The new Cressi Scorfano astonishes for the many ideas, some innovative, brought by Cressi on the spearfishing wetsuit.
General description: neoprene, camouflage and lining
The new Cressi Scorfano catches the eye immediately for its dark green camouflage graphic, obtained with a special photographic printing of the zoomed image of the sea floor. This graphic adds to the different grades of brown of the other spearfishing wetsuits, such as the Cernia, the Tecnica and the Tracina. The border of the face is though black, and the white Cressi logo on the forehead is pretty evident. For the lovers of camouflage this might not be the best solution, but certainly the Cressi name can be darkened with a water-resistant marking pen. The neoprene utilized is the Sheico, selected, as Cressi points out, of first quality type. The wetsuit received for the test showed though quite a few lines where the neopene was deeply squeezed. Cressi has indicated that there can be rare situations, such as this one, when a wetsuit has been kept for long under the pile of all the other wetsuits, during transportation. In this case Cressi suggests to the customer to ask for the change of the product. Still, of course, we must consider that some squeezed lines will be present on all wetsuits, even with the best possible quality of neoprene.
The lining is made with the extremely elastic Ultraspan by Cressi, a specific material that has the same great elasticity of the Lycra (a material that is superior to Nylon for elasticity, but is also more expensive), but a resistance to wear and to atmospheric agents which is instead extremely superior. A small limit, present on Ultraspan, and also on the Lycra, is the fact that the material tends to whiten when stretched in the orthogonal direction respect to the fibers, so the camouflage changes slightly.
Design details: innovative ideas and intelligent solutions
The Scorfano is very carefully designed, and each part of the wetsuit shows details and solutions that are precise and potentially very useful. First of all the wrists, ankles and face contour: these are manufactured, on the 5 mm wetsuit, with 3,5 mm internally smooth neoprene (externally lined), instead of open cell. Such solution on one side determines that the indicated areas are softer dew to the thinner neoprene, on the other the smooth surface makes the material adhere better to the skin, with greater sealing effect compared to the open cell solution.
The same smooth neoprene is used also on the waist belt of the trousers, which also works as Aquatop system, a very interesting solution by Cressi. This works by folding back the neoprene so that the smooth surface comes into contact with the open cell neoprene internal surface of the jacket, creating a partial sealing. Such solution is made to avoid the flow of cool water from the lower part of the jacket to the back of the spearo, especially when the capriole is made at the beginning of the dive.
Knees and elbows are covered with Supratex, a very resistant material which is also thick, giving good protection from hits on the rocks, but also extremely elastic, to a point that, pulling it, the feeling is of even greater elasticity than the Ultraspan material with which rest of the wetsuit is made. Cressi indicates that such protections are made specifically for comfort and for best longtime durability, which is much higher than the traditional stamped rubber covers.
Still on the durability side, Cressi has designed a very interesting solution, taken from the watertight wetsuits of the professional scuba divers (frogmen). The system is called Liquid Seal, and is a hand spread rubber that completely covers all the lines of the seams of the wetsuit. More than an increase of the thermal isolation, which can anyway be present in minimal part, the cover permits to have a strong protection of the seams from salt water and sun-rays, increasing by far the durability, especially in the areas of greater traction and more exposed to sun-rays, such as shoulders, back and rear neck.
The sternal reinforcement is made of 4 rounded shapes covered with a rough and resistant material that can resist to high strain given by the loading of the speargun on the chest. Between the neoprene of the wetsuit and such covers is positioned a 2.5 mm thick neoprene. This solution, aesthetically nice, does not convince us too much as the different shapes make a discontinuous protection. Moreover, such protection does not go down to almost the base of the jacket, while such solution would have been comfortable for different lengths of spearguns and loading techniques.
Of great importance and particularly well designed by Cressi is the pre-shaping of the wetsuit, in particular on the back, where the cut generates a slight V, that recalls the one of the dorsal spine, generating greater adherence to the body. The same pre-shaping is designed on the waist and the buttocks, where the protruding profile is copied.
Evidently also the classic pre-shaping of legs and arms is there. The shoulders are cut in a way that best accommodates different size shoulders.
First visual impressions
The gluing is well done, and so is the Liquid Seal rubber spread, that seems to give an incredible resistance to the seams, always well covered by the rubber. The rubber lines determined by this system appear to be though tougher than the neoprene of the wetsuit, and such solution will have to be tested in the sea to verify if it determines any comfort reduction effect. In general, the Scorfano wetsuit shows a construction focused to all details and best quality in manufacturing. The only weak point in this visual analysis is the limited sternal protection.
List and online prices
The Cressi Scorfano is available in the thicknesses of 5 and 7 mm, which can be bought separately. This is a very good solution for the customer, who can decide to buy only one piece between trousers and jacket, or buy them both but with different thicknesses. The list and online (in brackets some examples found on the web) prices are:
- Jacket 5 mm: 184,50 € (138,40 €)
- Trousers 5 mm: 134,50 € (107,60 €)
- Jacket: 7 mm: 204,50 € (149 €)
- Trousers 7 mm: 149 € (119,20 €)