The Beuchat Espadon Prestige and the Cressi Seppia wetsuits confirm their leadership in the spearfishing wetsuits category, and after winning in 2023, they conquer also the Best Choice 2024 by Apneapassion. Soft but resistant, refined in every detail, the two excellent wetsuits are tied for first place. A great entry in the finals of the Best Choice 2024 is the Sigalsub Hydra wetsuit, where the Italian company shows an amazing effort for a top quality product at a very competitive price. But it is the Beuchat Espadon, the high quality entry level spearfishing wetsuit by the French Company to win the Best Value 2024 by Apneapassion. A very high quality wetsuit below 200 euros in the 5 mm solution.
The two Best Choice winners, the Beuchat Espadon Prestige, and the Cressi Seppia, excel in so many characteristics, but they are not equal in all of them. Still, the final evaluation of the two winners of the Best Choice 2024 is the same. Both the wetsuits have an amazing cut which adapts, thanks to the excellent know how of the two companies, perfectly to almost all bodies, considering the two products are not tailor made.
Beuchat Espadon Prestige – Unbeatable comfort and great details
The Beuchat Espadon Prestige deserves to win again the Best Choice together with the Cressi Seppia. First of all the French wetsuit is by all means the softest externally lined internally open cell neoprene standard wetsuit on the market. The softness of the neoprene and the Ultra-soft Elaskin X 8.8 external lining is unbeatable and makes such wetsuit as soft as smooth-open cell neoprene solutions. All the possible details of this French cut wetsuit are top level, with the borders of the face, wrists and ankles folded with externally smooth neoprene.
The Long John pants can be easily cut thanks to the Precut System (Beuchat exclusive), while the Braca Concept (also Beuchat Exclusive) is a simpler alternative to the pissette. Such an amazing wetsuit, which has no equals for what regards comfort, is slightly more delicate than the Cressi Seppia. The cut follows evidently the French traditional design. All details can be found on our X-Rays article.
Cressi Seppia – Comfort, details and resistance
Indeed the Cressi Seppia confirms to be a top of the line product. All top quality details, like the borders of face, wrists, ankles and waist are with folded externally smooth neoprene. The Cressi Seppia puts together a camouflage solution which slightly changes colour when wet, united with the image breakdown system. The comfort of the Cressi Seppia is amazing, with also an excellent softness, but just slightly less than Beuchat Espadon Prestige. On the other hand, the resistance of the external lining of the Italian wetsuit seems to be ahead of the French. The Aqua Stop System by Cressi is a nice system to regulate the thermal insulation. The cut follows evidently the Italian traditional design. Here a nice video presentation of the Cressi Seppia.
Sigalsub Hydra – The Signature Move of Sigal
The Sigalsub Hydra conquers the final of the Best Choice 2024 by Apneapassion just behind two legends like Beuchat and Cressi. It si quite amazing how Sigalsub, at its first real attempt to launch a spearfishing wetsuit, manages to reach such important goal.
The neoprene is an excellent compromise between softness, resistance to cut and tear, and to squeeze. The innovative design of the chest and back was developed to facilitate breathing without causing constriction. As a result, the Sigalsub Hydra is also an extremely adaptable wetsuit. In fact, all the athletes of the International Apneapassion Team have felt good adherence and comfort with this wetsuit. The medium density Jako neoprene is excellent. Soft and resistant, it does have a little more buoyancy than other types of neoprene.
The external pattern of the neoprene is innovative and extremely nice. It combines the characteristics of color camouflage with image disruption. Definitely well designed, the Italian wetsuit has particular attention for the protections on the legs and the arms. In Supratex, such areas turn in the internal part of the legs and arms to permit the positioning on the rocks with a strong grip.
Also key are the finishes of the wrists, ankles and hood, made of super elastic lycra, so as not to tighten too much, while remaining resistant and sealing well. Furthermore, the edges are made with gluing and a special stitching system which allows maximum elasticity and softness, therefore very high comfort. The upper profile of the pants has a well-studied shape which perfectly covers the stomach and kidneys.
Beuchat Espadon – Amazing comfort
The Beuchat Espadon wins the Best Value 2024 by Apneapassion. The French high quality entry level spearfishing wetsuit is the best spearfishing wetsuit on the market in terms of value for money ratio. A simple, black, with net cuts of the face, wrists and ankles wetsuit, which at the same time gives an amazing sensation of comfort thanks to the cut and quality of the neoprene. Once more Beuchat expresses all its know-how and experience in the selection of the best neoprene even on a base price product.
On the 5 mm version no internal chest pad is present, but for this kind of wetsuit and thickness it ok. The Beuchat Espadon has, instead, neat solutions like chin closure with no stitching, double button jacket closure and red graphics plus white Beuchat lettering on the cap, which works great as signal at sea. The big white Beuchat logo on the back can also help in such way when the spearo is looking down. A very smart safety solution the latter, which all companies should apply.
The great comfort comes from the perfect cut, the seams and the pre-shaped design. The seams are positioned in a way that they are never present in the exact areas where elbows and knees bend. Arms, legs, and even the lumbar arch area are pre-shaped for a better-fitting of the wetsuit. The knees have wide segmented puffgum protections to resist to wear on the rocks. The pants have two bands to hang them easily.
Available in 3, 5, 7 and 9 mm, jacket and pants, the latter Long John or syandard, of the Beuchat Espadon can be sold separately, which makes the offer very complete.