Drysuit Roundtable Q&A

[Dive Right In Scuba]

If that is cup full of foam wrapped in tape. Looks good, and oddly familiar.

Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2

Nope, PVC wrapped in Neoprene, wrapped in Duct tape

We have used this for years at the shop and have about 20 of them as we work on a lot of suits. Never thought of making them. They are cheap to make, just requires us to make them. Already sold a few since putting them online.

---------- Post added September 18th, 2015 at 07:43 AM ----------

What do you expect for $20? Looks like it is all "form"/function.

OK my dumb question of the day I'm going to replace the silicone seals on my fusion with the latex ones but my necktight ring didn't come with the tool to do it. Do I use the convex or concave end of my window screen roller tool to reseat the yellow lock ring on the suit? I'm thinking the concave end but what does the actual tools wheel look like?

Either will work when rolling it back in. The Convex would be better as there is an L shape in that yellow ring, but it's typically sharper. So, just be careful to not slip and slice the seal. The Concave will still work, and be safer. Honestly, either should work fine.

Here is a link to the tool if you wanted to look at it. It's more flat and not sharp
Neck Tite Tool - Dive Right in Scuba

 

[WarrenZ]

Thanks for the info I may do a little customization of the tool I have to flatten it out a little before I get too involved in the replacement.

Also I have seen a heavy duty neck seal (1-1.4 mm thickness) what are your opinion of these seals?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Thanks for the info I may do a little customization of the tool I have to flatten it out a little before I get too involved in the replacement.

Also I have seen a heavy duty neck seal (1-1.4 mm thickness) what are your opinion of these seals?

:hanged: The tend to not be very forgiving and choke people. I tend to stay away from them. The normal seals we sell are already comfortable, and hold up easily a few years depending on how you abuse them. A heavy duty neck seal sounds painful! Plus, they tend to leak more. Being so thick, they aren't forgiving to your neck movements and tend to allow water in as they bridge the gap instead of filling it in. I wouldn't

 

[markmantei]

No drysuit questions, but just wanted to say thanks for starting the conversation. You should do the same with some other topics as well. Great idea!

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

No drysuit questions, but just wanted to say thanks for starting the conversation. You should do the same with some other topics as well. Great idea!

I wanted to start here and see how it went, and if people were engaged Thanks for letting me know you like the idea!

What area would you like to see me to go to next and offer advice and knowledge?

 

[Sunnymite]

Hi everyone,
I just got my 1st drysuit couple of days ago.
I'd like to ask what is the best way to store it? I saw some hangers when you hang the drysuit with legs up, or the usual (shoulder) hangers, or some people recommend to attach to the walls at home some piece of plastic pipe and just bend the drysuit on it. Which one of them is the best?
Thanks!

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Hi everyone,
I just got my 1st drysuit couple of days ago.
I'd like to ask what is the best way to store it? I saw some hangers when you hang the drysuit with legs up, or the usual (shoulder) hangers, or some people recommend to attach to the walls at home some piece of plastic pipe and just bend the drysuit on it. Which one of them is the best?
Thanks!

Well, what kind of suit did you get? Not all suits can be store by the feet if they have socks vs. boots installed. Also, hanging a suit is great for short term storage. Long term the suit should be loosely rolled and stored in the bag it came in. No need to let gravity pull on the seams or zipper. Hangers should be to dry a suit out, or for short term storage only

What kind of zipper is it?

Plastic - Can be store FULLY closed as no harm will come to the zipper. It's better closed as the teeth are then protected by the other teeth in transit.
Metal - Stored 97% closed. All but that last inch or 2 is perfect. At the docking end, there is a rubber gasket that seals a metal zipper. If you store it closed all the time, that will have a memory, and start to leak. Best is to store zipped all but the last inch.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Well, what kind of suit did you get? Not all suits can be store by the feet if they have socks vs. boots installed. Also, hanging a suit is great for short term storage. Long term the suit should be loosely rolled and stored in the bag it came in. No need to let gravity pull on the seams or zipper. Hangers should be to dry a suit out, or for short term storage only

What kind of zipper is it?

Plastic - Can be store FULLY closed as no harm will come to the zipper. It's better closed as the teeth are then protected by the other teeth in transit.
Metal - Stored 97% closed. All but that last inch or 2 is perfect. At the docking end, there is a rubber gasket that seals a metal zipper. If you store it closed all the time, that will have a memory, and start to leak. Best is to store zipped all but the last inch.

Interesting, I was told to always store completely unzipped because you didn't want to put too much stress on the zipper. I basically keep mine spread over a railing to dry, laying out on a table in my gear room when not in use, and then rolled up in a gear bag for transit.


This actually reminded me. I want to bring people's attention to this bag I found and have been using as a drysuit bag.

Wet/Dry Duffel Bag | Salamander Paddle Gear

It is a heavy duty bag that has a mesh compartment for wet waders (or a drysuit), and a dry compartment. I have seen some dive rite drysuit bags or a few others, but my biggest problem was that a neoprene drysuit doesn't dry fast enough. I find it to be a perfect size for my CF200, gloves, and hood and the mesh material means that I can put them away wet/damp and they will dry while in transport without the problem of mildew or getting your undergarments wet. The dry comparment easily fits a full pair of fourth element arctic undergarments and socks and a second set of military thermals (there is even some extra space for windbreaker jacket). The one problem with this bag is that the zipper/mesh opening doesn't fully expand like a larger scuba gear bag so you need to roll the drysuit into a ball and finagle it into the opening. It is a very minor issue and still takes less than 30 seconds to get the suit into and out of the bag.

The above link is the one I used to buy mine and I was very happy with the service and speed of delievery.

I realized this isn't exactly the purpose of the thread, but it seemed like a good place as any since we were talking about drysuit storage/transport.

 

[Keith.M]

Metal - Stored 97% closed. All but that last inch or 2 is perfect. At the docking end, there is a rubber gasket that seals a metal zipper. If you store it closed all the time, that will have a memory, and start to leak. Best is to store zipped all but the last inch.

I thought that you should store the suit with the zipper open. I do that but close the outer zipper on my DUI. The thought here was that you should only use the zipper when getting in or getting out of the suit. No sense in wearing out the zipper prematurely.

What about the seals? Do you talc them before storage?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

If you leave the zipper open, it's open and flopping around. Think of it as 2 different lips when open. What if one lip gets bent? What if one is rolled one way and one the other? You start to ruin the zipper and it can twist and get deformed. You can also be putting stress on the docking ends depending how it's stored. If it's on a hanger, and open, say goodbye to that zipper REALLY fast.

There is zero reason to not leave it closed, except that last little bit.

How can you wear out a zipper if it's closed? There is nothing to wear out? The only thing that can get a memory, is the rubber tab the last inch of the zipper. So you close the zipper one time vs. opening it? Trust me, that's not going to wear out your zipper. You can do more harm leaving it open. Again, I'm not giving you a 90% failure rate on any of this. 99% of the time storing it open won't be an issue. But, when you look all the way thru all situations and outcomes each way, closed is typically the winner. YKK, largest zipper manufacturer, even suggested this to me in 2007 when I asked at DEMA.

As for talc, it doesn't hurt to talc them if they are latex. Neoprene or silicone that won't do anything.

BTW - if my answers seem short or anything. They are not intended to come off as rude. I'm working and typing so don't read anything into my answers if you think I come off as rude Just trying to get info out