CCR Josh
"Rebreather Enthusiast"
As some of you may know, the Dive Addicts Exploration Team has been involved with several cave projects here in Utah over the last 5 years or so. Our latest is the most exciting, technical, promising and challenging yet. It involves navigating down/through over 1200 feet vertical over the course of about 1 mile (with our rebreathers and all equipment) - just to get to the terminal sump!
(More will be posted later on the Main Drain Diving Project #MDDP)
Because of the difficulty of the approach, and the fact that we would be hauling all our gear in and out with the help of only 2-3 other cavers, we went on a search for the optimal equipment for this type of diving.
Along with lighter regs and lights, we needed dry suits that fulfilled the following guidelines:
- Durable
- Light weight
- Good packability
- Dried Quickly (or could be wiped out with a chammy and be mostly dry)
- Easy to repair if nessesary
Just to give you a bit of background for this review - I am the manager of Dive Addicts, and yes, I do sell Fourth Element suits... along with at least 5 other brands of dry suits. I tend to use and abuse my equipment, a lot. I feel like this gives me a somewhat unique perspective since I can help my customers find the right suit for them. I personally previously owned 5 different dry suits, of differing styles, types and materials.
We already all dive Fourth Element undergarments when in dry suits, so we thought we would give the new Fourth Element Argonaut Kevlar suit a try. It is fairly light, packs small and feels durable as well. I had sold a couple to customers and heard only good things about them so far.
A few things to know about the Argonaut suits:
The Argonaut is a “standard shell suit” design, with a bunch of great features and plenty of options. Some of the features that attracted me to the Argonaut suit:
Breathable - being as we are in and out of the water when passing through sumps, breathability is a must. So far so good.
Plastic Zipper - I have used these zippers on other suits as well and sold them to a number of customers. I am in love. Lower profile, great durability, light-weight etc etc. Like I said, I am in love.
Large Thigh Pockets - These come standard on the suit - I always use thigh pockets. Being a cave diver, I like to eliminate the "danglees" and have standard storage places for my safety critical equipment (safety spool, arrows, line cutter etc etc) The standard pockets come with D-rings, bungee loops and a wetnotes sleeve. They also have a small zipper pocket on the flap of the pocket for smaller items. They also make the velcro flap easy to grab with dry gloves.
Sturdy Built in Boots - I like the FE boots so far (I picked the sturdier of the two options). We wanted built in boots for simplicity and weight. We needed sturdy boots for carrying tanks across rocks etc. Not too much to say, except they are working as advertised!
Diving with the suit so far...
Notice this thread has the words "First Dive" in it, so that I what I am reviewing - my first "in water" experience with the suit. If we were going to be using this suit for the MDDP, I wanted to make sure it could hold up to the abuse we would be putting it through. I wanted to make sure we could trust it, as in environment like Main Drain, if our suit didn’t do it’s job, lives would be in danger.
So.....What did I put it through for it’s first dip in the water? Kneeling on sharp rocks to kit up, squeezing through several tight sidemount restrictions and crawling through rocky holes and tunnels in order to see a newly discovered dry section in Rick’s Spring.... and then out again - all in 43 degree (6 c) water. About a 2 hour dive just to break it in.
In short:
The suit performed flawlessly, is comfortable, fits well, is holding up well so far and looks pretty dang good at the same time! It dried quickly & rolls up small. I haven't had to repair it yet (thankfully), so I guess I will have to wait and see about that bit. I can’t wait to take it on more adventures. I will continue to update this thread with any notable dives or events the suit accompanies me on.
If anyone has any questions or would like more info on the suit, just let me know! Also - if any of you have experience with the suit (breathable kevlar or cordura flex versions), please do share.
