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:
- Don underwear
- Don the DryCore up to about waist level
- Connect P-tube
- Don the Bullet Skin up to about waist level
- Sit down, pull Skin above knee cap and don modified Fusion Boots (more later)
- Pull skin leg down over boots
- Stand, and don rest of the DryCore
- Don the rest of the skin
- Close water-tight zipper
- Close outer protective zipper on DryCore
- Close zipper sewn into the gap on the Skin where it used to Velcro to the suit
- 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:
- Remove the dump and fill valves and re-seat to extricate the Skin
- Carefully remove all the hook-side Velcro from the DryCore except for inside where the suspenders attach to the front.
- Sew in a patch of ballistic nylon with a #10 zipper to fill the gap in the Skin
- 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.
- About 4" were added to the leg length on the skin
- Twist locks were added to the pocket flaps
- Small 1" webbing loops were sewn on the arm of the skin to capture a wrist computer so it can’t migrate
- 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.