After having presented the XT Diving Pro Abyss wetsuit with 7 mm smooth jacket and 6 mm lined pants, we have tested it with 13°C water.
Wearing and taking off the XT Diving Pro Abyss
A smooth open cell jacket is always more delicate and gets sticky between parts when worn and taken off. This is true also for the XT Diving Pro Abyss. Still, the thickness and the extreme softness of the neoprene, together with good resistance and great bondings, reduce risks of braking the jacket. In particular, the softness of the neoprene definitely helps wearing and taking of jacket and pants. Attention has anyway to be made by putting soap internally when wearing the jacket and a little also externally when taking it off. No risk for the lined pants, extremely soft, and easy to wear and take off.
Softness and elasticity
The jacket made in Yamamoto 45 which is definitely the softest neoprene we have ever tested, an amazing comfort when worn. This applies also to the pants, which are practically the best softness lined neoprene ever felt, equivalent if not beyond the Beuchat Espadon Prestige solution.
The jacket is soft in every area, except for the forearms, which are well covered by a fantastic and extremely resistant Supratex. This does not create any miscomfort as it is in an area that does not need to flex. The lined pants ahve no additional protection and have absolutely no weak point in terms of comfort.
Thermal insulation
The external smooth surface of the neoprene of the jacket of the XT Diving Pro Abyss permits to have a very dry and warm wetsuit out of the water. The effect is an extremely warm wetsuit also out of the water.
In the water the thermal insulation of the jacket of the XT Diving Pro Abyss is amazing, which together with the unbeatable comfort makes such wetsuit a sort os “cocoon” for the spearfisherman. Also the pants are great, even though a band around the waist with externally smooth neoprene would adhere better to the internal part of the jacket. This would make a better sealing.
Buoyancy
Such an extremely soft neoprene means it is low density, so more air bubbles (or bigger ones) in the neoprene. This generally means good thermal isolation, but also a little more squeezing effect and, mostly, more buoyancy. The latter we definitely felt during the test, and needed an additional kilo (12 vs 11) compared to other wetsuits of the same thickness.
Cut of the XT Diving Pro Abyss
The jacket has a good cut, with a feeling the waist area is a little wide. Probably this is due to the fact that softer neoprenes needs to be a little tighter than stiffer ones. The pants are very good and adhere perfectly to the body in every area.
Protections
The jacket of the XT Diving Pro Abyss, as anticipated, has Supratex protections on the forearms. These have been fantastic during the test to move using the arms amongst the rocks. The are no other protections on the jacket, not even on the sternal area, which could be a little delicate when loading very long spearguns. Attention will then be needed.
The pants are totally lined externally, but additional Supratex protections on the knees could help in shallow water spearfishing. This would infact lengthen the life of the pants.
Likes and dislikes in XT Diving Pro Abyss
Likes
- Best in class for softness and elasticity of the neoprene
- Amazingly warm jacket
- Perfect Supratex forearm protections
Dislikes
- Buoyancy is higher than standard
- Sternal reinforcement could be a good improvement
- Pisette should be added for such a top level wetsuit
