After becoming a convert to dry-suits last winter, and having troubles with the reinforcements on my old one coming totally un-stitched, I decided to fork out on an Ion Fusion dry-suit for this winter.

Out of the bag:
A nice looking suit, some of the panels are a bit strange, some are pin-striped and some not - but it's fair to say its a good looking suit. It feels quite weighty, but when you put it on, you don't notice the weight at all.
It has several pockets, which I don't really see the point of - or perhaps I lack some imagination of what I could put in them - maybe a bit of lunch perhaps?
The suit is well reinforced on the knees and bum, so hopefully will last a few winters.

Lets get it on:
I've worn a dry-suit before, so no problems there, although I'm sure people who had never worn one before may have problems with getting used to the seals. The suit goes on easy, and has an elastic waist, which means its sits on your hips nicely in the half-on position and doesn't need braces etc. The internal key pouch is great, and remote central locking car keys can be operated with the suit on, provided you can find the buttons!
The back zip can be closed by yourself with quite a bit of an effort, but its far better to get someone else to help, as there is quite a bit of resistance.

On the water:
As I mentioned above, once the suit is on the weight of the suit is no longer noticeable, flexibility is great for a dry-suit, and I didn't feel restricted at all, in whatever I did on the water. If you outstretch both your arms to the side, you will feel the presence of the dry-zip, but the only move which would require a movement like this would be some kind of crucifix dead-man.
As far as keeping the water out is concerned, the suit seems great. I was out for probably 4 hours today, and the fleece I was wearing underneath was pretty much dry all over. Its worth mentioning that the seals should be pulled up past the boney parts (wrists and ankles) of your arms and legs up to the fleshy parts, as the seal is much better then, and this will reduce any water coming in by a great deal.

Warmth:
I've tried this suit out twice now. Once on quite a mild day, where I wore nothing underneath and I was very toasty. Today was much colder, 6 Celsius with winds of 25mph gusting well over 30mph, so wore a fleece underneath, and came off the water perfectly warm and dry - I could have kept going all day really. I had the hood down most of the day, as I would have been too hot otherwise.

Overall:
The suit has a premium price point, but lives up to that well with its performance. The flexibility of neoprene is great which will also add a considerable amount of buoyancy and insulation, unlike the normal nylon suits.
Its early days, but seems like a really nice piece of kit. I'll post some pic's when I get around to taking some.

..

Great review Pete lad, ee've got far to much time on your hands! lol.

dem bones.

..

Pete in two minds about going for the fusion, how have you found it since your last review. The thing is I am looking for a winter suit that covers both kiting and windsurfing, not sure if the ion will allow the freedom of movement that you need when windsurfing. The other option is going for a cheaper drysuit and a winter wetsuit. i'm a little concerned that drysuit may be cold in the water if you have a swim back to shore so the ion might be a good compromise

Has anyone heard anything about the ion fuse 2011 or does anyone have 1, just don't no which 1 to get the new 2010 fusion or 2011 fuse

theres a thread on kitecrowd about them at the minute john

Hi Andy, sorry I hadn't noticed your post.

I'm still very happy with the suit a year on. They have changed a few things with it this years version (most notably the zipper). Both Borg and John have a 2011 - give them a prod for a more up to date review