adjusting drysuit neoprene seal

[rickc]

I just purchased my first drysuit - an old Harveys neoprene suit that has a neoprene neck seal.

The suit seems to fit pretty well, but I can't get the neck seal over my head, and I am afraid to stretch it too far for fear of tearing it.

Should I try to stretch the neck seal, how and how much?

Any advice much appreciated.

TNX.

Rick Colman

 

[SubMariner]

Rick this is not an uncommon problem with neoprene neck seals.

The good news is that because neoprene is fairly durable, it "takes a a licking but keeps on ticking". IOW, you can do things with neoprene seals that you cannot do with latex.

All of this is a round-about way of saying:

1) To stretch neoprene neck seals pull the seal down over top of a standard AL 80 tank. Leave it for at least a day. When you go to wear it you'll find that it wil be much easier to use.

2) To stetch neoprene wrist seals, use pop (that's soda to Americans, eh?!) bottles. Same length of time as above.

Once you have done this & dive them on a consistent basis, they retain their stretched shape. However over the Winter (or some other long period of time where the suit has not been used) you may have to re-stretch them.

Hope this helped.

Drysuits RULE!!!! :bang:

~SubMariner~