# suit recommendations



## Simon Mellick (Oct 31, 2006)

Any recommendations for brands/styles of suits? 

Just how thin can you go before it's dangerous? 

Keep hearing about "hidden body suits", any merit?

Simon


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

Ever seen a leather and jute suit :mrgreen: especially the ones who are used at trials aren´t much :wink:


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## Simon Mellick (Oct 31, 2006)

Is a thinner suit going to take a more skilled decoy to keep from getting hurt?


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## Selena van Leeuwen (Mar 29, 2006)

Hurt is part of the game :wink: 

Our decoy at the club (and best mate) is also a national KNPV decoy, he is alway full of bruises after a trial. At the club he uses a double or triple layer jute suit and neoprane (sp?) protection. It is the wetsuit stuff on his arms or bandages like you would use on a horse.

On this site there is a movie of Tyr where he is decoying and the movie a placed of our Robbie he did the stick attack.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

What type of work you are doing will determine the type of suit you want. IE mainly training, competition, leg dogs, upper body dogs, etc.

Personally I like the Demanet suits, they aren't cheap but they last a long time and are excellent quality. And aren't any more expensive than many other brands. If you are only going to have 1 suit I like a semi-comp. Light enough to do OK in trials, but heavy enough for daily use in training. You can get various styles depending on if you are working a lot of upper body dogs, or mainly leg dogs.


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## Simon Mellick (Oct 31, 2006)

It's personal protection work. He's probably 50/50 between upper and lower body. 
Hard bite, but usually not that deep, which suggests I could get away with a lighter suit?
Just figured the lighter the suit, the more realistic. When I see suit work, especially in some of the Ray Allen stuff, I can't help but imagine people are training their dogs to fight that marshmellow man from ghostbusters.
Although, I'm sure as far as the dog's concerned, a suit is a suit is a suit...

Simon


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## Jerry Lyda (Apr 4, 2006)

I like the Demanet suit as well.


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## Chip Blasiole (Jun 7, 2006)

I have been using a Rocasport suit (training suit) for the past three years. They make a training suit which has the most protection, a semi-competition and a competition suit which is the lightest. If you are going to be taking a lot of bites from hard biting dogs, the training suit is best, and it holds up very well. It is not too bulky at all. They are well made and more affordable because they are made in Mexico where the labor is cheaper. The jacket is more like a Kimono style and you can customize it to your liking. If you get a Rocasport suit, add an inch or two to your measurements, especially for the bottom of the jacket as it tends to be a little short-waisted if you don't. You can get them through Castle K-9. You will still get some uncomfortable pinch bites with the training suit, so I would not recommend a lighter suit. A suit is just a big sleeve to the dogs, so there is nothing more realistic about a lighter suit except for the increased pain and bruises.


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## jay lyda (Apr 10, 2006)

You just need do make sure that it is something that you can move good in. I'd rather have a thinner suit and be able to move better than a thick heavy suit just to try to keep from feeling anything. You can always wear padding under the suit if you want. Sometimes I wear neopreme on my arms to help a little, but Im not really too much worried about the pain. A lil pain is good, it kicks me in another gear!  I like the Demanet suits, once they get broken in, they give you alot of movement.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

If you don't like the pinching then buy the neoprene gauntlets, they don't affect mobility, they don't add thickness to the suit, they just slide onto your arms for those pain in the ass dogs 

I think RayAllen sells a very thin gauntlet, never used it before, but I have used some slightly thicker ones about 1/2", ones that only cover the upper arms not the entire arm, you'll never feel a thing n it lets you go with the lighter weight suit.

Actually I have a pair of semi-competition Demanet pants that I'd be willing to sell, they are on the big side for me since I was sharing the suit with someone else, but if I can sell the pants to someone (don't have the jacket) then I will just buy a whole new suit that is exactly my size  The pants are navy blue and don't have much use on them at all, not even broken in yet! PM me if interested.


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## Chip Blasiole (Jun 7, 2006)

The thin neoprene gauntlets that I have used were pretty much useless. The arm pads that people use for football and martial arts are about 3/4" thick and prevent pinch bites, especially for back/tricep bites.


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## jay lyda (Apr 10, 2006)

I have a pair of Mcdavids, (neoprene) they fit from my wrist to the inside of my elbow. They are thin, but they work good for me.


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## Mike Burke (Jan 28, 2007)

I use a Demanet Semi. Comp..... and a Danny Mason competition... Both suits are very well made.


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## Paul Coffman (Jul 24, 2006)

If you are looking for PP suit work, go buy the Ray Allen hidden suit. You WILL take a short beating but you CAN hide it. It's like taking bites with a hidden sleeve. I have used one and aside from all the other Ray Allen BS, it can serve a purpose.


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## Jerry Lyda (Apr 4, 2006)

Jay got his new suit yesterday. He'll tell ya'll all about it I'm sure.


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## Andy Larrimore (Jan 8, 2008)

I have a Roca suit and have used the Demanet suit since my purchase of the Roca suit. The Roca simply is not as good in quality or protection but it is a little cheaper. Forget the Ray Allen suit it is pure junk!!


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## Andy Andrews (May 9, 2006)

Can someone tell me what kind of the suit the decoy in this video is wearing? Who makes it and where can you buy them?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5040729791244978920

What I like about this suit is that it's thin and close fitting, and that it doesn't seem as soft as most of the suits on the market. There just seems to be less 'loose' material there to bite instead of a limb. And by that I mean, in some of the various suit work footage I've seen, the part of the suit that the dog is biting is stretched away from the decoy's body like a bungee cord. What good is that?



Andy.


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## Hoyt Yang (Dec 26, 2007)

Paul Coffman said:


> If you are looking for PP suit work, go buy the Ray Allen hidden suit. You WILL take a short beating but you CAN hide it. It's like taking bites with a hidden sleeve. I have used one and aside from all the other Ray Allen BS, it can serve a purpose.


I am actually in the market to purchase a 'hidden suit.' Paul, have you, or anyone else tried Ray Allen's hidden suit? I am not sure if Demanet makes one, but I am looking for the best quality and what simulates a 'real bite' to the dog.


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## Phil Dodson (Apr 4, 2006)

> I have instructed at a seminar hosted by a PD which has 2 of them. They work fine. I have no complaint with them. Teams that had never worked with one really were impressed also.


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