Wetsuit Durometer Ratings?

[ItMustBeJames]

Does anyone know what the typical durometer rating is of the neoprene in a 1mil (skin), 3mil, 5mil, and 7mil wetsuit?

What is a durometer rating, you ask? Well, in this forum you might not be asking, but I had to look it up. It's the measurement of a material's density or hardness; typically of rubber or plastic products.

A friend of mine asked me for some old wetsuits that she could cut up and use for a non-diving related project she's working on. She also asked me to find out the durometer ratings if I could. I don't need exact ratings; just reasonably close ballpark figures. Any thoughts?

 

[jerogers]

The durometer readings (Shore A) will likely be very low - the base rubber is low, and then coupled with the cellular structure, it will be even lower. I'm not sure that it would even be meaningful.

I think that any reading would be low enough that the number would be meaningless (basically a durometer is a reasonably sharp tip with a spring behind it - when you apply it against a piece of rubber (of minimum thickness), how far the tip is depressed is a function of the rubber's hardness (harder will give more resistance and depress it further)).

The hardness is independent of thickness.

By the way, what is the project?

 

[ItMustBeJames]

Thanks jerogers. She said it has something to do with painting (as in walls and rooms). I'm trying to pry the details out of her and let ya know!

For those interested, here is the definition of durometer that I found at WiseGeek:

"... a gauge that can be used to check the density or hardness of a given material ..."

"... functions by analyzing a given substance, and then assigning it a number to denote the level of harness and durability. A lower number would indicate a softer nature for the substance, while a higher number would indicate the product is harder and less susceptible to bending or cracking."


"Along with the number, there is also often a density rating, with lower density being indicated by an Ţ and the higher density being rated as ť? Thus, a substance that had an overall rating of A30 would be considered less dense and not very hard, compared to a substance with a reading of D70."