretch and comfort. Flexibility and resistance to abrasion were also\u00a0considered when choosing where seams and different fabrics should be placed in the wetsuit.<\/p>\n
The material used for this suit is both comfortable and warm. The Bare Velocity wetsuit features a proprietary blend of full-stretch fabrics as well as patented warmth technology. Overall, the materials are relatively high quality.<\/p>\n
\u200bThe \u200bBare Velocity wetsuit<\/a> was made with design in mind. Every detail was carefully contemplated to produce a suit that achieves a wonderful blend of comfort and warmth. The full-stretch material provides an excellent range of motion, and areas of the suit which might suffer damage have been reinforced with stronger materials. Because of this, the suit will maintain a better condition than some other wetsuits.<\/p>\n The Bare Velocity wetsuit comes with a 2-year warranty. This is twice as long as the other wetsuits we reviewed and speaks to the fact that Bare believes in the quality of their suits.<\/p>\n [amazon box=”B004I44QK4″]<\/p>\n The O’Neill Reactor wetsuit<\/a> is relatively affordable, but is still a fairly high-quality wetsuit. It features a flatlock construction which does a pretty good job at preventing water from entering the suit at the seams. This type of seam is also more comfortable than a wetsuit with overlock stitching, which is what would be used on lower quality wetsuits.<\/p>\n One unique feature in the O’Neill Reactor wetsuit is the superseal neck. This feature keeps water from entering at the neck while also providing comfort by preventing irritation. Like the Bare Velocity wetsuit, some precautions were taken against damage from abrasion. The O’Neill suit tackled this issue by providing Krypto Knee Padz which will extend the life of the suit by protecting the knees.<\/p>\n The seams on this wetsuit are joined with a flatlock stitch. This is not the best stitching method, but it will do a better job at preventing water penetration than the overlock stitching which is used in a cheaper, lower-quality wetsuit. Most mid-range suits use the flatlock stitch, and it does improve the seam quality a bit.<\/p>\n Like most wetsuits, this one is made with neoprene. Spandex and Nylon were used to provide flexibility on the knees. Other than the Krypto Knee Padz, the materials used are fairly standard.<\/p>\n This wetsuit features a simple yet effective design. Nothing about it really stands out, but it is designed rather well.<\/p>\n O’Neill provides a limited one-year warranty on the workmanship and materials of the Reactor wetsuit.<\/p>\n [amazon box=”B07P8BHQF2″]<\/p>\nWarranty<\/h4>\n
O’Neill Reactor<\/h3>\n
Seams<\/h4>\n
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Material<\/h4>\n
Design Quality<\/h4>\n
Warranty<\/h4>\n
XCEL \u200bInfiniti<\/h3>\n