NeckTite removal from Fusion

[Peter_C]

I feel the neck assembly at the surface, and once in a great while underwater. Typically it doesn't "bother" me though, I just "notice" it. The Neck Tite system has never interfered on a valve drill.

Mike recommends MEK, where as I tend to use heat more. A couple minutes with a heat gun usually loosens everything up to be pulled off. Heat slowly keeping the heat moving so you don't burn anything.

[Aqua-Andy]

I have about 30 dives on the suit, all in cold water. I'm going to try hanging the suit to form the ring, and give it some more dives. I guess if I had a dive ruined by a torn neck seal I would not be wanting to get rid of it but it has not happened yet. My Nex-Gen is 3.5 years old and the seals still look like new (I hope I didn't just jinx myself), I did purchase a new neck neck seal and the heat applied tape from DRIS to replace my Nex-Gen's neck seal but I just haven't got around to it yet. So am I the only one that notices the ring? I feel it the most above the water and when reaching for my valves, I can't say it hurts but it just feels restrictive and that is not why I purchased a fusion. Like I said before maybe I'm just to picky.

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Have you checked your suspenders? Maybe they are stuck and not giving you full freedom of movement:
Fusion Suspenders Potential Problem - YouTube

[Aqua-Andy]

Ya I'm pretty sure they are not stuck, there in a bin in my basement . I felt all they did was restrict movement and made it harder to turn the suit inside out to dry. We very rarely walk around between dives with our suit tops hanging down, as far as I know that is what the suspenders are for.

[Peter_C]

Have you checked your suspenders? Maybe they are stuck and not giving you full freedom of movement:
Fusion Suspenders Potential Problem - YouTube

Has anyone come up with a solution to this issue? It is one of my grips with the suit, as it happens quite often when wearing the suit with the top off and my heavy pockets and all hanging from the suspenders. I remember seeing someone using the plastic weight belt clips, but I don't really want to add anything in that area as such. I have considered just sewing them in place at the right area.

[Akimbo]

Has anyone come up with a solution to this issue? ...

Yep, but it may not work for everyone and will explain why later. I just un-Velcro’d the suspenders from the suit, removed them from the guides near the zipper, and re-connected them outside the guides. End of problem. The crotch stays as adjusted.

Now here is why it might not work for everyone. I completely disconnected the outer skin from the DryCore bag. I don the suit in this order:

1. Don underwear
2. Don the DryCore up to about waist level
3. Connect P-tube
4. Don the Bullet Skin up to about waist level
5. Sit down, pull Skin above knee cap and don modified Fusion Boots (more later)
6. Pull skin leg down over boots
7. Stand, and don rest of the DryCore
8. Don the rest of the skin
9. Close water-tight zipper
10. Close outer protective zipper on DryCore
11. Close zipper sewn into the gap on the Skin where it used to Velcro to the suit
12. Poke the dump, inflation, and P-valves through holes in the skin

It sounds complicated but is much faster and easier to don & doff now. It also makes testing the DryCore and cleaning it and the Skin far easier. To make this happen I had to:

1. Remove the dump and fill valves and re-seat to extricate the Skin
2. Carefully remove all the hook-side Velcro from the DryCore except for inside where the suspenders attach to the front.
3. Sew in a patch of ballistic nylon with a #10 zipper to fill the gap in the Skin
4. Cut the top of the Fusion Boots off and sew on a conical shaped extension of ballistic Nylon. Extra folds were provided for grommets and a #10 Zipper. 1" Nylon webbing straps were installed at the top. One side of the zipper was laced to the grommets like a shoe. This prevents sand from entering the boot which can ware a hole through the suit, dramatically increased shin protection (which is the first place I punch a hole), and act as built-in Gaiters. Photos attached. Sorry the poor black-on-black contrast.
5. About 4" were added to the leg length on the skin
6. Twist locks were added to the pocket flaps
7. Small 1" webbing loops were sewn on the arm of the skin to capture a wrist computer so it can’t migrate
8. Replace the cheesy plastic D-rings inside the pockets with stainless

I actually bought a light industrial sewing machine off E-bay for this project. My sewing is ugly but strong at this point. I can’t believe how many times I use that machine now for modifying dive gear.

