DUI zipseals pro's vs. con's ?

[SDAnderson]

I spoke with several divers wearing DUI suits with zip seals this past weekend, and only one of them was happy with them (the wealthiest one, I'll note). They each acknowledged that they had had dives saved by them a couple of times, but the expense is VERY high, and more significantly, the latex on the zip seals seems practically designed to fail. It is VERY thin and fragile. No wonder people like them so much... they keep failing, and then they get to pat themselves on the back and think they did the right thing and gee isn't it great how easy they are to replace! If they had regular seals, they would have been beefier and probably wouldn't have torn in the first place. So it's a balancing act... weigh the possible (and probable) tears and expense (but saved dives) against less likely tears and less expense, but potential missed dives should an accident happen.

Nothing purchased from DUI is cheap - a common criticism of the company, usually made by divers that can't afford their products. I'd be more upset about their prices if I felt like Brand X was half as innovative or half as good as DUI.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Nothing purchased from DUI is cheap - a common criticism of the company, usually made by divers that can't afford their products. I'd be more upset about their prices if I felt like Brand X was half as innovative or half as good as DUI.

On the contrary ... I own two DUI suits, love the suits, and won't hesitate to buy another one when needed. The suits are a quality product, and well worth the price. Furthermore, I've had very good experiences with their customer service ... which factors heavily into any scuba equipment purchase I make.

On the other hand, my experience with zip seals suggests that the quality of the latex could be much better. The average lifetime I've gotten out of zip seals is less than half that of the standard OS Systems replacement seals I've used on other suits.

I don't mind paying top dollar for top quality ... but I do mind paying top dollar for products that simply don't hold up to the wear I get out of comparable products costing much less ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SDAnderson]

On the other hand, my experience with zip seals suggests that the quality of the latex could be much better. The average lifetime I've gotten out of zip seals is less than half that of the standard OS Systems replacement seals I've used on other suits.

A better critique, though your experience doesn't match my observations. Like I said, I don't have them on my suits but plan on adding them to my wrists the next time I change out. Though the ability to quickly change out seals is probably worth some increase in failure rates, I'd like to know if a problem exists. My decision is based on what customers tell me and how many replacement seals they are buying - people aren't complaining about the failure rate and, statistically, the number of seals the zip seal owners are buying hasn't indicated a problem. Obviously, YRMV.

I'd be interested in hearing the details from any zip seal owners that have experience with other systems - DUI or otherwise. If you are (or aren't) increased failure rates, let's hear about it.

 

[CompuDude]

On the contrary ... I own two DUI suits, love the suits, and won't hesitate to buy another one when needed. The suits are a quality product, and well worth the price. Furthermore, I've had very good experiences with their customer service ... which factors heavily into any scuba equipment purchase I make.

On the other hand, my experience with zip seals suggests that the quality of the latex could be much better. The average lifetime I've gotten out of zip seals is less than half that of the standard OS Systems replacement seals I've used on other suits.

I don't mind paying top dollar for top quality ... but I do mind paying top dollar for products that simply don't hold up to the wear I get out of comparable products costing much less ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Thank you, you said it much better than I did. (As usual)

 

[limeyx]

I spoke with several divers wearing DUI suits with zip seals this past weekend, and only one of them was happy with them (the wealthiest one, I'll note). They each acknowledged that they had had dives saved by them a couple of times, but the expense is VERY high, and more significantly, the latex on the zip seals seems practically designed to fail. It is VERY thin and fragile. No wonder people like them so much... they keep failing, and then they get to pat themselves on the back and think they did the right thing and gee isn't it great how easy they are to replace! If they had regular seals, they would have been beefier and probably wouldn't have torn in the first place. So it's a balancing act... weigh the possible (and probable) tears and expense (but saved dives) against less likely tears and less expense, but potential missed dives should an accident happen.

The original DUI wrist seals I got with my suit were also really thin and were worthless in 60 or so dives.

Now I use whatever superior diving uses and they seem much better (although I've gone through a set of those too)

DUI's usual excuse is that we dive too much. Just limit yourself to 25 dives a year max and everything is AOK

 

[Mverick]

I hate DUI's wrist seals and not real happy with ther neck seals. Last thing I want is to be required to use them with the zip seals. I like Gates seals and use them exclusively. And, they last. Had one drysuit for 5 years and never have changed the seals. Although, the boots just fell off.. LOL... Where they were glued to the suit. That was on a Gates VSN1100 suit. Love the suit, I have 2 of them. Also have a DUI CF200. Had the HD seals put on when the zipper got replaced and I hated them. Back to gates seals for me. Also have a Gates 1050.