Henderson has a long history of making excellent wetsuits and the Hyperstretch is a good example of this. All you need to do is pick these suits up to feel the quality.

The Hyperstretch is marketed as an easy suit to pull on, although not quite as warm as most stiffer suits. This isn't marketing hype. I've had speedos that were tougher to get into than the Hyperstretch. This suit literally slides on. You definitely do pay for that ease in warmth, though. In waters much below 55 degrees, I find myself starting to shiver about 25 minutes into the dive. This isn't a huge deal unless I'm on a boat making a two-tank dive. If air temps aren't warm, I'll have a difficult time heating up enough to be comfortable on the second dive. And regardless of the time of year, offshore, north of Cape Cod, water temps in the 40s are always a possibility.

The suit has some other drawbacks, chief among them, their hard plastic kneepads. As I said in the intro to wetsuits, these cause the suit to conform to the shape of the pad rather than to the shape of the leg. After putting the Hyperstretch on, I can look down the legs and see the neoprene, which is otherwise form-fitting, pulling away at the knee. In addition, the pads are small and badly placed. They sit over the knees while you're standing or swimming. Kneel down, though, and they rotate to the outside, leaving your knees with little protection beyond the neoprene itself.

I've also been told by one dive shop owner that he's had customers put their feet right through the suit just above the knee of the Gold Core while trying it on. The pad is so stiff that it creates a weak point. This is probably less of an issue with the Hyperstretch because it slides on so easily. And to be honest, donning the suit carefully should make this less of an issue with the Gold Core as well. Point your toes, man!

Divers who dive mainly from the beach, only during the warmest months and for whom ease of donning is of primary importance, can probably dive with the Hyperstretch and feel comfortable. Ditto for those who dive mainly south of Cape Cod. For anyone else, I'd advise against it.

Jerry Shine