I want the slippery back

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fdog

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I'm trying to figure out if it's just me, or something I'm doing, or what.

About 20 dives or so ago I noticed that it was not as easy to slip into my Fusion. It's not as slippery inside as it used to be, so it's lots more tugging and pulling to get it on over my feet, especially getting the MK3 ankles past the area of the ankle velcro.

I mean, it's not bad, just not as easy as teflon (like it used to be).

This bladder has roughly 110 dives.

I had considered a bunch of ideas, all a bit on the crazy side, including a swipe of SealSaver inside the legs!

Is it just me?


All the best, James
 
Okay. So at this point, my Fusion bladder has about 260 dives.

I'm pretty sure about the lack of slide inside the suit, so I went to West Marine and picked up a can of SailKote.

As far as I can tell, it's just Teflon, so it shouldn't do anything nasty to the suit. I hung up my Fusion, inside out, and gave it two light coats from the waist down.

OMG. It's like having the brand-new suit back. I can easily pull each leg on with one pull, right down to having the foot fully into the sock. The undies don't try to end up at mid-calf anymore. And after I have the suit on, it is waaayyyy easier to bring my knee up to my chest than it was before.

So I guess you could say I'm sold. So far. I only have three dives on it this way, so I will keep you posted on how long it lasts and if the suit has issues. I was worried about it picking up dirt, but it seems immune.


All the best, James
 
Oops. I wanted to add, that in the last couple 100 dives or so, I've always needed help from someone to get the suit off, too; I'd sit down and they would grab the heels and tug. The leg had to be straight and it would slide off.

With the SailKote, I can do it myself; I sit down, cross my legs figure-four style, and grab the heel. It slides right off easily.



All the best, James
 
Thanks for the idea, James! I haven't noticed a degradation in my ability to get into the suit, but it's always been a bit tricky to stuff the MK3 into the legs, so maybe I'll give the Sailkote a try. Handy that the suit is so easy to turn inside out and put back again!
 
Update. The coating seems to last about 20 don/doff cycles (about 30-35 dives) before I started to say "that's not quite as easy as it was before". It was still easier than before I applied the SailKote a month and a half ago.

At this point I gave it a single, light coat as the suit was still inverted from drying out, and now, if anything, it's even easier to pull on than the first time I sprayed on two coats.

I'm sold.

All the best, James
 
I've got to get some of that stuff. Today, I spent several MINUTES easing my feet and hands into the suit.
 
I am glad you bumped the thread. I had not thought about it, but now that it was mentioned I have noticed the suit was hard to don and had not remembered it being that way when I first got it.
 

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