Help sort the shovel from the truth

[DandyDon]

If you have a 3 mil jumpsuit and a 7 mil, you have a good selection. When the 3 aint enough, go for the 7. I have dive my 7 in water where m 5 would have worked, but the 7 was not too much. I made the mistake of buying a 3, 5, and a 7 - you don't need to.

 

[pilot fish]

Buy a 3 and a 5 mil, rent the 7 mil. Save the money for diving. Oh, yeah, but a 5 mil hood.

 

[promocop]

This is the only thread I could find for this question. Do suits REALLY degrade in time? Or is my LDS trying to sell me a new suit? I have had a henderson titanium 6/7 mm for about 5 years. It has at least 50 dives on it. Perfect shape, cared for religously. Have the cells really compressed over time? Has the neoprene really degraded overtime. What is fact and what is fiction?

 

[cdarroch]

This is the only thread I could find for this question. Do suits REALLY degrade in time? Or is my LDS trying to sell me a new suit? I have had a henderson titanium 6/7 mm for about 5 years. It has at least 50 dives on it. Perfect shape, cared for religously. Have the cells really compressed over time? Has the neoprene really degraded overtime. What is fact and what is fiction?

I'm only able to offer a limited response here... I've noticed that my suits do degrade over time - the wrist/ankle seals aren't as tight as they used to be, and there's definitely a lot more room in the torso portion... Like any rubber, neoprene has a little memory and will lose its' stretch after awhile. As for cell compression, I'm not sure - one would think that yes, as the neoprene molecules lose their cohesion, compression would increase... but would the rubber not then spring back to its original form more easily? My jury's out on this one!

 

[The Kraken]

A good 5mm is a good choice, in my opinion, to temps in the 60's.

Add a hood and gloves and you may be able to take it a bit colder.

the K

 

[DandyDon]

A good 5mm is a good choice, in my opinion, to temps in the 60's.

Add a hood and gloves and you may be able to take it a bit colder.

the K

True, I find my 5 mil plenty for 62 F diving on a warm day, but if the air temp is not warm, then I need my 7 mil - yet it all varies with diver. Also not what he asked...

This is the only thread I could find for this question. Do suits REALLY degrade in time? Or is my LDS trying to sell me a new suit? I have had a henderson titanium 6/7 mm for about 5 years. It has at least 50 dives on it. Perfect shape, cared for religously. Have the cells really compressed over time? Has the neoprene really degraded overtime. What is fact and what is fiction?

50 dives is not many for the life of a Henderson suit, altho it will breakdown some with repeated compressions. 5 years does add to the problem some, but I'd still call it a slightly used suit.

On the other hand, my 5 yo 3 mil Bare has maybe 50 dives and I see some holes on a shoulder. Sending it in on the Lifetime warranty as it seems defective; nah, they'll tell me I snagged it. It dives ok.

 

[The Kraken]

I'm sure a suit degrades some with time, but from what I've experienced, if you dive a lot, you'll wear it out first by donning and doffing your gear.

Some Aquaseal and duct tape help make them last a few more years.

the K

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I'm sure a suit degrades some with time, but from what I've experienced, if you dive a lot, you'll wear it out first by donning and doffing your gear.

Some Aquaseal and duct tape help make them last a few more years.

the K

1+ for what the K said.

It has also been my experience that I wear out the suit long before it has time to degrade much. Just tugging and pulling while donning & doffing, and scrambling over sharps rocks (I shore dive mostly) will do a suit in fast enough. I do notice a little bit of stretching in the torso that was not there when my current suit was brand new however, so I think they can stretch out a bit.

And Aquaseal is indeed the friend of many an "abused" wetsuit

Best wishes.

 

[DandyDon]

I sold my first Bare to my cousin because it "shrank."

I am working to not outgrow any I have now. I need to get some Aquaseal. I'll use the high quality real Duct Tape with fabric base.

 

[spectrum]

This is the only thread I could find for this question. Do suits REALLY degrade in time? Or is my LDS trying to sell me a new suit? I have had a henderson titanium 6/7 mm for about 5 years. It has at least 50 dives on it. Perfect shape, cared for religously. Have the cells really compressed over time? Has the neoprene really degraded overtime. What is fact and what is fiction?

Time is not the big enemy as much as repetition and depth. At 50 dives you should be just broken in. Noticeable deterioration is usually observed around 200 dives.

To a lesser extent the rubber will deteriorate over time especially of poorly cleaned and stored so a lightly used suit may have lost some of it''s best dives.

Thermal protection is very important but it's not binary. Go diving and when you notice the suit is not as cozy as it used to be start shopping.

Pete