We have already in the past presented and tested the XT Diving Pro 5 mm Heiwa wetsuit used by George Vasiliou, 2016 World Spearfishing Champion in Syros, and the results, quality and performance wise, were outstanding. Today, we present the Yamamoto 45 smooth 7 mm jacket and 6 mm externally lined pants.
Materials and protections
Amazingly soft Yamamoto 45 is immediately felt already when wearing and taking off both jacket, in smooth outside and open cell inside neoprene, and the pants, which are amazingly soft even though they are externally lined. This is thanks to the Nylon 4000, which is super stretch, positioning itself among the very top of all externally lined neoprenes on the market.
The chest reinforcement is internal with a 5 mm thick patch, so externally the jacket is completely smooth. This improves to the maximum softness, but evidently can reduce the strength of the area where the speargun sternal support is positioned on the chest. Still, sometimes discontinuity of a smooth neoprene connected to a lined one in the chest area, if not well designed, can determine weaker areas than a one-piece smooth neoprene sheet.
Other protections are only on the arms, with a Supratex-like solution from elbows down to the wrists, making such area extremely strong and protective, but definitely harder and less elastic.
Neoprene thicknesses available are eight: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 mm, a great choice!!!
Finishings and cuts
Wrists, ankles and face have folded externally smooth neoprene profiles, which are not tight, but extremely elastic, increasing comfort, but potentially not thermal insulation.
The jacket is internally completely open cell, except for the beavertail and a semicircular area where the hole for the frog closure is positioned, where neoprene is internally lined.
The number of neoprene foils of the jacket are very limited to obtain a clean external design. Even the underarm area is not made with an additional rhomboidal piece of neoprene, but with one single piece covering all the way along the lower part of the arm, interrupted only by the Supratex protection insert. With the same philosophy, the rear part of the jacket is made with one single large piece of neoprene.
The completely externally lined pants have a high waist measured by AP 34 cm at the front and 42 cm at the rear. The upper profile of the pants is reinforced with a nylon strip all along.
The wetsuit received is black, but can be easily requested with many different camouflages, each with a specific color base.
Special solutions
The XT Diving Pro smooth jacket and lined pants have in the simplicity of their cuts their strength for what concerns resistance. What amazes is the softness of the entire wetsuit, with the pants being really special with an elasticity that is absolutely comparable with the softest open-cell smooth neoprene.
Plus and Minus
Plus
- Amazing softness
- For Winter use probably the best solution is smooth jacket and lined pants
- 8 possible thicknesses of the neoprene, available in a different solution for jacket and pants permit the perfect choice
Minus
- Wrist and ankles profile being not tight do not insure an additional sealing effect
- The absence of an externally smooth band on the pants waist does not seal the contact area between them and the internal part of the jacket
For the complete data chart of the XT Diving Pro wetsuit click here.
