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I have heard that recent Petzl undersuits are falling apart and that one should only purchase old stock as a result. any views on this? I have also found Petzl caving suits (oversuits and undersuits) impossible to obtain outside of the US (I live in the UK). Has Petzl stopped manufacturing caving clothing? I cant find mention of such items on any of the Petzl websites.

I remember reading somewhere that Petzl continued production of another companies suit (companies' name began with T and had 3 letters I think) as the Styx.

If you go here and do a search for oversuits there might be something to point you in the right direction (I had a brief look):
http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php

Some other oversuit manufacturers/suppliers that might interest you:

http://www.warmbac.com/

http://www.upandunder.co.uk retailer

http://www.meander.sk/

http://www.daleswear.co.uk/

http://www.caving-supplies.co.uk/ retailer

http://www.inglesport.co.uk/caving.php retailer

http://w01-0504.web.dircon.net/acatalog/index.html retailer

http://www.berniescafe.co.uk/ retailer

The Styx is for sale here (European site):
http://shop.berghut.be/grid.aspx?art=140301___

and another:
http://en.climbing-shop.com/petzl_kombinezon_jaskiniowy_styx_str-prod_id-305.htm

http://www.adfunture.de/index.php?MenueID_01=4&ShopID_01=25&ShopID_02=201&ArtikelID=662

Try searching for "Petzl Sud" or "Petzl Styx"

After all that your right there doesn't seem to be any UK suppliers selling Petzl oversuits

Some more info:
http://www.sat.dundee.ac.uk/arb/speleo/suppliers.html

fuzzy-hair-man wrote:I remember reading somewhere that Petzl continued production of another companies suit (companies' name began with T and had 3 letters I think) as the Styx.

TSA - sadly also no longer available.

I have heard a lot of good things about the Meander Powerstrech Undersuit.

It isn't cheap but then neither were the offerings from Petzl.

Yep your correct... Petzl took over TSA. Petzl suits became unobtainable in the UK when the petzl importer stopped importing them. Their excuse was that Petzl could no longer obtain the original PVC and that the replacement was either falling apart or delaminating ( I can't quite remember which). I suspect it was because due to obscene markups in the UK Petzl suits were retailing for £135.00 (about $US266 !!! compared with $US159 at IMO) and could not compete with Meander suits at £75 - £85 ($US148 - $US168). I cave in a Meander suit and I love it but I would love one of the old TSA suits if I could find one. It says something about the durability of these suits that some hard, cavers (who cave weekly) are still using them.

The question I posted was mainly about Petzl undersuits. I have been told that these are no longer available due to Petzl discontinuing the line. Has Petzl given up on caving suits due to lack of durability? I get the impression that caving is now of little interest to the company.

I'll have to see what is around when I'm caving in the French Alps in a couple of months