Question: Drysuit reinforcement?

[Jai Bar]

I'm considering my first dry suit, and as the majority of my dives are with DPV, I am concerned about major wear in the area crotch harness area.

Besides adding a neoprene sleeve on the crotch harness strap, is there any benefit from adding extra protection layer on the deysuit itself, like a Kevlar patch or something of the sort? Some drysuits out there already include something like that?

Or, it will just make the suit less flexible, cumbersome, perhaps heavier and I may be worrying about something that is completely unnecessary and not an issue at all?

Any insights are welcome

Cheers!

 

[Boarderguy]

Dove a seaskin drysuit for 100+ dpv dives. I have the reinforced crotch option but an opinion on the review thread is that's it's pointless and adds a leak potential.

Mine hasn't leaked at all there nor have I given it any thought. I'm not sure if I would or would not get it again. It's cheap and have me peace of mind at the time.

 

[San Diego Climber]

I have neoprene sleeves on my crotch straps and shoulder straps. Maybe not the most robust protection for drysuit wear but I tell myself they help. Moving a JJ around in a tank top certainly feels "nicer".

 

[suricatasuricata]

I'm considering my first dry suit, and as the majority of my dives are with DPV, I am concerned about major wear in the area crotch harness area.

Besides adding a neoprene sleeve on the crotch harness strap, is there any benefit from adding extra protection layer on the deysuit itself, like a Kevlar patch or something of the sort? Some drysuits out there already include something like that?

Or, it will just make the suit less flexible, cumbersome, perhaps heavier and I may be worrying about something that is completely unnecessary and not an issue at all?

Any insights are welcome

Cheers!

Not sure about Kevlar cause I have never used it but I can tell you that across three drysuits (DUI FLX Extremes and an Avatar), the crotch point has been the wear point. Especially after DPV diving. Even with the CF200 patch that I had DUI install on my FLX Extermes.

I haven't tried the neoprene sleeve approach yet. Might be something to consider as well.

 

[Jon Nellis]

Use a soft polyester webbing, instead of a hard nylon webbing for the crotch strap. It's the edges of the webbing that cause the damage. Y style strap is even better.



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