Charles Hood tries a custom suit from Namron for size   |
Namron Custom Wetsuit • from £90
Bright colours generally dominate watersports attire. Sailing waterproofs are often red or yellow with copious highly reflective tape on the cuffs, across the chest and on top of the hood. The surfing community specialises in wacky and trendy-looking gear. Water-skiers and wakeboarders have colour-coordinated life vests, wetsuits and boats.
So why is that a sport that relies on being seen at sea and underwater is dominated by black garments? Hardboat skippers pull their hair out trying to fathom this one. Search and rescue (SAR) teams denounce the use of an all-black colour scheme at sea as downright dangerous, but it seems the majority of divers prefer looking like representatives of the SBS. The other people who hate it when divers are dressed all in black are magazine art directors. A photo of a black-suited diver, with black BC, black mask and black fins set against the darkness generally found at depth, often looks like a gloomy silhouette when printed.
What you need is a colourful suit. If you can’t find a suitable one in your dive shop, Namron may have the solution. The company specialises in making neoprene items. Ever seen an actor on The Bill falling into freezing cold water and wondered how he or she survives? Odds on they are wearing a flesh coloured wetsuit made by Namron. Want to use webbed-fingered gloves if you have restricted movement in your legs? Namron makes these as well. In fact, the firm makes virtually anything you want out of neoprene.
As DIVE’s art editor likes brightly coloured pictures of divers, we challenged Namron to make us a good-looking 3mm yellow wetsuit with black trim. As well as looking the part, it also had to be easy to put on and take off and should keep the diver warm. The result was superb.
Initially, Namron sent us a blank design featuring several panels, and we simply selected what colour we required in each panel. After a few trial mock-ups, the eventual style was selected; two weeks later, the suit arrived. It was tested in the Maldives, where the wearer declared it to be one of the easiest suits to put on that she had ever worn, and that it felt comfortable underwater. After an hour’s diving in 29°C water, she didn’t feel the cold either.
The cost for this particular suit would be in the region of £150, which, for a made-to-measure fit and tailored colour scheme, represents great value for money.
DIVE says…
Customised suit looks and feels great
Value 9 Performance 9
Contact
Namron • 0114 287 7070 • http://www.namronuk.com