KY Jelly?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Hey guys and gals!

There is always a down side to using various greases to don your dry suit. I always carry a used wrist seal and a can of Aqua seal on all my dry suit dives. Why? To repair a torn seal so I can keep on diving.

If you are using greases, even K-Y, this stuff is very hard to completely remove if you have to effect a latex seal repair. If you are using silicone, forget it!

Talc washes off completely and my experiences has shown that you can do an emergency seal repair with Aqual Seal (or even with duct tape) and keep on diving.
 
As a cold water diver, talc can be difficult to use on warm summer days. The heavy underwear required to dive in 45F water doesn't go away just because it's 90F topside. Talc + sweat = mud, a less than desirable lubricant.

KY jelly works well all the time and I haven't heard of anyone complaining about it degrading their seals. It washes off with water, so a quick rinse at the end of the day and any residue is gone.

As far as conversation pieces, it's been my experience that the p-valve catheters draw far more attention than the jelly.

Steven
 
My DIR-F instructor and one other diver recommended this to me.

It works fine. I've looked for evidence of degradation in the latex. So far, I've not noticed any.
 
will not damage latex or other rubber compounds.

I use it as an assembly lube for the impellers in my boats (yes, really!) to prevent dry start-ups, which is one of the main ways they end up with dramatically shortened lives. I also use it for assembly lube on rubber hoses that have seawater running through them (for the same reason.)

The other nice thing about it is that its water soluable and completely washes off with no residue.

I'm getting my first drysuit here shortly and had already planned to use it for seal insertion lubricant :)

I wouldn't use it for STORAGE, as it contains water and I would expect it to trap and culture some really nasty "stuff" if you left it in something (like a drysuit) in storage, especially in a cool, dark place.... :eek:
 
Talc, 200 weight polartec undies, and 90 deg Farenheit in the blazing sun does not a slippery arm or neck make.

I learned my lesson this summer when my talc turned gooey on my arms....ended up popping off my right locking ring for my dry gloves.....now imagine 230# of thick necked, bald Irish standing on the shore with my left wrist through the seal, my head through the seal, suit unzipped and struggling to reattach the ring (Mind you, I had to turn my right sleeve inside out...."

I was one sweaty fool by the time I was ready to go.....I ended up having to wipe down my right arm and then talc it from elbow to wrist to keep it dry whilest I pushed it through the wrist seal....I was never so happy to hit the cold water as that day.

I've since changed to an armor all sized bottle - ex hair spray bottle- with shampoo/water solution...a liberal dose on each arm and hand and my thick wrists slide through with the greatest of ease!!!
 

Back
Top Bottom