Drysuit in the pool

[AdamARF]

Will the pool hurt my fusion drysuit?

 

[DivingPhan]

i cant see why i got adjusted in the wrist seals and trained in the pool before the class in OW
why would u be concerned just wondering

 

[AdamARF]

worried all the chemicals in the pool would speed up the breakdown of the seals.

 

[Jax]

worried all the chemicals in the pool would speed up the breakdown of the seals.

While still wearing the suit, go get in the shower to wash off the highly chlorinated pool water.

 

[DivingPhan]

ahh ya hadnt really thought of that, the place i trained had a saline pool so its was essentially salt water i would ask the shop the kind of pool they have and then see how they feel about it you rinse the suit off either way though, always

keep watchin the thread someone will say somethin

 

[flots am]

Will the pool hurt my fusion drysuit?

When you get out, just be sure to take in in the shower and rinse it off, and it will be just fine.

flots.

 

[flots am]

ahh ya hadnt really thought of that, the place i trained had a saline pool so its was essentially salt water i would ask the shop the kind of pool they have and then see how they feel about it you rinse the suit off either way though, always

keep watchin the thread someone will say somethin

While it's more or less disgusting, some freshwater pools are pretty salty just from the sweat and various fluids released by their occupants.

Some pools use lots of chemicals, and others don't use enough.

In any case, rinsing well is a good idea, since it gets off chemicals if they're used, human excretions in case the water isn't changed very often, salt if it's a salt water pool, and various growing things in case the pool isn't properly maintained.

A rinse after the pool is always a good idea, but no, an hour in the pool won't hurt your suit.

Oddly enough, what will hurt it is the user. Oily skin will quickly degrade latex seals, so keeping clean and talc-ing the seals after use helps a lot. A clean, lightly lubricated zipper will also last a lot longer than one that you ignore.

Sharp stuff and abrasives are also hard on drysuits, especially the fusion which has a softer outer skin than many tri-lam suits, and a little care with what you sit on and bump into will go a long way towards making the suit last.

flots.

 

[fdog]

Having used my own personal Fusion, and some of our shop's rental Fusions, in several pools I think I can answer this.

It depends on the pool. (Really! Shocking, huh?)

For example:

One of the pools we use is superbly maintained. The manager who runs this pool really, really knows his stuff and the pool water is perfectly balanced. I routinely take my own personal Fusion into this pool for as long as 8 hours a day sometimes, and don't even bother to rinse it off. You'd never know it; the seals are still in great shape, the material is fine, yada yada yada. (This pool, BTW, is the Carson City Aquatic Center. Kudos to them.)

On the other hand, a pool we use here in Reno, the City of Reno Northwest Pool, is terrible. The folks that work there (apparently mostly high school kids) don't really seem to care, or know how to maintain the pool, and just walking into the pool area will knock you back with the smell of chlorine. Balance is a word that surely doesn't apply to the water here, it seems to be "just add more chlorine to kill the bugs". You can't even leave your eyes open underwater for mask skills because of the pain.

In this pool, we've had students forget to rinse their Fusion in the shower after class; by the next morning, the suit was no longer black, it was brown. Even if rinsed, you can smell the chlorine on them the next day. Bad.


So, will your Fusion be safe in the pool? That depends on the pool. You'll have to make a paranoia judgement call by how the pool smells.


All the best, James

 

[fdog]

While it's more or less disgusting, some freshwater pools are pretty salty just from the sweat and various fluids released by their occupants.

Some pools use lots of chemicals, and others don't use enough.

In any case, rinsing well is a good idea, since it gets off chemicals if they're used, human excretions in case the water isn't changed very often, salt if it's a salt water pool, and various growing things in case the pool isn't properly maintained.

A rinse after the pool is always a good idea, but now an hour in the pool won't hurt your suit.

Oddly enough, what will hurt it is the user. Oily skin will quickly degrade latex seals, so keeping clean and talc-ing the seals after use helps a lot. A clean, lightly lubricated zipper will also last a lot longer than one that you ignore.

Sharp stuff and abrasives are also hard on drysuits, especially the fusion which has a softer outer skin than many tri-lam suits, and a little care with what you sit on and bump into will go a long way towards making the suit last.

flots.

Just as another point of view - having owned many drysuits over the years - I've found the opposite; the soft outer skin of the Fusion has (because it's two layers) been more durable than a typical trilam. Or even a CF200.

All the best, James

 

[TSandM]

I'm with James . . . the Fusion, because of its peculiar design, seems to tolerate abuse extremely well.

But pool water will fade the Lycra, if you are using the Sport skin. I would imagine it could do the same to the neoprene as well, since it fades my wetsuits. Rinsing well will help, but not prevent it altogether. As far as I can tell, the chlorine doesn't do anything to the seals.