I've had it with silicone seals.

[underH2Oman]

I think the main issue with the silicone tearing is, that because they are so stretchy people do not trim them to size. This has the effect of over stretching the silicone. I had an untrimmed seal tear on me on the eighth dive. After trimming to fit my thick wrists, over 200 dives and still going. I also trimmed my neck seal and have had no issue.

 

[apostle228]

I dont have experience with anything other than silicone, but I like them so far! No complaints, they are comfortable and easily replaced, which if you ask me are a little more important than the factors of easily gets sandy or needing help to flatten them...

 

[macado]

I've witnessed 4 people not including myself..so 5 people tear silicone seals on the boat. I guess it's a small percentage but still enough to make me wary of silicone seals. While I find them more comfortable and stretchy, I don't find them to be a durable as latex.

Here are my personal experiences with both, for what it's worth. I use DUI ZipSeals and have them both in latex and silicone so they're replaceable in the field.

Silicone
Pros
-More stretchy
-More resistant to UV/sun exposure or oils from skin (so I've heard..)
-Good for people with latex allergies
Cons
-Attract more dirt/grit
-Tear far easily than latex
-Softer so in theory can scratch/rip more easily

Latex
Pros
-Last longer if properly cared for (don't over stretch them, don't leave in sun, and clean with soap/water, talc them often)
-I've found them more durable, they don't attract grit/sand as much as silicone
Cons
-Not at stretchy
-Bad for people with latex allergies (obvious)
-Bad for people with well defined wrist tendons (leaks)
-Less resistant to UV/sun and oils (basically they won't hold up as long if you leave your suit in the sun or don't clean suit after exposure to oils from skin or whatever was in the water)

 

[eelnoraa]

I'm finally changing the neck seal of my DUI drysuit to latex. The last straw was a small tear that appeared on the top of the seal.

Here are the problems I found with silicone:
1. they're thin and prone to curling up, so I always need someone to help me flatten out the neck seal against the skin
2. I believe they get stretched in time and gradually get looser to the point of leaking
3. They collect beach sand like crazy with beach diving
4. worst of all they're prone to tearing.

I concur on 3 and 4. They are not tough at all and will give up at no hint, once started, it is a catastrophic failure. I haven't had issue with 1 just yet.

As for 2, it is somewhat true, at least for DUI. We all agree silicone is more stretchy. Per DUI recommendation, you should trim silicone seal 1 to 1.5 ring smaller than latex in order to provide similar tension and seal against skin. The issue with this recommendation is the silicone tent to be stretch more. Silicone doesn't get stretched overtime and get looser. Latex actually does that. Silicone get stretched and looser if over stretch. Once that happens once, it is all down hill.

I think I am done with DUI Si seal too. Once of my wrist seal tore within 5 dives. My latex lasted for more than 2 years and still going. My latex neck go stretched after 2 years and won't seal while I was taking a class. I have no choice to buy what was available at a LDS near the dive site, it was Silicone. It will be my last DUI Si seal.

 

[BRT]

The argument I've always heard was silicon breaks more easily but is that much easier to replace

And the good news is you can replace them with latex!

 

[grf88]

I have torn a couple of silicone wrist seals while pulling on them to remove the suit. Last dive trip I mixed up some "suit snot" (hair conditioner mixed with a equal quantity of water) and filled a small spray bottle with it. Using this I was able to both don and doff the suit without having to pull on the seals themselves, just pushing my hands through and pulling them out holding on to the rings.

 

[RVBldr]

Are the DUI seals and Si-Tec seals made by the same manufacturer? I'm 150 dives into a stock Si-Tec silicon neck seal and have been through a set of wrist seals, but only because I messed up the trimming.

 

[TTPaws]

I'm finally changing the neck seal of my DUI drysuit to latex. The last straw was a small tear that appeared on the top of the seal.

Here are the problems I found with silicone:
1. they're thin and prone to curling up, so I always need someone to help me flatten out the neck seal against the skin
2. I believe they get stretched in time and gradually get looser to the point of leaking
3. They collect beach sand like crazy with beach diving
4. worst of all they're prone to tearing.

I have three cold seasons (about 200 dives) with the silicone seal and are still really happy. with them. With the latex even with trimming I had issue #1, worse it became like a noose. I gained a bunch of weight last year and rimmed my silicone seals and then lost the weight but even with the trim job they sealed well. I like to think of it as a snug embrace vice a cauterization.

With #3 not sure I noticed any difference and almost all my teaching is off the beach.

In the case of #4 the only seal I've ripped was a wrist one and that one was ripped when I hit it with a rusty chain which caused a nick which then ran.

 

[eelnoraa]

Are the DUI seals and Si-Tec seals made by the same manufacturer? I'm 150 dives into a stock Si-Tec silicon neck seal and have been through a set of wrist seals, but only because I messed up the trimming.

I don't think so. Si-tech wrist seal at least, appears to be thicker. It feels tougher and less sticky than DUI's. I did some frankenstien mod and put si-tech onto DUI zip seal. So far so good on si-tech.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

And the good news is you can replace them with latex!

My thought exactly after I read the third post on the first page commenting that silicone are easy to replace. I have a Fusion that came with silicone seals and went through way too many seals in too short of time. I use latex now.