- Hi guys, I'm Mark a scuba diving instructor
from Safe Diving.
- And I'm Mark Evans,
editor-in-chief of Scuba Diver Magazine.
- So in this series of videos,
we're gonna be taking a closer look
at an entire range of the newest scuba diving equipment
and all of these videos are sponsored by Mike's Dive Store,
the UK's largest scuba diving retailer,
and they hold most of these items in stock at all times.
- They're also doing their bit for sustainability
by moving to eco-friendly packaging,
and they also donate 1% of all their online profit
to the Marine conservation charity, Sea-Changers.
- So let's jump straight in.
(upbeat music)
- So, this is the 4th Element Hydra dry-suit.
4th Element were well known
for their range of under-suit,
most probably their big selling point
with the Xerotherm
and then they brought out the Xerotherm Arctic,
then they brought out the Halo 3D.
But then they also got into actually making dry-suits,
where they did the 4th Element Argonaut
which was their trilaminate suit.
But now they've joined into the world of neoprene.
Now they've obviously done their neoprene wetsuits
which had gone down very well, the Proteas II,
and the Xenos.
Well, some of those style points have come across
into their neoprene suit here.
Now, as you'd expect from 4th Element,
it's a stylish-looking suit, 4 mil compress neoprene.
We'll start from the bottom and work our way up.
So for anyone who's seen the Argonaut
this is effectively the same boot.
Nice solid sole on it,
even over rocky terrain, you don't feel anything through it.
So great, if you're doing shore diving,
for instance, in the Med off Malta for instance.
What I like about the Argonaut boots that are on here
is this ankle strap,
because you can tighten that up
and it just prevents a lot of air migration into your feet,
as well as just making them more comfortable
as it tightens up on there.
Moving up the leg,
it's got some nice little imprinted graphics on here.
So, if you are kneeling down,
it just gives you a little bit of
abrasion protection and everything.
Now moving up, might notice one thing missing
in the middle here.
And 4th Element opted not to put any pockets
on the Hydra.
It's kind of aimed at school use
or maybe entry-level divers getting into dry-suit diving.
It's not such a problem,
because 4th Element themselves
and the likes of Apeks and Scuba Pro do tech shorts,
which are like an over pair of shorts
with a pocket on one or both sides
that you can wear over the top of a wetsuit
or over the top of a dry-suit like this,
which will then give you pockets like you get
on the Argonaut or other dry-suits.
Worth bearing in mind,
if you're one of those who wants pockets.
Moving up a little bit further,
we've got Apollo valves.
Bit different to the normal valves that you tend to see
which tends to be Apeks.
I remember diving in something like this
about seven or eight years ago.
Biggest difference, instead of a button in the middle
that puts the air in,
this has actually got a side valve.
It takes a little bit of getting used to
if you're used to a push one.
But to be honest, I actually really liked it.
One thing I've found is with different jackets
that I've been testing over the years
is when they have a chest strap,
sometimes it can sit right across
where you're inflator is.
So it can be a little bit of a pain
that you have to get under the strap
to be able to depress the button.
With this, it's not such an issue,
because it's just to the side.
And even with thick gloves on,
you can find it and depress it with your thumb
or with your finger very easily.
So yeah, quite impressed with that.
And it's got a little bit swivel to it.
So depending on where your whip comes round
you've got some adjustment.
On the shoulder, you've also got an Apollo valve.
Now this was very different.
I've never dived in anything like this before.
Typical bloke, when I get a new one
and I'm faffing around with it,
never look at the instructions or anything,
I was actually trying to twist the whole thing,
a la, a normal dry-suit, exhaust valve.
But you're don't with this.
You have a button which is for dumping.
So, if you've got it locked off and you need to vent
in an emergency, or you just like doing it manually,
you can just literally press that and it will vent.
But it's to change it, instead of it being a whole twist,
it is literally that there.
You just click it up and down.
So it's not far to go between open and closed.
But I have to say I was really impressed with this.
It actually does vent very rapidly
when you've got it fully open.
So coming up in a nice horizontal trim position
I'll literally only had to lean slightly to my left
and it could just vent it out on the way up on an ascent.
So yeah, very impressed with that.
Being 4th Element, it's got a nice little graphics
in the middle, just one of their little style pointers.
Seals, it's got basically neoprene wrist seals
and it's got neoprene neck seal, nice and comfortable.
You can be in them all day with no dramas.
It's across, the back zipper
but you would normally expect that to be a metal zip,
'cause most across your back it is.
But they've actually used one of the plastic zips.
So it's very lightweight.
You just gotta remember to put a little bit
of the silicon gel on the end of the zip
because if you don't, you will get wet.
So just make sure that you do
actually read the instructions for that
and put a little bit of gel on and you should be fine.
So with the 4th Element Hydra,
you get this nice dry-suit bag,
which handily doubles as a changing mat
once you open it up, which is great,
if you're at some of the dive sites
you know they can be a little bit muddy.
You get a nice 5 mil 4th Element hood
which are one of the most comfortable hoods on the market
I do think, nice and flexible.
And then, in this little zippered pocket,
you get a little tube of zip lubricant
which as we said, is very important for the plastic zippers.
Make sure you've got that on the end,
otherwise you will get wet.
And you also get some seal saver,
which basically you can just put onto your latex seal,
onto your neoprene seals rather,
and it just helps condition them,
keep them in tip-top condition
for when you go diving next.
One thing that is missing from in here
that's actually fitted into the suit already
for when I dive
are some comfort insoles.
These basically slot inside the Argonaut boot
and just add a lot of support underneath your arch
and you're in-step
and just add some comfort as we discussed before.
A good entry level suit from 4th Element.
if you want to go down a trilaminate route,
then you can, but they're gonna be more expensive
and it does what it needs to do.
Being 4th Element, it's nice stylish looking suit.
Like I said, it kind of harks after their wetsuit range.
So all around, yeah, a good effort with the Hydra.
So remember, for this and a range of other dry-suits,
check out MikesDiveStore.com,
'cause they can basically offer plenty of advice
on what's available.
You can go in-store and they can size you up as well,
which with a dry-suit, you do not want it too big,
you don't want it too small.
So that's another option.
So remember, if you like what we're doing,
hit that Subscribe button, ring that Bell,
and you'll never miss out on any future episodes.
And for some related content,
if you look here, you'll find out all the reasons
about why you should be diving in a dry-suit.
And if you look here,
you've got some of the tips and hints
about diving in a dry-suit.
Enjoy, stay safe.