Uninventing the plastic zipper

[Vicko]

Time to go back to two piece rubber suits.

 

[lexvil]

My current suit has a plastic zip. I was pretty sceptical, but apparently those horror stories were caused by childhood diseases and that those have been overcome now. I'm still withholding judgment until I have at least a few dozen dives on the suit, though.

I hope those early horror stories didn’t come from people trying to prove you could smash them new fangled zippers with a hammer and they would be fine.
Allegory time, many years ago (not dive related) a friend and I both transferred to the hills at about the same time and from the same prior workplace, one morning while having coffee he showed me his coffee cup, it was a type used at a popular restaurant in the old town, he declared I stole this cup from xxxx because it’s completely unbreakable! He proceeded to drop it on the concrete floor to demonstrate... it took a long time to find all of the pieces.

The moral of the story can be whatever you like from don’t steal to don’t tempt fate.

 

[Degenerate]

I hope those early horror stories didn’t come from people trying to prove you could smash them new fangled zippers with a hammer and they would be fine.
Allegory time, many years ago (not dive related) a friend and I both transferred to the hills at about the same time and from the same prior workplace, one morning while having coffee he showed me his coffee cup, it was a type used at a popular restaurant in the old town, he declared I stole this cup from xxxx because it’s completely unbreakable! He proceeded to drop it on the concrete floor to demonstrate... it took a long time to find all of the pieces.

The moral of the story can be whatever you like from don’t steal to don’t tempt fate.

Not sure what you are trying to say with that story, seeing as how there actually are near unbreakable cups today (relatively speaking, a bulldozer will break most things) where as a zipper won't ever be anywhere near unbreakable.
The moral of the story is that your friend is either gullible or dumb, and if you want to break a zipper you can do it easily no matter what type it is.


Based on what I've seen and heard Santi had issues with their plastic zippers a while ago, I have only heard positive things about their "newer" plastic zippers.
Personally I'll stick with brass because it's a well proven concept, but I would probably be open to a plastic zipper in a decade or two if they are still on the market with good reviews.

 

[Storker]

The moral of the story can be whatever you like from don’t steal to don’t tempt fate

I'm kinda partial to "don't tempt fate". Or, rather, "don't challenge what's known"

 

[W W Meixner]

There are some things in the scuba industry that should never have been invented and when they are invented, we need to quickly "un-invent" them so that life my continue as usual. One such invention is the plastic zipper on drysuits. I have no idea, what motivated such an idiotic invention but the first failure I had on my drysuit was the plastic zipper.

I remember watching the promotional video by Santi where a sales rep was stepping on the plastic zipper wearing Nike shoes to demonstrate how durable the contraption was.


I was thinking in my mind "really? So you will place the zipper on a carpet so that there is cushion on the other side and step on it with a rubber sole sneaker? Why don't you place it on a concrete floor and drop a steel tank on it instead?" I can break a metal zipper and I can break a plastic zipper but the former would require more work. What problem are we trying to solve with a plastic zipper?

A few days ago, I spoke to a guy who repairs loads after load of dry-suits. "Stay away from plastic zippers. Steel is your friend and plastic is your enemy. I spend more time treating plastic zipper casualties than steel ones."

It was a bad idea that was surrounded by some serious marketing hype with sales people jumping on it etc. A lot of people fell for it but the fun is over now. To drysuit manufacturers, can we please end this highly nonsensical plastic zipper fad and return to the age of steel? I for one am not spending a penny on any suit that comes with a plastic zipper no matter how "high-end" they market themselves to be. Plastic is plastic and it is one of the greatest problems of our times.

Hey Stoo...

Depending on use volume/severity of service/not taking the time post dive to properly clean/inspect/lubricate...they're both prone to failure...I've seen lots of brass zippers fail prematurely do to improper use/handling and neglect...

My close friend who is an OW/AOW instructor has a high end BARE ''tec'' drysuit...with probably close to 1000 dives on it...the suit's travelled three quarters of the way around the world and back...and is probably eight years old now...plastic zipper is still going strong...and I believe it's a Master-T-Zip...

I have a 7/8 BARE Velocity semi-dry suit that I use as a back-up...it has a Master-T-Zip dry-suit zipper...I fully expect this suit...based primarily on amount of use...to last the rest of my life...

My DUI dry-suit has a brass HD zipper...works like magic...would a plastic zipper be a deciding factor when buying my next dry-suit...if that should ever happen...probably not...

As far as ''hype''...we all fall victim to hype...I would think the majority of all the purchases we make in our life time...regardless of what it is...are based in-part on slick advertising...and manufacturer generated hype...with the worst products being those where the manufacturers start believing their own hype and stop manufacturing a quality product...

You will recall our recent discussions regarding ''some divers'' favourite DC...any time the consumer believes all this BS...they become victims...

Having said all that...you are 100% correct regarding the negative global environmental impact of plastic...

W.M...

 

[broncobowsher]

For the tighter bends I am referring to the end that goes over the shoulder and continues to wrap around the torso. As you move there is a fair amount of movement (unless your name is Chris and everyone swears your torso is just one solid block with no moving parts). As compared to across the shoulders which stays relatively straight regardless of how you move around.

The front zip takes on all kinds of bending and flexing just doing things like bending over to put some fins on that the back zip doesn't see. Look at some different range of motion activities and compare back to front.

 

[JBFG]

My front opening fusion has a brass zip. I was told you can’t put a plastic one on it, the plastic is not able to bend enough to make the necessary U shape.
So which one is stronger and bends more?

 

[Scuba Cobra]

I have a plastic zipper on my EX-2. it's almost 2 years old now, 150ish dives, been around the world twice, and (knock on wood) no issues (with the zipper) yet.

I find it much more comfortable than the brass zipper on my old Navy Surplus Typhoon drysuit.

I do find however that I do take extremely good care of the zipper out if fear of hurting it, zipping it slowly, open and closed, inspecting the zipper for sand or dust before donning suit. I however don't lube the zipper very often at all. Maybe once every 30 or 40 dives?

 

[Marie13]

My front opening fusion has a brass zip. I was told you can’t put a plastic one on it, the plastic is not able to bend enough to make the necessary U shape.
So which one is stronger and bends more?

The new Canadian made AirCores have plastic zippers. I got a brass one. Heard they had some brass zippers left and prioritized those for the replacement AirCores.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Sorry to be slightly OT,

Does anyone know if it's possible to zip a backzip brass zipper solo?

I've watched YT videos and all the ones donned solo are plastic. I don't mind having my buddy do it, but it's more of a self sufficient thing for me. I'd like to hear someone's experience with that, thanks.