Pack Mates & Neoprene

[Phaethon]

Pack Mates are plastic zip-lock bags with a one way air valve. I just put my 3mm wetsuit in one rolled it tight to expel as much air as possible and was left with a pack that takes up about 20% less space than the suit /au natiural/.

Now, I know neoprene is good at rebounding from being squeezed during a dive, but that is relatively short-term. Has anyone tried these on a trip and noticed any bad long-term irreversible effects (loss of thickness, creasing) of keeping a suit compressed for 12-24 hours of journey time or longer for storage?

Cheers,

K.

 

[gj62]

I don' think it would be recommended for long-term storage - same as folding - the crease would remain. Shouldn't hurt for travel though - good idea!

 

[DandyDon]

Good way to ruin a wet suit!

 

[Damselfish]

Interesting idea, I've got some of those bags. I'm going to run a little experiment. I've got a old but not too used cold water hood with nothing better to do. I'll measure thickness, put it in one of those things for a while, and periodically check on how it's doing. Not terribly scientific, but why not.

 

[cmcarver]

Interesting idea, I've got some of those bags. I'm going to run a little experiment. I've got a old but not too used cold water hood with nothing better to do. I'll measure thickness, put it in one of those things for a while, and periodically check on how it's doing. Not terribly scientific, but why not.

In my open water course they told us not to store the wetsuits with anything ontop of them because it will destroy the cellular structure of the neopreme. Vaccum sealed would be about the same as something sitting on your wetsuit for extended time. I have a 5mm hood that my BC sat on for 3 months over the winter that has 2 spots that are extremly thin. I don't think it will recover but should be able to use it anyway.

 

[Damselfish]

In my open water course they told us not to store the wetsuits with anything ontop of them because it will destroy the cellular structure of the neopreme. Vaccum sealed would be about the same as something sitting on your wetsuit for extended time. I have a 5mm hood that my BC sat on for 3 months over the winter that has 2 spots that are extremly thin. I don't think it will recover but should be able to use it anyway.

Yep, but I think the question is how relatively short term (hours to days) evenly compressed storage would be. Anyway, the hood I was going to sacrifice to science is MIA so I guess I won't be trying this, I've got nothing else I want to squish.

 

[simbrooks]

Pack Mates & Neoprene

fftopic:
For some reason i thought this might be a travel log or recommendations for travelling on popular Brit abroad vacations. Mates in the UK are (or at least were when i left) like Trojan over here, or the Nitrox we saw in another thread - hence the dont leave home without it thought. [/hijack] Now i see the error of my ways.

BTW, i am not sure its the best way to go, i would think on most vacations you are going to leave them in the suitcase for between 10-20 hours (packing, travel to airport, boarding/waiting time, flying time, unloading/customs/passport control, waiting at the baggage carousel, and then finally getting to your hotel to unpack), more than enough time to do damage.

 

[DBailey]

Could the "pack mate" be any more damaging than cramming everything into your suitcase for those 10-20 hours?

 

[DandyDon]

Yep, but I think the question is how relatively short term (hours to days) evenly compressed storage would be. Anyway, the hood I was going to sacrifice to science is MIA so I guess I won't be trying this, I've got nothing else I want to squish.

If your hood is new, you may possibly learn something. If it's old, already showing wear, the cells may already be bad? Any unneeded compresion is going to do damage.

Could the "pack mate" be any more damaging than cramming everything into your suitcase for those 10-20 hours?

Yeah, I like to put my wet suits on top. I use large bags, and I usually have room left after I hit my weight limits.

 

[TTSkipper]

I find the best way to compress my 5mil is to take it down to 80 feet.

Seriously though is 10 hours in these bags any worse than 10 hours of diving? Of course the 10 hours diving is normally much more fun than the 10 hours on the plane. It actually sounds like a good idea and I think I will try one the next time I go on vacation.