The last time I ask a wetsuit diver to zip my drysuit...

[Crass3000]

I'm not sure how a wetsuit diver could screw it up if you explained what needed to be done. I've zipped up plenty of drysuits for people and they always give me little tips to make sure the zipper is watertight. It seems in this incident the following truth seems to fit: No good deed goes unpunished. He was trying to help you and is now paying to replace your zipper? Seems a little extreme.

 

[fjpatrum]

... No good deed goes unpunished. He was trying to help you and is now paying to replace your zipper? Seems a little extreme.

If he'd stopped when asked (according to the OP) then there wouldn't have been a problem. Unzip a little, remove offending undergarment from zipper, rezip. If you're going to yank a zipper past an obstacle, though, you have to be prepared for the consequences.

 

[KD8NPB]

Call me OCD, but I treat my front zip like a back zip...If someone is there to help, I get them to help me zip it. I hold the zipper halves close together while simultaneously pulling it away from my body so my undergarment doesn't get stuck. Having the zipper pull the material together is wear & tear...hopefully I get nurse this suit for a decade.

 

[Hatul]

http://i.imgur.com/jxRSFHd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/neWt50q.jpg
Story -
So I went out for a dive with some friends, they were all wetsuit divers (Crazy people, North Atlantic in March in a wetsuit) but had previously had no problem zipping me up. It was a little slower than with dry divers, but thats ok. So one of them thinks they have a system and pulls it about half way. I tell him its stuck, and he says no its not. He then yanks the zip another 6 inches. 3 hours, and 4 people later, I am out of my drysuit, but there is still a pile of undergarment in the zipper. Which then procedes to split the seam and the teeth resulting in the above picture.
Good news, my LDS can fix it, so it'll only be a week, and the guy who zipped me is going to pay for the replacement zipper.

I'm no lawyer, but if you ask someone to help you and you're not paying for it, I don't think he's obligated, or even should, pay you, even though he did make a mistake. It's a risk you're taking.

 

[NJDiver_Chris]

I zip up dry suits all the time, and I am one of those idiots that dives wet in the Northeast.

 

[surfinusa555]

I'm no lawyer, but if you ask someone to help you and you're not paying for it, I don't think he's obligated, or even should, pay you, even though he did make a mistake. It's a risk you're taking.

That was my thought. As soon as he said the other person was paying for it I thought "good luck ever getting a zip up again."

 

[fjpatrum]

That was my thought. As soon as he said the other person was paying for it I thought "good luck ever getting a zip up again."

He didn't say he "forced the guy to pay". For all we know the helper felt like a total d-bag and offered to pay for the repair. I know if it were me in that situation, that's what I'd do.

 

[beester]

I'm with the Doc... just extend your pinky or ringfinger into the zip to keep the undersuit tugged in. Even with verry fluffy wheezle type undersuits this does the trick. PS I've only been wet 2x in my drysuit because of zip not fully closed and both times was with a front-entry, that I had zipped up