"Heavy duty" dry suit seals aren't?

[Phaedrus]

On Saturday, I was getting into my dry suit for a dive at the local mud hole, when one of the latex wrist seals on my suit decided to make a two-inch-long tear. ;-0 Of course, I didn't have a spare seal. :bonk: I'd had those seals for a couple years, so they apparently needed replacement soon anyway. So, yesterday, I stopped by the dive shop to order a neck seal and two wrist seals.

When I placed the order, the shop owner commented that heavy-duty latex seals contain more clay. As a result, they're apparently more prone to catastrophic, irreparable failure like the one I experienced, than "regular" latex seals are. He recommended that I go for the regular seals; I did, since I trust his judgement.

What do you think? Has it been your experience that heavy-duty seals aren't worth the extra money? Or, was I misinformed?

 

[Bob3]

REAL HD seals (like the ones on commercial suits) are made out of the same material, only a LOT thicker.

 

[Phaedrus]

How much do those real HD seals usually run? Do they cost much less in the long run than typical seals?

 

[SubMariner]

Latex is still latex.

Frankly, we use neoprene seals because they are much less likely to tear & we can repair them ourselves.

Just my $0.02's worth,

~SubMariner~

 

[Phaedrus]

Originally posted by SubMariner
Frankly, we use neoprene seals because they are much less likely to tear & we can repair them ourselves.

My suit has a very nice ring system. If I need to replace a seal, all I need to do is loosen its ring, remove the old seal, put the new seal on, then tighten the ring. Also, I carry a patch kit for seal punctures, and it doesn't take very long to repair a latex seal that has been punctured. YMMV, though.

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Originally posted by Bob3
REAL HD seals (like the ones on commercial suits) are made out of the same material, only a LOT thicker.

If your dry-suits seals have lots'o'clay they are more easily
molded into whatever shape is best for preventing leaks ;-)