Latex Wrist Seals - Do They Stretch Or Not??

[chazdonaldson]

I have been looking all over the boards and have seen a lot of differing opinions on stretching and/or cutting latex wrist seals, and was wondering what the consensus was? I have a BARE D6 Pro Drysuit, and during my first trial dive in this suit, my hands went completely numb from the tightness of the wrist seals. I have looked inside, there are no rings on the wrist seals to suggest a path for cutting them, and they do not appear to be very tapered anyway. So, what can I do? Do I need to replace the seals with larger seals; can they be stretched, SHOULD they be stretched, should my LDS, which sold me the suit, foot the bill for any replacement of the seals?

Any help would be appreciated, it really stinks to finally get my drysuit and still be on the shore unable to dive........

Thanks

Chaz Donaldson

 

[Snowbear]

Latex will stretch, but until it starts getting old it will mostly unstretch close to it's original size. So yep, you will need to trim the seals. They won't look like they taper much, but unless you have huge wrists, it should be enough. If you trim it yourself, use something very sharp like a utility (aka box) knife or razor blade. Don't use scissors. If you're not comfortable doing it yourself, the LDS where you bought the suit should be happy to adjust the seals for you.

 

[bottomrunner]

I have been looking all over the boards and have seen a lot of differing opinions on stretching and/or cutting latex wrist seals, and was wondering what the consensus was? I have a BARE D6 Pro Drysuit, and during my first trial dive in this suit, my hands went completely numb from the tightness of the wrist seals. I have looked inside, there are no rings on the wrist seals to suggest a path for cutting them, and they do not appear to be very tapered anyway. So, what can I do? Do I need to replace the seals with larger seals; can they be stretched, SHOULD they be stretched, should my LDS, which sold me the suit, foot the bill for any replacement of the seals?

Any help would be appreciated, it really stinks to finally get my drysuit and still be on the shore unable to dive........

Thanks

Chaz Donaldson

Hi
I think we have all had to deal with this problem sooner or later .
Talk to your shop first.
Is it custom or off the rack. If your shop will do nothing.
Recondition the seals first, I use Seal Saver liquid K-Y will work as well
To stretch, put beer bottles into seals.
place seals into bucket of hot water for about 1/2 an hour.
take them out and let them cool down to room temp. with bottles still in seals.
If that does not work resort to cutting, as Snow bear described.
But cut only 1/8 of an inch at a time, and leave no nicks.
After that replace.
Hope this helps!

 

[SDAnderson]

Latex seals normally need to be cut to size. If you haven't done this before, don't - one mistake and you will need to replace the seals. The process is fairly simple in concept but harder to execute without having seen it done first. The two biggest dangers are that you will cut too much material (creating leaky seals) or that you won't cut the material perfectly evenly with no nicks or wobbles to tear when stress is applied to them (creating REALLY leaky seals.)

 

[theskull]

. . . during my first trial dive in this suit, my hands went completely numb from the tightness of the wrist seals. . .

This is perfectly normal. Numb hands do not feel cold. This way you do not need dry gloves.

(Only joking of course. The replies you already received cover all the bases.)

theskull

 

[akscubainst]

Don't use scissors.

- Sorry Snow, I disagree


We've trimmed literally hundreds of seals (maybe thousands) and always use scissors. Just don't use crappy scissors get the good sharp sewing ones.

Here's DUI's instructions. Also, IMO the idea of laying them down and cutting both sides at once is crap. start somewhere and work your way around, make sure you're getting a nice clean cut without any hangers or nicks.

http://www.dui-online.com/how_to_trim.htm

Dave

 

[chazdonaldson]

- Sorry Snow, I disagree


We've trimmed literally hundreds of seals (maybe thousands) and always use scissors. Just don't use crappy scissors get the good sharp sewing ones.

Here's DUI's instructions. Also, IMO the idea of laying them down and cutting both sides at once is crap. start somewhere and work your way around, make sure you're getting a nice clean cut without any hangers or nicks.

http://www.dui-online.com/how_to_trim.htm

Dave

thanks Dave, but how can I tell how much to remove when there are no markings on the insides or outsides of the cuffs? Is there a good starting point? As a shop owner, would you suggest taking this task on myself??

 

[MSilvia]

Start small... try to cut off a consistant 1/8th inch strip from the end, and try that. If it's still too tight, do it again. Repeat as needed. It's not rocket science.

This is a much better way to approach it than by taking a big chunk all at once. Not only will you have a good custom fit, but you won't risk cutting too much off. It's a lot easier to remove a strip than to put it back!

 

[Bob3]

If you got your suit from a shop, they're SUPPOSED to trim the seals with you, it's why you pay them the extra $$.
Fiskars makes a nice pair of scissors, they're the parent company of Gerber knife, & most sold here are even made in the US.
How's the neck seal doing? It can be downright dangerous if that is too tight.

 

[hex92]

I have been looking all over the boards and have seen a lot of differing opinions on stretching and/or cutting latex wrist seals, and was wondering what the consensus was? I have a BARE D6 Pro Drysuit, and during my first trial dive in this suit, my hands went completely numb from the tightness of the wrist seals. I have looked inside, there are no rings on the wrist seals to suggest a path for cutting them, and they do not appear to be very tapered anyway. So, what can I do? Do I need to replace the seals with larger seals; can they be stretched, SHOULD they be stretched, should my LDS, which sold me the suit, foot the bill for any replacement of the seals?

Chaz Donaldson

I know on the Bare Nex-Gen that their wrist seals come in 3 different sizes. Which seal you get is based on the size of your suit. Small suits get small seals, medium gets .... you get the idea. I found this out after emailing Bare. My wrist seals were leaking. I had an XLT suit (w/large seals), but I have medium wrists.