finally the drive suit i like

[andrewy]

finished on my drysuit last night, finally it is what i want., hope it saves few experiments to you.

Originally regular DUI TLS 350 with turbo soles, latex and balanced p valve.

1. swapped turbo soles to USIA boots from diveriteinscuba , turbosoles were air traps and were leaking all the time
new boots are just as flexible and super nice.. cost $100

2. Swapped latex neck for neoprene one from ebay UK seller,, before i would get terrible "hanged man" neck rashes, and if i used bioseal, neck seal would only last 30 dives and break in least good moment.
So no more rashes and neck will outlast my suit.. cost $30

3. Unbalanced my pvalve , just put a plug screw in balancing hole, as it would leak ALL the time

4. Changed Apex exhaust to si tech (dive rite) one from norteastscuba ,
original APEX would not dump when open and would not hold shut when closed.. now it dumps air like a charm, cost $64

5. Installed wrist rings from an old Viking suit , now i have dry gloves and field swappable wrist seals horray!
i bought this part on ebay for $20 but since found them on diveriteinscuba for $70

6. Put few layers of aquaseal on a crotch and arm peat areas , otherwise harness just kills stitching and trilam..


so total cost of
$225 plus pb 300 glue, aquaseal, MEK and bunch of elbow grease .
Now i have perfectly usable dry suit.., and only one question remains why wouldnt DUI do the same to begin with?

 

[zf2nt]

1. swapped turbo soles to USIA boots from diveriteinscuba , turbosoles were air traps and were leaking all the time
new boots are just as flexible and super nice.. cost $100

Andrew, this is a serious DIR violation. You well know that a dry suit MUST have turbosoles, else you will die! (And besides, you'll have trouble finding the right size of the official GUE Jet Fins to fit over those boots.)

 

[andrewy]

Bruce, not really those are extremely flexible boots, very thin rubber, fits my xxl jets nice. on another hand turbo soles were an air bags and wet at that.

 

[flyandive]

finished on my drysuit last night, finally it is what i want., hope it saves few experiments to you.

Originally regular DUI TLS 350 with turbo soles, latex and balanced p valve.

1. swapped turbo soles to USIA boots from diveriteinscuba , turbosoles were air traps and were leaking all the time
new boots are just as flexible and super nice.. cost $100

2. Swapped latex neck for neoprene one from ebay UK seller,, before i would get terrible "hanged man" neck rashes, and if i used bioseal, neck seal would only last 30 dives and break in least good moment.
So no more rashes and neck will outlast my suit.. cost $30

3. Unbalanced my pvalve , just put a plug screw in balancing hole, as it would leak ALL the time

4. Changed Apex exhaust to si tech (dive rite) one from norteastscuba ,
original APEX would not dump when open and would not hold shut when closed.. now it dumps air like a charm, cost $64

5. Installed wrist rings from an old Viking suit , now i have dry gloves and field swappable wrist seals horray!
i bought this part on ebay for $20 but since found them on diveriteinscuba for $70

6. Put few layers of aquaseal on a crotch and arm peat areas , otherwise harness just kills stitching and trilam..


so total cost of
$225 plus pb 300 glue, aquaseal, MEK and bunch of elbow grease .
Now i have perfectly usable dry suit.., and only one question remains why wouldnt DUI do the same to begin with?

Most of this DUI does in some way, although I like how "Why wouldn't DUI do the same to begin with," is almost becoming an idiom rather than a real question.

Let's see (slightly tongue in cheek)

1) What about Rockboots ($260)? I wonder why I see so many Converse Chuck Taylor's instead ($60)?

2) You're probably allergic to latex, have you considered their "new" alternative, silicone ($148)? Seriously, I hope the neoprene works out for you, those bio-seals looked like a pain in the ass.

3) Hmmm, I got nothing, kink in the hose? Jammed check valve? Maybe you could have DUI install a Halcyon P-Valve ($340)? Although mine from Light Monkey installed by Steve Gamble works great ($155)!

4) (Clap clap)

5) Are you sure you wouldn't rather have a DUI ZipSeal system with drygloves installed ($358)? How about a wrist dam ($438)?

6) Why use aquaseal ($9 each tube) when you can put on DUI CF200 knee pads ($100), elbow pads ($100), butt pad ($180), and a crotch pad ($170)?

Mmm, I'm starting to see a trend.

Don't get me wrong I love my DUI, the zipseals are great, much lower profile then SI Tech, and I will soon be switching to silicone wrist zipseals for the warmer caves but come on DUI. When their loyal customers realize there are options they might actually have to compete! It really is like Mercedes or BMW vs. Toyota.

See you at the beach Andrew!

Chris

 

[andrewy]

Chris on p valve no kins, it is a balancing valve that WILL leak just a lill bit and you'll be taking on water or pee or both, you'll never know , just a bit , but it will make you wonder, i had 3 diff valves OMS (dive rite), Halcyon and older style with bolt, they all did it.

 

[eelnoraa]

.... this is a serious DIR violation. You well know that a dry suit MUST have turbosoles, else you will die! (And besides, you'll have trouble finding the right size of the official GUE Jet Fins to fit over those boots.)

I think USIA boot should be OK. Although they call them boots, it is still attache to the suit, not like boot over socks like rockboot setup. Jet fins should it too.

2) You're probably allergic to latex, have you considered their "new" alternative, silicone ($148)? Seriously, I hope the neoprene works out for you, those bio-seals looked like a pain in the ass.

I have the same issue with DUI zip seal neck seal. Before, I have been using some heavy duty neck seal that Steven Gamble put on (I need to ask him what it is). For two years, never neck rash. Now, with DUI zip seal neck seal, I have neck rash after every dive. I kind of think the thickness of the latex is the problem. It is thick enough to have the right stiffness, but still thin enough to dig into neck tissue. Just for reference, my previous heavy duty neck seal is very thick.

 

[flyandive]

Yeah, I'm not sure what Steve Gamble uses but I tried some wrist seals that he put on some DUI zipseals and they worked a lot better. They seemed thinner and softer.
I have not replaced my DUI ones (after 2.5 years) simply because they have not ripped or torn but I had to trim them back a little because I mostly use them under dry gloves now. However, the last time I actually had to use them they worked until I stretched my wrist out in a current and got a lot of water in the suit so I think I might try a pair of the new silicone ones.
I have not had any issues with the neck but I am somewhat obsessive about putting talc in it before a day of diving which probably helps.