Neoprene wrist seals - how do these work?

[stuartv]

FWIW - I just picked up a semi-dry to use for training/instructing activities since while I love my dry gloves in cold water, they do make gear R&R a pain, esp with a fixed harness BP/W. (at least for me...)

Not sure which ones you have. But, I use the Ansell G17K gloves on my Kubi rings. They are 30 mil thick and sized to fit my hand like, well, like a glove. With liners in under them, I still have more dexterity than with 3mm wet gloves on. They are not as thick and tough as some other dry glove options, but they have been holding up very well for me. My first pair lasted a year before I finally got a small hole in one finger. And they're cheap!

I buy them from here for around $3/pair: Results for 'g17k'

 

[TravisD]

It's actually not the gloves themselves that are my issues - it's the rings. I have the SiTech GloveLock system on my fusion, and by the time you stack the Glove rings on top of the attached suit rings, the outside diameter is not insignificant, and I tend to catch them on my chest straps when trying to get in/out. To be clear,under water I would have no problem getting out of my BCD in a hurry if needed, but it's not the most graceful thing, and since I'm doing the Instructor Eval soon, I want to make sure that I can do good demos of all skills.

I'll check out the Ansell gloves though - I'm (amazingly) still on the first set of blue Showa 660(?) freezer gloves that I bought several (seven!) years ago. When appropriate I do run a thinner liner, which definitely improves dexterity.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Stuart, you may remember my O'three drysuit. It was a neoprene suit with neoprene seals. They didn't have the same "tight seal" as the latex seals. Water would occasionally seep in and it was fairly common for me to have the sleeves of my undersuit damp. When I used gloves, then the seal of the gloves would be on top of the drysuit wrist seal and then it would not leak as much but if I was diving without gloves then they would seep quite frequently. This leakage was never an issue because I never noticed the dampness until I was out of the suit so this was not anything I would consider a major drawback. In spite of the dampness, it was the warmest suit I had owned. We just need to come to terms with the fact that neoprene being thicker and less flexible than latex, will never conform to the outline of the wrist as closely as latex does. It was bullet proof.

 

[stuartv]

@CAPTAIN SINBAD Yes, I remember that suit of yours. But, I don't remember exactly what the wrists looked like.

Were they just like the wrist seal area of the Seaskin neoprene suit I linked earlier?

I have seen the Apollo bio-seal for the neck. I wonder if they have the same thing for the wrists. I think I have seen that they do. I bet if one wanted to be totally dry (at the wrists, anyway), those would combine with these neo wrist seals to make it happen. Might be a pain to get them and the suit on, though...


On a related note, I emailed Seaskin to ask about how these seals work. They responded and said that it's only the last 50mm (which is just under 2") of the inside of the sleeve that has the smoothskin. So, they said my sleeves of my undergarment would only need to be pushed up a little bit in order to be clear of the seals. They say using their 150-gram undersuit works just fine under their neoprene suit.

 

[MikeInDorset]

I dive year round with neoprene wrist seals. You need to get them tailored to fit your wrist (for example o'three will adjust them for free when you buy an off the peg suit from them). When that is done they form an excellent seal. (Unless you've got monster wrist tendons, in which case any seal is going to dribble a bit.)

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

@CAPTAIN SINBAD Yes, I remember that suit of yours. But, I don't remember exactly what the wrists looked like.

Were they just like the wrist seal area of the Seaskin neoprene suit I linked earlier?

I have seen the Apollo bio-seal for the neck. I wonder if they have the same thing for the wrists. I think I have seen that they do. I bet if one wanted to be totally dry (at the wrists, anyway), those would combine with these neo wrist seals to make it happen. Might be a pain to get them and the suit on, though...


On a related note, I emailed Seaskin to ask about how these seals work. They responded and said that it's only the last 50mm (which is just under 2") of the inside of the sleeve that has the smoothskin. So, they said my sleeves of my undergarment would only need to be pushed up a little bit in order to be clear of the seals. They say using their 150-gram undersuit works just fine under their neoprene suit.

Yes my neck seal was similar to that one. It would have to be rolled inwards otherwise the neck would also leak a bit. It was never as big an issue as it sounds. The only advantage I saw in those seals was durability. If tightness of the seal itself was a priority, I would not choose neoprene seals over latex ones. So if I was getting a neoprene suit then neoprene seals made sense. If it was a trilam, then I would never change them to neoprene.

 

[stuartv]

Yes my neck seal was similar to that one. It would have to be rolled inwards otherwise the neck would also leak a bit. It was never as big an issue as it sounds. The only advantage I saw in those seals was durability. If tightness of the seal itself was a priority, I would not choose neoprene seals over latex ones. So if I was getting a neoprene suit then neoprene seals made sense. If it was a trilam, then I would never change them to neoprene.

I was asking about the wrist seals. Were the wrist seals on your suit the same as what the Seaskin neoprene suit has?

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

I was asking about the wrist seals. Were the wrist seals on your suit the same as what the Seaskin neoprene suit has?

These ones ...

https://www.othree.co.uk/drysuit-range/ri-2-100-flex-drysuit/

 

[stuartv]

These ones ...

https://www.othree.co.uk/drysuit-range/ri-2-100-flex-drysuit/

Gotcha. Those look different than the Seaskin wrists.

That does look like a nice suit. But, at twice the price of the Seaskin, I would be hard-pressed to buy one...