drysuits

[Scubamedicjoe]

hum how do I answere this with out starting a war there isnt a way to answere this , first off call DUI . they have done some test and will send you a video how to decon it , second guess what looks almost same as our whites and its not fabric its trilamim material which in reality is same as the rubber suits are many layers pressed together .

 

[Gary D.]

Why call, here's part of it.

www.dui-online.com/pdf/tech_myths_of_vulcanized_drysuits.pdf

www.dui-online.com/pdf/tech_decontamination_protocols.pdf

 

[bridgediver]

thanks Gary

One thing the test misses (as most dry suit tests) they don't test the whole suit only a peice of the material. One of the weakest part of any suit is its seams and the most likely place for contaminants hide. Viking is the only suit (that I know of) that has a test of the whole suit including seams and seals.

As the study AND DUI both say "smooth skin materials are easier." ...to decontaminate. Anybody can easily do a side by side of a rubber suit and the TLS 350 and decide which one is more smooth - even DUI can't argue that.
Its just not logical to me that a fabric can be deconed as well as rubber. This study doesn't have anything in there to dispute that.


I dunno. I don't think I need to call DUI as I've owned a TLS 350 for a while and so I know what it can do and what it is. I love the mobility it provides but at the same time I've spent more time & money repairing holes, seams & zippers on it than any other suit I've owned (Brooks, Bare, DC, Gates). The tech diving crowd (who probably use it the most) has similiar problems with it in this regard so its not just me -- thats why people say: DUI = Dry Until Immersed.
On the other hand, our team's assortment of Viking's (8) recieve a lot more use and way more abuse then my 350 and we've never had to repair any of these things on any of them - maybe we're just lucky.
For PSD; do you want the sports car or the work truck?
Just my take

 

[bridgediver]

hum how do I answere this with out starting a war there isnt a way to answere this , first off call DUI . they have done some test and will send you a video how to decon it , second guess what looks almost same as our whites and its not fabric its trilamim material which in reality is same as the rubber suits are many layers pressed together .

The outside layer is a woven material (I'd call that fabric) but whatever you want to call it, either way, contaminants can hide more easily in there vs a smooth rubber. Would you agree?

I admit I haven't seen DUI's decon procedure but I only need to know 2 things:
1) Is the process more complicated/longer then the process we use to decon a rubber suit? If it is, what's the point?
2) Is the suit really as "clean" as a rubber suit is after the same process? I can't see how it could be.

No need to think we're going to "war" just sharing opinons.

 

[Yotsie]

Sorry I haven't been on in a few days.

I attended a seminar at our LDS in which DUI made the contaminated dive presentation. Being a hardcore fan of Viking, I was very skeptical. After the presentation and hands on decon, I started to have a different mind set.

Now I'm no scientist, but what I saw was a contaminated 350 get clean using procedures we already have in place. I also know we wear the seats of our rubber suit out very fast (sliding down canal liners, etc). DUI claimed greater abrasion resistance. Since we have started replacing suits, they have been used in the same manner and are holding up remarkably well.

The suits we are purchasing are custom fit and very well built. The Vikings we were using were stock size and often ran large in some area, causing mobility issues. So far all of our DUI suits (both 1050R and TLS350) have kept the diver dry and we have not run into any problems with workmanship.

Again, I was of the same mindset that you can not decon anything as thoroughly as rubber. Call DUI and find a seminar near you or host one and see first hand, because I can not put what I saw into words.

 

[ditch-diver]

I'm curious because I have not really played with DUI in our work environment, but does DUI provide breakthrough times for their suits...., on both PENETRATION and PERMEATION levels?? I know White's (as of a few months or so ago) only had penetration data. We want/need/require permeation data as well and to my knowledge Viking was the only suits I had that provided both. Maybe if I could get both sets of data from DUI I could convince the boss I need to test one

 

[Yotsie]

Gary posted links above that will take you to that info ditch. I will look around my office tomorrow for the rep.'s card and get you some contact info.

 

[ditch-diver]

oops.., busted (I hadn't gotten to the links yet. I have not had time to go through it all yet, but I've sort of skimmed over it. I'll dig deeper in teh next day or so. Any info would be great Yotsie

 

[bridgediver]

Sorry I haven't been on in a few days.

I attended a seminar at our LDS in which DUI made the contaminated dive presentation. Being a hardcore fan of Viking, I was very skeptical. After the presentation and hands on decon, I started to have a different mind set.

Now I'm no scientist, but what I saw was a contaminated 350 get clean using procedures we already have in place. I also know we wear the seats of our rubber suit out very fast (sliding down canal liners, etc). DUI claimed greater abrasion resistance. Since we have started replacing suits, they have been used in the same manner and are holding up remarkably well.

The suits we are purchasing are custom fit and very well built. The Vikings we were using were stock size and often ran large in some area, causing mobility issues. So far all of our DUI suits (both 1050R and TLS350) have kept the diver dry and we have not run into any problems with workmanship.

Again, I was of the same mindset that you can not decon anything as thoroughly as rubber. Call DUI and find a seminar near you or host one and see first hand, because I can not put what I saw into words.

I haven't seen the DUI demo so I'll have to take your word for it.
I'm still puzzled though. The suit may look clean but is it really? I'm more worried about the stuff we can't see (that would have a greater chance of being trapped in woven material as oppsed to smooth; coming from a logical stand point).

As far as the 350 taking the abuse, you can't change my mind there. My own personal experience (and friends) tell me that its not even close. A lot of $ for a custom fit dry suit
I'm glad they work for you though - I wish I could trust them...

I stand corrected about the seams/seals/zipper testing. The link Gary provides does indicate that they did that for the 350 for permeability. There is only 5 things tested though; the viking test has at least twice that (can't remember exactly how many)

I'm sure we could go on and on in the search for the perfect mouse trap - every discussion about gear turns out this way

 

[ditch-diver]

Not saying they can;t be cleaned, cause I honsetly don;t know, but for those of you wearing fabric layers on your drysuits.., what kind of time are you talking for cleaning? I just spent a morning cleaning diesel fuel out of my gear. My viking was cleaned in 20 minutes, the webbing of the harness took forever. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to leave a slick on the next dive. Do yo ufind it takes a long time to clean the suits or are they pretty good?