NPX Lucifer drysuit - where to buy, price?

[noxperpetua]

OK..now some one seems that have bought this drysuit....as I could'nt get mine as it was booked.... so any review or comment???

[kitesurfr]

Kitty Hawk Kites Kiteboarding has some of the Lucifer drysuits available in sizes M, L, & XL. You can reach them at 1-877-FLY-THIS. Sorry if this seems too commercial, but I see that you are looking for them and we have 'em! They look awesome!

[SurfboY]

aahh too bad they are so pricy, Would have been usefull this winter here!

[naishtyboy]

i am one of the few lucky people in the uk to own a lucifer suit and i can honestly say they are awesome the hood it great i even kite with it up in cold north winds and it keeps the wind chill down,and does not fill when you body drag ,Furthermore the hook mount is fine i have rode blind and toeside and yes it does twist a bit but not enough to cause damage, the suit is loose fitting enough to accomadate this style of riding,as regard to pyro suits i have owned both the pyro pro and the surf style suit i i feel that the lucifer suit is far better and does not leak like the ocean rodeo drysuits,and looks far cooler also front dryzip is a god send ,so if you have a chance to try the lucifer suit im sure you will be pleased
ocean rodeo are only peeed off cause lucifer have loads of pre-orders for the next batch of suits to come next year and did not think of the idea first.
but you will have to wait until march 2009 as there are no more in the uk until then..as there where only 5 suits that came to uk and they have all sold (£423)worth every penny

naishty boy

[SurfboY]

I want one too, instead of a new board ... so I can rip the entire winter here, probably be the only one with one
but can't find any ...
that's not gonne work

[kjo]

they have all sold (£423)worth every penny

naishty boy

1 post... pimping alert

[ALGOR]

but you will have to wait until march 2009 as there are no more in the uk until then..as there where only 5 suits that came to uk and they have all sold (£423)worth every penny
naishty boy

Patetic PUSH-UP attempt... huhuhuhuhhu 423£

[Kaptainthruster]

Hello All! John Zimmerman from Ocean Rodeo here. I obviously bring with me a degree of bias to this discussion but I thought I would weigh in with our company's view on the NPX suit.

It should be noted that Ocean Rodeo's first ever product was a drysuit. We were started in 2001 as an offshoot of Whites Manufacturing. Whites has made commercial, sport and military dive drysuits for over 50 years, including having been awarded numerous contracts for the US Navy Seals and Military. Ocean Rodeo was initially started as a division through which to sell above surface active water sport drysuits. I mention this because it is important to note that we have a lot more than just 7 years of drysuit manufacturing history behind us and it is this experience which has lent itself to the creation of the Pyro Pro, Lite and the exciting new Surf suits that we sell today.

One of the unique, and patented, features of our drysuits is the Captive Suspension Panel technology we employ at key flex points on the suit to allow for the suit to retain a fitted feel but still have insane mobility. The NPX suit does not feature these flex panels and as such must be overly baggy in order to accommodate your body's range of motion. In our opinion this negatively affects the performance of the suit by having excess materials and bulk built into the suit.

I guess the standard has been set by the Ocean Rodeo Pyro Pro, I would be interested to see how this thing measures up in terms of practicalities.

That's what I would want to know: quality of the zipper (CRUCIAL in a drysuit), how easy it is to zip/unzip (most guys with back-zips are asking for help), how durable it is (Pyro Pro has reinforced knees, etc).

As for the integrated hood, if it's cold enough that you NEED a drysuit, you'll need a hood too - but is it a 3mm+ neoprene hood for warmth, or just a loose windbreaker kind of thing? And does it drain properly? And what do you do with it in slightly warmer conditions where you don't need a hood?

There is a lot to address in this posting from Tom.

- Our suits all feature heavy duty brass toothed zippers. In our opinion the zipper used on the NPX suit is too flimsy to be trusted in the harsh wind, water and weather conditions associated with cold water riding. Lately we have been testing some exciting new zipper technology that is very likely to make its way into future suits we sell but you can rest assured that this integration will not be taken lightly or without extensive and exhaustive tests.

