Drysuit options

[Robert H. Diver]

Cool. I think I understand better now.

If you get the Oval rings, it is just the insert that is oval. If you take that insert out and replace it with the Ultima system, then you no longer have Oval wrists.

Correct?

In that case, it sounds very similar to the Slaggo wrists. The part that is glued to the suit sleeve is flexible plastic. When you add an Ultima ring, then it is round and no longer flexible.

That’s correct

 

[stuartv]

I think that is overblown but on the other hand I didn’t order theO-Ruston my last suit

I have Quick Neck on my two Seaskin suits. I have Orust on the new suit I just got.

I HAVE had a leak once or twice from my Quick Neck where I apparently flexed the neck ring too much and a little bit of the spline ring popped out of its groove. I haven't dived the new suit yet, but I can't see any reason to expect the Orust to leak.

 

[Chanly83]

Yeah I have/had the quick neck on my new suit and I have had two leaks on that. It is in Ted Mcoys (Stay Dri in Florida) capable hands getting yanked out of a 10 month old suit for a neoprene seal. His opinion is the Orust is the way to go. You can order extra clips if your that worried about it

 

[ScubaSteveT]

This is all very helpful, thanks! I will stay quite basic for my needs, so this helps with priority.

As much as I'd like changeable seals and silicone that doesn't degrade as fast, how cumbersome are the oval rings and quick neck? I have never used either of those systems so I don't know how bulky they are.

 

[Boarderguy]

This is all very helpful, thanks! I will stay quite basic for my needs, so this helps with priority.

As much as I'd like changeable seals and silicone that doesn't degrade as fast, how cumbersome are the oval rings and quick neck? I have never used either of those systems so I don't know how bulky they are.

What size are you? Average male? Petite female? I'm 5'11" and ~200 lbs. I don't notice the ring at all. If you're the size of an equestrian jockey then the neck ring will be painfully obvious. Get the pee valve, nothing basic about healthy bladders and upset prostates.

 

[ScubaSteveT]

I'm 6'4" 220# with fairly broad shoulders and dive with a backplate, so guessing the rings are negligible on me.

Maybe a dumb question with the pee valve, but if I go unbalanced can I just close it off and remove the hose when I'm not using it? A lot of my diving would be from my boat that has a nice head and I doubt I would use it 90% of the time, but I can see where they are nice on a half-day charter.

 

[formernuke]

I'm 6'4" 220# with fairly broad shoulders and dive with a backplate, so guessing the rings are negligible on me.

Maybe a dumb question with the pee valve, but if I go unbalanced can I just close it off and remove the hose when I'm not using it? A lot of my diving would be from my boat that has a nice head and I doubt I would use it 90% of the time, but I can see where they are nice on a half-day charter.

Yes I only use mine if I'm on a boat or location that I'll need it.

 

[Boarderguy]

The trigon is fantastic and inexpensive. Put a female quick disconnect on it and you don't have to do anything if you don't plan to use it. Put the male QD on the condom cath when you plan to pee.

 

[stuartv]

I'm 6'4" 220# with fairly broad shoulders and dive with a backplate, so guessing the rings are negligible on me.

Maybe a dumb question with the pee valve, but if I go unbalanced can I just close it off and remove the hose when I'm not using it? A lot of my diving would be from my boat that has a nice head and I doubt I would use it 90% of the time, but I can see where they are nice on a half-day charter.

Yeah, pretty much what @Boarderguy said.

The Trigon is awesome.

Get a set of these QD fittings (at least 2 of each - they're cheap and spares can be very handy):

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

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McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

Notice the female side is a dry break (AKA "with Shut-Off").

If you're not hooking up to your junk, just let the tube from the pee valve run up one leg, loop over and down into the other side.

With a Trigon, there is nothing on the valve to turn on or off. When you're hooked up to it, you just let 'er rip. If you're not hooked up to it, then it's fine. If the mushroom valve in the Trigon were to fail, it would let water in through the hose and into your suit.

That is where the female QD with dry break comes in. In that case, if you're not hooked up to it, water that came past a failed mushroom valve would be stopped by the female QD, so you still stay dry.

And if you are hooked up, then the worst that could happen is flooding your condom catheter. But, in reality, the air trapped in the line would actually prevent that.

I dive off boats on our local lakes. I could pee while on the boat, without using a pee valve. But, I would generally be planning to do more than one dive. Having to doff most of my drysuit so that I can pee in between dives is a royal pain. If I were only doing one dive for the day, then sure. MAYBE I wouldn't hook up my pee valve. But, if I'm doing 2 dives (or more), then I KNOW I will need to pee some time between when I first suit up and when I finish diving for the day - and that doff/don just to pee is way too much trouble. And if YOU don't need to pee at some point during a 2 dive day, you are not drinking enough water.

 

[Boarderguy]

I put my cath on before leaving the house regardless of # of dives. If I need to pee while getting ready then I hook up and go. Today we called the dive once we got to the site (heavy wind and lots of big white caps), cath was already on so I wasted $12 in gas and $1.50 on a the cath. Still worth it being able to pee when I need to and not rushing out of the water or risking a torn seal trying to get out of the damn suit.