I had been a warm water diver for over 35 years but never had the opportunity to pursue cold water diving until 2007 when my job took me to Moscow, Russia, for a couple years. Looking for ways to make new friends I hooked up with a local dive club that had a liveaboard based near Murmansk in the far North of Russia. That was something I just had to try. So in mid 2007 I began a year long project to prepare for a summer 2008 adventure to the Arctic Circle. After getting my dry suit certification, the first item on my new equipment wish list was the right dry suit for the job. Other than the trilam suit I used for my dry suit certification and a couple dives at Virginia Beach in summer 2007, I had no knowledge of, or experience with, dry suits. My Russian dive buddies almost unanimously favored neoprene suits. I tried them a few times in quarry dives near Moscow but, being used to the unrestricted movement of warm water diving where I rarely wore any protection, the neoprene was way too bulky, buoyant, and restrictive. I was doing lots of online shop and compare among all the major dry suit manufacturers right about the time that the Fusion was introduced and the first postive reviews were coming out. I was immediately intrigued by the design concept and the idea that a dry suit didn’t have to be as bulky and restrictive as traditional designs. My lingering concern was whether it would be warm enough for Arctic waters. After talking to a number of experienced cold water divers and being assured that, with the right undergarments, it wouldn’t be a problem I decided to take the plunge. I ordered my Fusion with MK3 undergarment and have to say that I couldn’t have made a better decision. The Fusion/MK3 combination proved to be everything that I had hoped for: comfortable, flexible, warm. Couldn’t be more pleased.