Sidebar:

FYI Peter, I sewed 2' of ½" webbing to the Nautilus Lifeline Radio with a bolt snap at the other end. I keep it snapped to the D-ring in my right pocket until I pull it out and transfer the snap to the shoulder D-ring before opening the top. Worked well this last weekend.

[Aqua-Andy]

Yep, but it may not work for everyone and will explain why later. I just un-Velcro’d the suspenders from the suit, removed them from the guides near the zipper, and re-connected them outside the guides. End of problem. The crotch stays as adjusted.

Now here is why it might not work for everyone. I completely disconnected the outer skin from the DryCore bag. I don the suit in this order:

1. Don underwear
2. Don the DryCore up to about waist level
3. Connect P-tube
4. Don the Bullet Skin up to about waist level
5. Sit down, pull Skin above knee cap and don modified Fusion Boots (more later)
6. Pull skin leg down over boots
7. Stand, and don rest of the DryCore
8. Don the rest of the skin
9. Close water-tight zipper
10. Close outer protective zipper on DryCore
11. Close zipper sewn into the gap on the Skin where it used to Velcro to the suit
12. Poke the dump, inflation, and P-valves through holes in the skin

It sounds complicated but is much faster and easier to don & doff now. It also makes testing the DryCore and cleaning it and the Skin far easier. To make this happen I had to:

1. Remove the dump and fill valves and re-seat to extricate the Skin
2. Carefully remove all the hook-side Velcro from the DryCore except for inside where the suspenders attach to the front.
3. Sew in a patch of ballistic nylon with a #10 zipper to fill the gap in the Skin
4. Cut the top of the Fusion Boots off and sew on a conical shaped extension of ballistic Nylon. Extra folds were provided for grommets and a #10 Zipper. 1" Nylon webbing straps were installed at the top. One side of the zipper was laced to the grommets like a shoe. This prevents sand from entering the boot which can ware a hole through the suit, dramatically increased shin protection (which is the first place I punch a hole), and act as built-in Gaiters. Photos attached. Sorry the poor black-on-black contrast.
5. About 4" were added to the leg length on the skin
6. Twist locks were added to the pocket flaps
7. Small 1" webbing loops were sewn on the arm of the skin to capture a wrist computer so it can’t migrate
8. Replace the cheesy plastic D-rings inside the pockets with stainless

I actually bought a light industrial sewing machine off E-bay for this project. My sewing is ugly but strong at this point. I can’t believe how many times I use that machine now for modifying dive gear.

Sidebar:

FYI Peter, I sewed 2' of ½" webbing to the Nautilus Lifeline Radio with a bolt snap at the other end. I keep it snapped to the D-ring in my right pocket until I pull it out and transfer the snap to the shoulder D-ring before opening the top. Worked well this last weekend.

I would love to see a YouTube video of this. Your donning procedure and suit modifications sound interesting, I just cant paint a mental picture of it.

[Akimbo]

I would love to see a YouTube video of this. Your donning procedure and suit modifications sound interesting, I just cant paint a mental picture of it.

Except for the modified boots, the donning sequence isn’t much different than donning a standard trilam and coveralls on top of that — common in commercial diving. Once the coveralls are on, picture putting on a pair of knee-high Wellington boots under the coveralls. The Fusion skins are just really nice elastic coveralls that makes it swim more like a wetsuit than a wrinkled garbage bag.

I like being able to sew stuff on the Skin and modify it as much as I like without impacting the watertight envelope. Protection is also much better than a trilam. When the Skin snags, it tends to pull away from the DryCore, except in compression punctures like a lower leg coming down on wreckage… thus the boots.

Hope this helps. It probably makes no sense unless you have worn a Fusion. The whole project is an interesting and ongoing experiment.

BTW, if I ever did a rev-2, I would use half as many grommets on the boots. Divers last weekend were amazed when they saw me duck-dive head first in a drysuit as easy as in a wetsuit.