Review Seaskin Nova drysuit

[admikar]

Just received my Seaskin drysuit

View attachment 825590

Ordered: Oct 26 with estimated dispatch date of Jan 26
Shipped from Seaskin: Jan 31
Arrived by UPS: Feb 5

Interestingly, I also ordered the undergarments but asked them to ship separately to reduce the import tariffs, since that was suggested by several people in this thread. The undergarments arrived in a few weeks but I didn't have to pay any tariff. I was charged $73.04 in tariffs for the drysuit.

Two questions:

1. For those with the plastic YKK zipper: Seaskin says to apply a drop of the supplied zipper oil at the zipper dock when it first arrives, then only lubricate if the zipper becomes difficult to use. They sent a wax stick of Zip Tech zipper lubricant which says to "apply a thin layer of lubricant to the front and back surfaces of the top stop seal and adjoining teeth." Does that mean the top left area of the zipper (the part that closes last)?

2. This metal plate came with the suit. Any idea what it's for? I have the KUBI rings, SiTech Trigon Pee Valve, and SiTech valves.

View attachment 825589

Do not use wax on plastic zip. Lightly lube both sides of docking part.
It's a removal tool for P valve.

 

[Litefoot]

Do not use wax on plastic zip. Lightly lube both sides of docking part.
It's a removal tool for P valve.

What lubricant then? And what is the "docking part"?

 

[Boarderguy]

What lubricate then? And what is the "docking part"?

Docking is the zipper slide piece I believe. It should be a liquid lube of sorts.

 

[Wants2divemore]

Docking is the zipper slide piece I believe. It should be a liquid lube of sorts.

It's a wax-like stick (like chapstick). The Seaskin instructions say they'll send a liquid lubricant, but I got the stick.

 

[Boarderguy]

It's a wax-like stick (like chapstick). The Seaskin instructions say they'll send a liquid lubricant, but I got the stick.

The wax stick is for brass zips. The chapstick ones are also for brass but might be useful for plastic. Idk

 

[Pumpkin King]

What lubricant then? And what is the "docking part"?

YKK, TiZip, and others make a liquid waterproof zipper lubricant. The dock is where the zipper slider body (car/truck) sits when the zipper is fully closed. YKK also calls it the w-seal.

 

[Sebs]

The wax stick is for brass zips. The chapstick ones are also for brass but might be useful for plastic. Idk

Mine also came with a stick and googling zipper care came up with this video where they also use a stick one for plastic zippers.

 

[Boarderguy]

Mine also came with a stick and googling zipper care came up with this video where they also use a stick one for plastic zippers.

The guy in the video used a chapstick style zipper live, not the hard beeswax stick type wax.

 

[JoeTPhilly]

This was on another thread about the YKK plastic zippers. It is the maintenance for Santi zippers. Take a look at section C. I have opted for the plastic zipper so I would also like to know what is correct.

https://santidiving.com/files/98/SANTI_DIVING_PROPER_MAINTENANCE_OF_YKK_AQUASEAL_ZIPPER.pdf

 

[Alekseolsen]

This was on another thread about the YKK plastic zippers. It is the maintenance for Santi zippers. Take a look at section C. I have opted for the plastic zipper so I would also like to know what is correct.

https://santidiving.com/files/98/SANTI_DIVING_PROPER_MAINTENANCE_OF_YKK_AQUASEAL_ZIPPER.pdf

These guys also recommends styring with zipper completely closed "if not zipper will bend". I'm not sure what magic physics would cause that, but for sure that tells me I'll stay away from Santi's advice on zippers