Kevlar on a drysuit? Good idea?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I ordered a suit a while back and it came with some Kevlar reinforcement. Those did not hold up too well and started coming apart. The dealer was able to send me the same suit without the Kevlar reinforcements and the suit has held up to abuse quite well. I also heard from a few users that there were suits with entire body panels that were made of Kevlar. Those did not last very long as Kevlar and sea water were not blending well together.

Id love to hear about your experiences with Kevlar drysuits. Any issues with durability etc? Thanks.

 

[Marie13]

Not an entire drysuit, but my made to measure DUI FLX Extreme has kevlar knee pads. Very nice especially when kneeling in shallow water to get my SM tanks on. No issues at all with them.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Before I bought my current boat, the majority of my dives were made crawling over boulders to get in the water. I have kevlar butt and knee pads and they saved my suit numerous times.

 

[Bald Wookie]

I've seen and serviced a kevlar drysuit that was used in a hull testing tank for 10 years, about twice a week. Suit was in great condition for its age. He bought a new one as the neoprene was beginning to delaminate from the kevlar. The 3 others that had suits that worked with him replaced theirs every 3-4 years just from wear and tear. So I think he got good use out of the kevlar.

Commercial divers with full kevlar suits I have also serviced, they love the durability. (See Abyss custom Drysuits).

I wouldn't recommend a full Kevlar suit to a recreational diver, but for commercial divers depending on their work they can be great.

It really does depend on where manufacturers source their neoprene from, there are definitely differences. I've seen two suits that look almost the same but the neoprene quality in one was poor, the other was ok. Guess which was warmer and had fewer issues?

 

[happy-diver]

My kevlar comes out of a tube of Sika 291 or similar

Nice!