Those stiff drysuit neck rings

[Marie13]

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

I had those on my first suit. The Waterproof Ultima is what I currently use and the rings are much smaller, at least to me.

 

[Marie13]

I love the security of mine, but mainly because I am occassionally in remote areas so if I can't replace a neck seal, I'm done diving for a week potentially.

I know when Kelly order her new Bare suit, she couldn't get the ring because it was wider than the shoulder seams in her suit. You guys just aren't wide enough.

Regarding flexibility, I have no issues reaching my valves, but then I'm 50% wider than you.

 

[AustinV]

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.

I have issues with my zipper as well, wondering if this is the ring now. Before I just assumed it was the cut of the suit, like I said, I am not that big of a guy, the smaller the suit the more the zipper seems to fold over.

 

[Dubious]

When you’re narrow shouldered, those neck rings are a PITA. I had a hard time even reaching suit dump valve on the surface.

Thank you for posting this. After getting cold in the fall, we are thinking drysuits will be next for us to extend our seasons. I think this is the first thread I read here about how the ring can be restricting.

 

[Marie13]

Thank you for posting this. After getting cold in the fall, we are thinking drysuits will be next for us to extend our seasons. I think this is the first thread I read here about how the ring can be restricting.

This is why I started this thread. Seems it’s a common issue, but not talked about a lot.

I’d recommend against it for your wife, unless she is really broad shouldered. If you come down to DRIS in person to order your suits, they would be able to put a neck ring (not on a suit) on her shoulders so you would be able to see how much of her shoulders would be covered by the ring.