10 year old Viking dry suit ???

My brother called. His financial advisor's father passed away. His father had a Viking vulcanized rubber drysuit the they are now selling. Says the suit is about 10 yrs old and the dad had very few dives on it. The financial adviser dove it a couple times 2 years ago, says no problems. They're asking $250 for it including undergarments. My brother is wondering if he should buy it. He says it looks like the current Pro model, but it's yellow/black with built in dry hood.

Here's the question....
I've never had a rubber suit. What should we be looking for when evaluating the suit? What effects would 10 years have on a vulc rubber suit? Anything we should be wary of? Do you think a rubber suit of that age could still be functional? My guess is the seals probably need replacing, but how does the rubber hold up?

Thanks for any advice you can give us.

Send a PM to Bob3 on the board here. He knows all things Viking and may be able to answer your question.

rico68:

My brother called. His financial advisor's father passed away. His father had a Viking vulcanized rubber drysuit the they are now selling. Says the suit is about 10 yrs old and the dad had very few dives on it. The financial adviser dove it a couple times 2 years ago, says no problems. They're asking $250 for it including undergarments. My brother is wondering if he should buy it. He says it looks like the current Pro model, but it's yellow/black with built in dry hood.

Here's the question....
I've never had a rubber suit. What should we be looking for when evaluating the suit? What effects would 10 years have on a vulc rubber suit? Anything we should be wary of? Do you think a rubber suit of that age could still be functional? My guess is the seals probably need replacing, but how does the rubber hold up?

Thanks for any advice you can give us.

Click to expand...

After a while the rubber will be affected by time. If I were you I'd have a closer look at it and conduct a touch and feel. I have a Gates HD suit and it is starting to show effects of time. The boots go, the rubber gets a little less pliable. Have had better luck with tri. crushed neoprene with regards to time.

250.00 is not a bad price, but hard to evaluate without an actual look.

If anything, vulcanized suits are quick to dry, great for polluted water and oil clean up.

X

What should we be looking for when evaluating the suit? What effects would 10 years have on a vulc rubber suit? Anything we should be wary of? Do you think a rubber suit of that age could still be functional? My guess is the seals probably need replacing, but how does the rubber hold up?

Click to expand...

You're asking all the right questions.
The first place I like to start is to look at the bottoms of the boots. That'll tell you how many overall "miles" are on the critter (but not necessarily its condition).
A well maintained older suit is preferable to a newer suit that hasn't been taken care of.
Next look at the zipper. Is it clean, well fed & cared for?
Look for the inevitable loose threads along the edge of the zipper. Those can be cleaned up, a snip with manicure scissors & singe with a lighter takes care of them, but too much fraying starting to approach the teeth is not a good sign.
All the teeth need to be straight & tight. Some models have the HD (Heavy Duty) zipper installed, they have 6 teeth per inch. Regular Viking zips have 8. The HD teeth are actually riveted on, a close look at the tooth will show a tiny round spot, which is the rivet. "Regular" teeth are crimped on.
Slowly run the zipper closed & open, checking for smooth operation. You should expect some resistance, it's normal. Uneven operation can reveal dirty or misaligned teeth.
A well maintained zipper on a Viking should easily outlast the suit.
Look at the suit's rubber; checking for "gummy" or cracked spots. Look for discolored spots, examine those more closely. Scratch with your fingernail.
A suit used in straight oil can have its life very quickly shortened; the rubber will start to soften & eventually come off its backing.
Check for stains inside the suit, that can indicate persistent leaking. Crotch areas are a place to be more thorough with your eyeballing. Bad spots on the rubber are a deal breaker, there's little that can be done to fix that.
Next come the cuffs/seals. They should be stretchy, snapping back to original dimensions when stretched & released. They'll show the most common deterioration as a gumminess.
Check where the cuffs/seals attach to the suit material, cracking shows up there first, usually. Well cared for cuffs can easily last 5 years or more.
A well maintained & properly stored Viking will easily last 10 years; I have some going on 20.
Check the valves for smooth operation. Some stiffness/sticking will be normal for a suit that's been in storage for a long time & a careful shot of silicone should loosen the critters up.
I'm probably forgetting something here, feel free to chime in.