- Having seen the NPX suit at Surf Expo I can tell you that the hood has zero insulative value and is 100% aesthetic. Further, it is drained by one small hole. This hole is in no way sufficient to drain the hood quickly should you need to be swimming in the suit and is very likely to allow the hood to fill with water when you crash and then dump this water down your neck as you get back up. In our opinion the suit would benefit from having the hood removed all together or, in the least, having the hood properly vented for drainage and possibly insulated should you wish to wear it for more than just style.

- The suit does not feature any sort of re-enforcements and is, in that regard, more like our much more reasonably priced Pyro Lite than the similarly priced Pyro Pro which features rather extensive re-enforcements at all key areas of the suit.

What will happen when the spreader bar opens by accident? I'm not talking about un-hooked riding, but about the event where the strap securing the spreader bar to the harness gets disconnected on one side. This does not happen often but once in a while the shit hits the fan. With the bar hooked through the suit, is there any danger that the suit can rip?

Hannes

Hannes brings up a very legitimate concern. A second concern is the damage / strain that is likely to be caused to the suit from toe side riding as the harness swivels around the rider's waist. While I have not had an opportunity to test the NPX suit I would be quite concerned that this harness rotation would both strain the seams at the waist of the suit and "corkscrew" the suit around my waist, tightening it as the harness rotates due to the fact that the hook is pulled through a section of the suit and will therefore bring the suit with it as it rotates and not just slide over the suit's surface.

There is the other obvious concern with the lack of a handle pass attachment point that this snowboard style design brings up.

It sounds like a lot of the questions about the Lucifer are oriented towards swimming and body dragging.

The Lucifer has obviously been tested in a variety of situations and conditions like taking hard crashes, self rescue, and of course, swimming. As with any baggy drysuit on the market, swimming is much easier if you let some of the air out by pulling open the neck seal a little. This will give you less buoyancy and make it easier to swim faster. This is not really something specific to the Lucifer, but more of a general drysuit tip. In my opinion, the added buoyancy drysuits give you is a nice bonus in situations where you have to swim long distances.

Body dragging is no problem. The outer-cuffs that cover and protect the inner latex cuffs are pretty small so they don't really create much drag. Unless you're body-dragging feet-first, the "jacket" part doesn't create any drag. If anything, the jacket covers your harness and makes body dragging more streamline. Both the jacket and the hood have drainage holes in case they do scoop up any water.

Well, this is an obvious area of subjectivity but I have to say I do not believe JoshNoe has actually tried to swim in his drysuit - or any other. Swimming in any baggy drysuit is best described as a frustrating experience. Obviously if the weather is cold it is far better to be warm and dry while you do so but there is no question the more streamlined your suit the easier it is to swim in. Our Pyro Surf suit is the easiest suit we sell to swim in, comparing very favourably to a wetsuit. The Lite and Pro are both looser fitting and as such are sloppy to swim in. Given the absolutely unnecessary amount of excess material on the NPX suit I would say it is safe to assume it is not a pleasant suit to take a swim in. Further, as I mentioned above the drainage hole on the hood is just that, a small hole. Resuming riding from a crash is sure to have the hood half full with water for quite some time and certainly it is not sufficient to offer through flow enough to prevent drag if swimming with the suit.

We have held our opinion in check on this suit because, frankly, we expect that most consumers will have already come to many of these conclusions themselves. However, this thread built with some legitimate questions and I thought I would take the time to offer our company view on this new entrant to the market.

I can assure you of 2 things: 1) Should the new Lucifer suit have been made by us it would have been far better thought out and, 2) We see exciting new possibilities in the future for the direction Ocean Rodeo's Pyro line of drysuits and will endeavor to always keep them highly technical looking and stylish, however, we will always place function before fashion.

Ocean Rodeo. Performance over hype.

John Z - OR

John, I hear a lot of good things about your suits, but I don't think it's nice that one brand is talking negative about another. You should not try to score at the costs of NPX.

[kjo]

It´s bad mojo man...

[lucie]

but you will have to wait until march 2009 as there are no more in the uk until then..as there where only 5 suits that came to uk and they have all sold (£423)worth every penny

naishty boy

Not true. FC Watersports had some left at the weekend.