Those stiff drysuit neck rings

[DarrynSami]

Looked at the neck ring again, it appears to be the neck tite and not the more flexible quick neck, I was thinking the newer version would be standard but it seems they still have a stock of the gen 1's. No wonder it seemed stiffer than expected. The new Fusion did come with all zippers plastic, no brass on the inner bag.

 

[decompression]

reaching valves is a non-issue if you get a xdeep stealth and switch to sidemount

Then my stupid big Sitech wrist rings get in the way.......uuggg. lol.

 

[JackD342]

I just did my first dive in a new Fusion Aircore drysuit with the 2nd gen neck ring yesterday. I found that it was more difficult to reach the dump valve than in the rental suits without a neck ring that I sampled. It was possible but noticeably harder. I'm not going to give up the convenience of the neck seal yet.

The neck seal didn't leak but I found a small hole near the edge of the silicone on the tag side of the yellow seal ring after the dive. It looks like this is in the area where the metal zipper on my fleece mid layer sits when zipped up. Will have to figure something to prevent that from occurring again. Any suggestions?

Can you add a photo?

 

[JackD342]

Looked at the neck ring again, it appears to be the neck tite and not the more flexible quick neck, I was thinking the newer version would be standard but it seems they still have a stock of the gen 1's. No wonder it seemed stiffer than expected. The new Fusion did come with all zippers plastic, no brass on the inner bag.

I don’t know what the actual plan/schedule is, but when I saw the new Xscape suit (replacing the Tech) at DEMA something made me believe it would have a new more flexible neck seal. I don’t remember why I think that, as it is not mentioned in the New Product sheet. May have been some display verbiage, and/or my own visual/tactile inspection of the item.
Reviewing the draft of the new 2020 Dealers Guide, I see clips for the new “SLT Flex Neck” which appears to be rebranding of the SiTech ORUST, 3rd generation system neck seal. So it looks like they are skipping over the 2nd generation Quick Neck.
I think only time will tell whether or not they transition all models, or all at once, or just one at a time, perhaps newest first.

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

I’m super happy with DUI zip neckseals. I have never noticed the ring. It’s not the stiff plastic like the sitek. I like neoprene necks if I’m not using user replaceable. For me they last longer and you know when they are wearing. I wouldn’t like the uncertainty of a glued in neck and have to wait for service. Or worse glue it myself.

 

[DarrynSami]

Can you add a photo?

You can see it is the neck tite system. The hole is inside the yellow ring just to the left of center line in the front. This is where my Bare SB mid layer zipper ends up. My theory is that the neck ring sits against the zipper when BCD is donned. I have not been able to try the suit on at home yet to test this theory.

 

[shoredivr]

I am curious about this. I’m pretty small shouldered. I have awesome shoulder mobility. In a wetsuit, even a 7 mm, I have zero issues doing valve drills.

I just got a drysuit - my first - it has the Si Tech quick neck (2nd generation) and was surprised I could barely (just fingertips basically) reach valves. Part of this may just be learning how to wear the drysuit/user error but I’m going to pay attention to the neck ring next time I’m in the water.

No, I’ve been diving for a year with the stiff neck ring. Before having the neck ring installed, I could do valve shutdowns easily. Heck, I could even zip up my entire front opening zipper.

Now I have to twist and strain to get the last 1/4 inch of the zipper done up as the fricking rigid ring prevents me from fully horizontally abducting my arm. I can’t believe I kept thinking I’d figure out a way to get more flexibility.

Suit’s going in for neck ring removal and a new zipper just as soon as the backup suit returns from its’ little tune up.

 

[shoredivr]

reaching valves is a non-issue if you get a xdeep stealth and switch to sidemount

Yes yes I dive sidemount but still I don’t have any shoulder mobility and it’s almost impossible to do up my self-donning front entry drysuit with the evil ring. Away with it, I say.

 

[runsongas]

need a poll of everyone complaining about the neck rings to see if they are using the 1st gen rigid ring or 2nd gen semi-flexible ring.

 

[Zef]

Looked at the neck ring again, it appears to be the neck tite and not the more flexible quick neck, I was thinking the newer version would be standard but it seems they still have a stock of the gen 1's. No wonder it seemed stiffer than expected. The new Fusion did come with all zippers plastic, no brass on the inner bag.

That's a downer. Would be better if the suit came with the 2nd gen neck ring and a metal zipper.

I have had zero issues with the 1st gen neck ring on my Fusion and am happy that the core Aqualung replaced under warranty has a metal zip on it.

-Z