Bilam Drysuit with Broken Neck Seal - Repair or Upgrade?

[tracydr]

Yes.. Latex seals degrade. Especially when stored in a room with "tube-lights" (Can't remember what it is called)
Latex is a natural product, and will get sticky, and almost "rot".
After 6 years I would expect to have to change it very soon.

For best care of the latex seal, make sure you use talcumpowder, and be mindful of sharp nails.
And... If the suit fits, and the zipper is good, then changing wrist/neckseals will be a part of normal maintenance.
Oh.. and oils in the skin, perfumes, and creams can also degrade the seal.

Also, don't apply sunscreen until after you dive. Which is unfortunate for "near albinos" like me. I do sneak a tiny bit of sunscreen on my face, wear a hat and stay in the shade.
I'd like to know how hard it is to install the Si-tech wrist rings? I'm considering swapping my Diving Concepts wrist rings for Si-tech so that I can use their dry gloves. DC is out of business and they sent me the wrong dry glove system ( doesn't match my wrist rings) right before they closed.

 

[Peter69_56]

I just bought a Waterproof Hybrid Drysuit with silicone replaceable seals and will let you know how I go with it. The seals are so easy to replace (done it twice already) and take a few minutes only. If they are reliable I think this will kill latex seals. I love the idea of being able to carry seals and replace at will quickly and simply. I am thinking they will be sunscreen immune too given they are silicon.

 

[tracydr]

Peter, do you like the comfort of the silicone? Do they seem to be at least as durable? I'd always heard they were more fragile.

 

[Peter69_56]

Peter, do you like the comfort of the silicone? Do they seem to be at least as durable? I'd always heard they were more fragile.

Tracy,

I am diving it tomorrow so will fill you in more after that. Its very soft on the neck. I have trimmed mine a little to reduce the pressure on my neck and the piece I have trimmed of I have stretched, played with etc and it seems tough.

Rule 1 is no rings or anything to catch the seals on (same as latex).
Rule 2 Use your hands and no nails to stretch the neck seal to get your head in (same as latex I guess).

I think they are ok and no less fragile than latex when the latex is new. The difference being that silicon wont deteriorate similar to latex. I will keep people informed on how it goes anyway. I did find that I can buy the seals much cheaper overseas than here in OZ. This is typical of everything in diving here. I got them for 25% of the price here so bought 2 spare neck and 1 set of wrist seals for the price of 1 neck seal here.

I was very impressed with the softness of the silicon and it doesn't seem to grip the neck as tight so reduces the choking feeling. I hate tight things on my neck and had my semi dry modified at the neck seal to prevent this (Scubapro semidry). The neck seals and wrist seals are so so easy to replace and I would estimate one can change the neck seal in less than 5 min. I am going to also buy the matching dry gloves which clip on and off via their attachment system and totally seal against the suit rather than being a separate compartment as per most standard dry gloves.

I think if I had a dry suit with latex seal and wanted to keep it, I would consider buying the silicon kit simply because of the ease of replacement of the seal so as to not lose a dive due to failure. I have seen some reports on the silicon being fragile. My experience to date is you have to carefully trim it and not have sharp corners or nicks (this is very similar to latex so no different I think). If you have a nick it can tear easily but latex will do the same.

I like them to date, and what I do also like is the hybrid suit has a neck cover that protects the seal against tearing on a wreck etc. Some suits might not have this so it may be a possibility to hook it on something, but I would think its similar to latex in this respect as well???

 

[divezonescuba]

I have installed several necktites on Bare Nextgens. I used PB300 for the cement and a little aquaseal to back that up. Use a fiscar circular cutter or the like. You should have not problem. While you're at it install the permanent cuffs so you can use the QCP glove lock system as well

We mostly use regular latex seals not silicone seals because of all the problems. This goes for both the neck and the wrist seals. They say silicone seals are getting better everyday, well they're still way inferior to latex in terms of durability. Every few months, I try silicone and end up going back to latex.

 

[Locus]

I have installed several necktites on Bare Nextgens. I used PB300 for the cement and a little aquaseal to back that up. Use a fiscar circular cutter or the like. You should have not problem. While you're at it install the permanent cuffs so you can use the QCP glove lock system as well

I'm researching dry glove systems and its a bit confusing. Quick Glove, Quick Clamp, Glove Lock, Antares... What are the relative advantages of each? Antares is the newest and the "most slim and comfortable", so why is it $90 cheaper than the Glove Lock system?

If it's just as good, then of course I would rather pay less, but all I really want is something that works, requires no glue to install, and is easy to don and doff without assistance.

---------- Post added September 23rd, 2013 at 08:50 PM ----------

I have installed several necktites on Bare Nextgens. I used PB300 for the cement and a little aquaseal to back that up. Use a fiscar circular cutter or the like. You should have not problem.

I'm not very confident that I can do that, as I don't have the tools or an appropriate work space (I'm an apartment dweller). I've seen videos of the installation online and it seems pretty involved for my experience level.

However, one of Bare's production warehouses is a half-hour drive from me, and they will sell me the system for $170 including installation. I don't like to spend money unnecessarily, but I feel like maybe I should leave this one to the pros and make sure it's done right. It doesn't seem like a very high cost considering the best local deal I could find to do a basic latex seal replacement was $160 (the highest was $200! Oh, Canada...). Anyway, it seems if I shell out a bit more now, then I won't have to worry about overpaying (and missing two weeks of diving!) again.

 

[JohnN]

I'm researching dry glove systems and its a bit confusing. Quick Glove, Quick Clamp, Glove Lock, Antares... What are the relative advantages of each? Antares is the newest and the "most slim and comfortable", so why is it $90 cheaper than the Glove Lock system?

You should consider the XS Scuba "Dry Five" gloves. I think technically they are 'semi-dry' gloves, but they seem warmer to me than the dry gloves I've tried. I also like the dexterity much better

 

[Peter69_56]

Tracy,

I am diving it tomorrow so will fill you in more after that. Its very soft on the neck. I have trimmed mine a little to reduce the pressure on my neck and the piece I have trimmed of I have stretched, played with etc and it seems tough.

Tracy,

Dived a quick test dive yesterday and all seemed well. No leaks and no issues. The seals at this stage seem ok and not too fragile, will report if I have any issues.

However hate how much weight I need compared to a wetsuit though. There is a lot to be said for the ease of use of a single tank, BCD and wetsuit over twins, drysuit and tech wing.

 

[Locus]

Decided to go with the si tech neck tite system and quick cuffs. Going to try marigolds, as they are the most cost-effective dry glove option, and I can always upgrade them later while keeping the ability to field-swap wrist seals. Thanks for the input everyone.