drysuit drama

Madhatter

Madhatter

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Joined
23 Sep 2009
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3,316
Location
Minehead / boat Porlock (I hope)
wp.me
I bought myself a new drysuit from a forum member ,thought I had better try it on --- "Jeeez why have I got such big hands and head ??", got the feet in ,good, couldn't get my head through with out tearing my hair out !!, OK lets try the hands anyway yup bit of a squeeze but ok , body length ok with lots of room to move or add layers .Now the good bit --could not get my hands out no matter how hard I tried ( panic starts to set in as I am indoors and it is very warm and this darn suit is hot )(mental note --do not go off my head or they might put me in one of these !!!!).Right sit down and get it together and solve this ,"ding!" talcum powder ,now where is it ?, looked high and low for it getting hotter by the minute ,must get help here and SWMBO gone out and I am buck naked under this straight jacket so neighbours out of the question.OK back to the talc looked in all the logical places now for the obscure ones , yup in with the house tool kit and WD40 where else !! .Anyway it did the trick and I am FREEEEEEE !!.
Any tips from members would be most welcome "cus" I don't want to go through that again ,and will talc harm the suit ?? (thought of KY jelly but that idea slipped away ).
Derrick :o
 
Wet Suits

Wrong Title should say DRY SUIT Seals

If you look at the seals you will see they are tappered and can be cut carefully with scissors to make the hole larger. Same with the neck. If they are to tight its like putting a rubber band round your neck thats to tight. Talc will not effect the seal. Washing up liquid works as well. Had the same on a number of occasions. Don't panic .... Only if you cannot breathe ... :eek: :rolleyes:
 
A lady friend of mine wanted to come sailing in my Merlin Rocket dinghy some years ago.I had two wetsuits that fitted me,one of the thicker 5mm(?)rubber and the other newest one of the 3mm thickness. I gave her the thicker one and we both toddled off to get changed into them.After about 15 mins she still had not appeared from the changing rooms, so I called to her, asking if she was OK. A shame-faced friend peeped round the door asking me how to get the suit on as she was having some difficulty with the rubber surface pulling out the hairs on various feminine parts. She had put the suit on, partly, inside out, so that the pretty red lining was outside......Through my tears I explained........! We're still friends after 25 years in spite of it.

ianat182
 
If you sprayed WD on the seals wash them thoroughly with just normal soap and talc them, it can do nasty things to rubber seals! The seals are tapered and should have a series of ring markings to allow you to accuratly trim them to fit your size.
 
Morven said:
If you sprayed WD on the seals wash them thoroughly with just normal soap and talc them, it can do nasty things to rubber seals! The seals are tapered and should have a series of ring markings to allow you to accuratly trim them to fit your size.
Click to expand...

Thanks to all for the tips so far.
Morven, Never ever would I dream of putting WD40 on the seals but thanks for the concern .
Derrick
 
I got a good tip for you. Don't eat a hot curry and drink lots of beer the night before you put it on.

icon_michman.jpg


A drama in the making.
 
As others have said, the seals are meant to be cut to fit you. Either the previous owner never did, or he had much smaller wrists than you. Better than the other way round - someone with skinny wrists buying from someone bigger would probably need to get new seals.

A good dusting of talc every time you put it on is the way.

Pete
 
You should be pleased you live in an era of near-comfortable drysuits. Most military aircrew of 70s vintage will remember the tribulations of living/working in the early Frankenstein 'immersion suits'.

Others who had been members of earlier SCUBA diving clubs will remember their first dives, before they bought their own equipment, and how they were loaned someone else's 4mm neoprene wetsuit after the owner had made their own dive.

And how, later, one discovered that the accepted way to stay warm on a dive was to wee in your wetsuit.... After all, the argument ran, it's all your own!

:eek:
 
Talc for seals, and rub a candle on the zip. If you try it on again on your own, put a loop of rope through the zip so you can hook it onto something to open/close it easily.

Being hot in a dry suit is not pleasant. Many years ago the local swimming pool was closing down (Storie St. in Paisley) and the sub-aqua club were asked to put on a demonstration for the cooncillors at the final shindig. Yours truly jumped in, swam a length underwater, rescued a fair maiden from the deep end, towed her the length of the pool giving EAR, then recovered her poolside, The finale was taking off my navy dry suit to reveal full highland regalia (SSAC after all!) . It went down a treat ... the problem was that the staff had been running the boilers at maximum to empty the tanks and heat the place for the nobs. Hyperthermia is not nice :(


Alisdair
 
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