Mid-Trip Drysuit Failure

[BoltSnap]

I have easily replaceable (no glue) wrist seals, neck seal, and hood. I travel with a spare set of valves, hoses, wrist seals, neck seals, hoods, yoke and zipper; as well as a can of glue.

Whiteshark,

Wouldn't it be easier to just carry a second suit?

 

[Sas]

I just returned from a liveaboard trip where several divers experienced catastrophic drysuit failures. Day one, dive one someone ripped a wrist seal. My zipper failed completely during my second dive. One of the crew lent me a 7mm wetsuit and another diver had spare boots, otherwise I would have spent the trip topside.

What do other divers carry as exposure gear back up? I hate to risk ruining a future trip, yet don't want to buy gear I might never use. I am torn between buying a Nexgen or 7mm semi-dry or just taking the risk that a well-maintained drysuit won't fail again.

Well duct tape can keep seals going for a bit... But I usually take my 7mm with me as backup. The only time I have needed a backup drysuit (as I left my main one behind at the accommodation...), I actually had my second drysuit with me, pretty lucky!

So probably will start taking it with me on all trips now.

 

[BoltSnap]

BTW, carrying the glue and the associated chemicals can be considered as carrying hazardous material. We used to pay lots of $$ on top of the regular shipping prices for shipping the chemicals from the supplier as "Hazardous Material" surcharge. sometimes the surcharged is more than the price of this material.