DUI zipseals pro's vs. con's ?

[jfproul]

I bought a dui tls350 2 months ago and the dive shop ask me
if I wanted the zipseal option and I said NO but since then I regret...
do you guys have pro's and con's about zipseals ? does it worth the
price ? I want this to put the dry gloves.


any input would be appreciated.


thanks

 

[Jasonmh]

I don't have any experience with the Zipseals, but you don't need them to use drygloves. I added these to my tls350 and they work great:

http://www.divingconcepts.com/dryglove.htm

 

[renpirate]

Zipseals are very convienient. If you rip a seal, you can replace it on the spot in a matter of minutes. I have heard many worries about leaks or failures, but haven't had a problem in over 100 dives myself. I also have yet to hear a story about a probelm with them, not that there haven't been, just that I have yet to hear one.

So, I would definitely recommend them.

 

[theskull]

ZIP seals for the wrists rule! Plus you get the ZIP dryglove option (soon to be available in compressed neoprene gloves also).

ZIP neck seals are also much appreciated by me, but some folks find them less comfortable since the hole you squeeze your head through is noticably smaller and you can feel the rigid ring around your shoulders.

If you can, try on a suit with the ZIP neck before committing to it. But you cannot go wrong with the wrists.

theskull

 

[PfcAJ]

I have ZipSeals on my wrists and neck, and I'm definetly glad I got them. No problems with them yet (knock on wood!).

 

[ApexLongimanus]

Same here. I can only recommend them.

 

[SeaLevelScuba]

The zip seals rule. I've personally never had any problem with them or had any customers complain about them. IMHO, they're worth every dime.

 

[cummings66]

Having used a dui with zipseals I'd say go for it. They're great. I don't look at it from the standpoint of saving a dive since Latex seals IME don't go bad often enough to worry about that, but when you need to replace them and you will after some period of time zip seals would make it simple.

Drysuits need maintenance, replacing seals is one of those things and zipseals are probably the best thing DUI's ever done aside from the rock boots IMO.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I bought a dui tls350 2 months ago and the dive shop ask me
if I wanted the zipseal option and I said NO but since then I regret...
do you guys have pro's and con's about zipseals ? does it worth the
price ? I want this to put the dry gloves.

any input would be appreciated.

thanks

I have two DUI suits ... a CLX450 for teaching and a TLS350 for fun diving. I got the CLX450 with zip seals ... and after using the CLX450 for a year and a half, I sent it back to DUI to have them removed.

I got them so that when teaching if I ripped a seal, I could simply replace it and carry on ... and it served that purpose well. But there were downsides.

The first is that replacement seals are BLOODY EXPENSIVE! A pair of wrist seals runs about $115, and a neck seal is $135. On my other suit, I can have a standard set of wrist seals or a neck seal replaced for about $80. Turnaround is 2 to 4 days, depending on how busy they are.

Then there's the quality of the latex. DUI suits are very high quality ... but I cannot say the same for the latex they use on their seals. I went through four neck seals in a year and a half ... one lasted less than 30 dives ... that's more than $4 per dive for the seal. With standard OS Systems seals I typically get 150 to 200 dives on a seal. Of those four DUI Zip neck seals, the longest one lasted me maybe 75 dives.

Then there's the convenience factor. I tried mounting a set of Diving Concepts dry glove rings on my Zip wrist seals ... but because of the way the seals mounted the rings were down around my knuckles ... not very conducive to dexterity.

For all those reasons, I decided to have them removed ... for me they simply weren't worth it. Since I own two suits, I'll simply keep the second suit in the car with me when I teach, and if I rip a seal I'll change suits.

As with all dive gear there aree always pros and cons ... and whether any given option is worth it to you is a matter of whether the pros outweigh the cons. In my particular case, with Zip seals they didn't.

But I will give DUI a plug here ... their customer service has proven to be excellent! I am real happy with the way they've taken care of my request for a retrofit.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I have ZipSeals on my CLx450. I have personally seen other divers with a torn seal (torn in the water early in the dive) come back to the boat, change to a spare wrist seal, and be back in the water in time to still do the dive. Having said that there are some down sides.

Probably the larges single obstacle to their widespread use is cost. These things are not inexpensive. My recommendation for you is to wait until it is time to replace the seals that you now have on the suit and only then consider the option. For ZipSeals to really provide you with advantages you need to get spares and carry them with you, so factor that additional cost in.

I have two sets of wrist seals, one of those sets has rings for using my Dive Concepts Dry Gloves, the other set is without the rings. Both sets are already trimmed to the correct size for my comparitively thin wrists. It is my plan that when one of these wears out I will try to install new latex wrist seals on the old Zipper part in order to save money. I also have two neck ZipSeals, each already trimmed to the correct size. My head is at the upper limit of size to fit through the opening, so I notice the restriction, but with carefull donning and doffing I am fine.

One problem not often mentioned with regard to the ZipSeal wrists is the added bulk of the Zip. They are far less bulky than hard ring systems, but they do get in the way if you wear a computer in just the wrong place, consider this and make your choices wisely.

Mark Vlahos