New Vintage Style Beavertail Wetsuit Jacket

[INFIDELxx]

I blew 1500.00 on a 9.5 (19mm on the torso) Urchin grade/farmer john/beavertail with nickle snaps and zippers. M&B makes very nice old school stuff. But mine is only good for High altitude dives in winter (it's hot!). Custom wetsuits are a thing of beauty if a true craftsman makes them. How vintage are Unisuits?

[Ron]

Holy crap man, that's a lot of money! I only paid 800 bucks for my drysuit! Do you have pictures to post?

[1969ivan1]

Nemrod, Spiros at diveskin is a GREAT guy and has done great work for Barb and I both. You really should give him a try and tell him Barb sent ya .

TheSCUBAmuseum.com gives DIVESKIN.net 10 thumbs UP!

[JES]

Nemrod, Spiros at diveskin is a GREAT guy and has done great work for Barb and I both. You really should give him a try and tell him Barb sent ya .

TheSCUBAmuseum.com gives DIVESKIN.net 10 thumbs UP!

I think Spiros is a great guy as well but cannot get past the fact that my suit doesn't fit properly in a several places and that even after extensive communication with him the beavertail wasn't even close to vintage.

Finally, he's located in Greece. That makes it really inconvenient to send anything back for corrections and/or repairs.

[ElanS2]

Folks,

The O’Neill O’riginal Beaver Tail looks to be a viable substitute in place of a true replica. The price certainly is attractive. My question is would it be possible to replace the snaps for the tail with the proper turn buckles? Is there enough reinforcing associated with the snaps so they could be cut off and replaced? It would add a more authentic touch.

John S.

[jamiep3]

Folks,

The O’Neill O’riginal Beaver Tail looks to be a viable substitute in place of a true replica. The price certainly is attractive. My question is would it be possible to replace the snaps for the tail with the proper turn buckles? Is there enough reinforcing associated with the snaps so they could be cut off and replaced? It would add a more authentic touch.

John S.

I've seen vintage suits with turn buckles, snaps(my White Stag short sleeve jacket), and really crappy metal hook and loop fastenings (my US Divers that I bought used in 1978). The turn buckles probably are the best though.

[GKAM74]

Nemrod, Spiros at diveskin is a GREAT guy and has done great work for Barb and I both. You really should give him a try and tell him Barb sent ya .

TheSCUBAmuseum.com gives DIVESKIN.net 10 thumbs UP!

I think Spiros is a great guy as well but cannot get past the fact that my suit doesn't fit properly in a several places and that even after extensive communication with him the beavertail wasn't even close to vintage.

Finally, he's located in Greece. That makes it really inconvenient to send anything back for corrections and/or repairs.

Ι think you have the wrong Kartelias

The original is Nikos Kartelias (http://www.kartelias.gr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). He has been in business since 1965 and is an ex-forces guy. One of the very first ones trained as SEALs in the US before this branch was established in Greece according to the American standards.

He continues to be a top supplier for commercial and professional divers and still makes custom suits based on the old patterns with the beavertail. Spiros is family and used to work in the old shop until he decided to part business and use the name to create his own brand (http://www.spiroskartelias.gr/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). Now, both have big chunks of the local market, and surprise-surprise don't get along very well.

In any case. If you want vintage style, MTM suits contact the original Kartelias. These great custom suits won't be available for much longer. Everyone is going mainstream these days...

/GKAM

[vshearer]

Has anyone tried one ot these?

http://70.84.16.55/products.asp?pg=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any opinions? I like the 2MM thickness for southern waters, so that isn't a problem.

[Eric S]

I stumbled accross this suit on the internet
http://www.jmjwetsuits.com/styles.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Scroll down on the page and you will see the skin out old school surf suit they make.

I'm the culprit that got Infidelxx to buy that 9.5. Don at M&B makes a hell of a suit (for a price). I have two of his suits, both 1960 pattern old school beaver tail w/ attached hood. Urchin divers up in my area still use this model because it's the warmest design ever created.
I get them with stainless twist locks, no arm or leg zippers, and 3/4 zip up the front in the center (not offset).
The first one I got was made out of 1/2" (12.5 mm) Rubatex G-231N That's 1" (25 mm) on the chest!!!!! It doesn't even aknowledge cold.

A slick skin suit inside and out can be had. I looked into getting the material directly from Rubatex and a gal emailed me back and said I could buy sheets just like anybody else. The G-231 comes in imperial measurements of 3/16", 1/4", 5/16", 3/8" and 1/2". The sheets are 40" x 120"
I have prices if anybody wants them.
I looked into getting Monterey Bay Wetsuits (Cricket) to make me a pattern and I was going to cut and glue together my own suit. I just haven't gotten that far yet.

Don down at M&B said he would make me one (this is before I did my own research on Rubatex) but he said he could only get 1/4" and the suit would be about $1200.

I may just measure out one of the suits I have and make my own pattern and do everything myself. I may try and get just some generic neoprene somewhere cheap so I can do a practice run and not ruin an expensive sheet of G-231

[1969ivan1]

Well, if you ever get it down you would probably have some customers from this site......Please keep us posted.

[John Lundy]

I checked out JMJ and their suits are custom made. I wonder if they would be willing to make a jacket with a vertical rather than angled zipper?

John

[crimediver]

I am also partial to the Bares or DUI suits. I have a deep pocket when it comes to drysuits as the state pays for mine for work. For recreational diving either works well. For public safety diving in contaminated water I need a vulcanized rubber suit but for comfort and durability I like the tri-lam drysuits from DUI and Bares. If I had to pick between them I think DUI would win as I have had a smalll issue from Bares when I ordered one that just did not fit right.

[Emilio Largo]

I'm placing an order with JMJ Wetsuits for the 3mm slick beavertail jacket tomorrow. It's custom made and they confirmed the zipper can be straight down the center rather than angled, at no charge. Best part is it should only take a week to 10 days to make.

[Bryan]

I am intrigued....My Spiros suit is a bit chilly and I was thinking of a replacement before SD VII. Keep us posted!

[Ron]

I'm interested as well, let me know if it works out and I'll get one. It's either that or I am pulling the trigger on a Harvey's orca.