talc for gaskets / seals e.g drysuit

[KenGordon]

Asbestos has killed really a lot of people. Very small exposures will do it, it just takes a long time. I believe it killed Steve McQueen - he had worked as a joiner before being a film star and cut asbestos board. Older buildings in the UK are covered in signs saying ‘Asbestos, do not drill or disturb’. Until the 1990s asbestos was used in Artex (a decorative covering for cracked ceilings).

So if there is asbestos in the talc used by divers one exposure might be enough, really the manufactures should be VERY careful.

I seem to recall that pretty much all the manufactures of asbestos products have been litigated into oblivion due to eventually killing a large number of workers. However since it took 30 or 40 years to do it the feedback was very slow.

I ****ing hate it when my kit gets covered in talc due to poor control on a boat. Obviously the stuff going in the water will be ok but undersuits, bags and other stuff would be better off clean.

Personally I use liquid lubricants. Drysuit manufactures and dive shops sell these as do chemists and farm suppliers. The most cost effective is vet lube. It also has the advantage of being most revolting to students when you explain what it is.

 

[sea_ledford]

For donning the suit, I stick with KY. It's particularly fun to go to the store and buy KY, clothespins, and diapers/catheters at the same time .

Talc works well for preserving the latex seals between uses and keeps them from sticking together. I buy talc for billiards (Silver Cup Premium Talc) since it isn't mixed with any additional chemicals to make it smell (often oil based which will degrade the latex seals). Cornstarch should NOT be used as the proteins in the cornstarch along with the latex in the seals can cause latex allergies over time.

-Chris

 

[Schwob]

@Scuba J7
I will try the diluted baby shampoo. Know about it, just never bothered... Come to think of it on my other suit (which I still like better than my DS) while I get my (semi dry) wetsuit on fine enough it's probably easier lubed thatway... and curious if enough of the lune effect might remain until after the five, when my wetsuit has serious "stiction" and especially getting the first arm out of the sleeve is routinly the hardest thing I so far do in diving...

@claymore
... or that...

@AfterDark
No worries about hat in the sun. Wear that all the time ... well, that is ever since my thin spot in my hair was kind enough to persistently teach me that lesson... and I don't funktion so well with sunscreen in my face, at least not anywhere above my eyes as it seems to turn me into a eye sting and tear producing machine. On land I can sunscreen ears, neck... cover my nose & cheeks w/o issdue, just not anywhere above the eyes or too near to their sides ... for pre dive sun time, I learned I don't want sunscreeen anywhere near what's covered by the mask. So usually wear a hat with wider brim, darker underside it is...

 

[Lorenzoid]

I use talc when I put the suit away for storage, and the talc is there on the seal when I put my head through it for the first dive of the day. Talc becomes mud when wet, so for subsequent dives I use personal lubricant. I am reluctant to give up the talc because my understanding is it helps extend the life of the seal by absorbing skin oil residue. I don't think putting my head through the seal once a day when I'm on a dive trip is going to shorten my life. But we all make our own judgments as to what is best for us.

 

[Schwob]

Asbestos has killed really a lot of people...

Yep, knew one personally. He used to like to work on car brakes for himself, help friends and family... Of course know one would know wherefrom / what exposures contributed to his death, but it definitely quite sucked. Not just the end result, also the slow journey to it fighting it by all means, maybe truly hoping for a miracle, maybe just keeping the chin up... Asbestosis definitely sucks big time... plus, in the back of your head you never really stop wondering what kind of long term effects maybe some lesser exposures people (or yourself) may have. That stuff is definitely a worty to me. But where do you stop worrying...
Fine particulate exposure (any substance), pending on what and how much and how long could become a problem at least for the lungs if inhaled. I never used to worry about that, not for decades... but something tripped a switch and I do put a dusk mask on more often when creating dust, even just drywall dust (even before one found out what all could be in that)... ... and no paint powder throwing parties for me.
Weird side note, I even sort of do a little mental victory dance when diving in a silted out area. Suspended amongst all those billions of suspended particles... and breathing none of them ... yeah...

 

[Schwob]

Personally I use liquid lubricants. Drysuit manufactures and dive shops sell these as do chemists and farm suppliers. The most cost effective is vet lube. It also has the advantage of being most revolting to students when you explain what it is.

When I was a grade schooler one of my best friends was a farmer, with a farm in the family... They had a lot of what I would ,probably incorrectly, translate as "calfing ropes". 7 ... 8 .. foot long thumb thick (thin, smaller thumbs then) sisal or manila kind of ropes with an eye loop at one end. We built epic Tarzan swings and whatnot with lots and lots of those. They weren't necessarily safe for suspending from anything and our knotting skills were lacking, but they were what we had acces too. And the reaction from girls when they learned that one of the usual uses of them was to help pull out a calf that needed help during birth... was pretty good too...

 

[Schwob]

Cornstarch should NOT be used as the proteins in the cornstarch along with the latex in the seals can cause latex allergies over time.

While having no idea how well researched that may be: Thanks & I will heed that thought.

 

[KenGordon]

Yep, knew one personally. He used to like to work on car brakes for himself, help friends and family... Of course know one would know wherefrom / what exposures contributed to his death, but it definitely quite sucked. Not just the end result, also the slow journey to it fighting it by all means, maybe truly hoping for a miracle, maybe just keeping the chin up... Asbestosis definitely sucks big time... plus, in the back of your head you never really stop wondering what kind of long term effects maybe some lesser exposures people (or yourself) may have. That stuff is definitely a worty to me. But where do you stop worrying...
Fine particulate exposure (any substance), pending on what and how much and how long could become a problem at least for the lungs if inhaled. I never used to worry about that, not for decades... but something tripped a switch and I do put a dusk mask on more often when creating dust, even just drywall dust (even before one found out what all could be in that)... ... and no paint powder throwing parties for me.
Weird side note, I even sort of do a little mental victory dance when diving in a silted out area. Suspended amongst all those billions of suspended particles... and breathing none of them ... yeah...

Apparently more people still die of asbestos related disease in the UK than in road accidents. A large number of people are dying prematurely due to particulates that are combustion products from heating and transport.

 

[Schwob]

@sea_ledford & @Lorenzoid
Yeah, talc for storage... on latex it does seem to prevent the "gumming kind of stick together" that could posdibly occur otherwise.
While my seals are latex, just curious:
Would silicone seals also want a dusting prior to storing or is there maybe no need for that with those?

 

[Lorenzoid]

Apparently more people still die of asbestos related disease in the UK than in road accidents. A large number of people are dying prematurely due to particulates that are combustion products from heating and transport.

Ken, would you mind pointing to where you read this? As I understand it, there are two different groups here: a relatively large number of old people who worked in the asbestos or a related industry, and a relatively small number of younger people who were exposed to particulates escaping from asbestos that was installed (e.g., in heating and transport systems) long ago despite best practices these days to seal it off. I suspect it is the former group overwhelming the latter that leads to this cause of death still being greater than road accidents. I believe in a few years those old asbestos workers will no longer be with us, and we will see a very sharp decrease in asbestos-related deaths.