Trilams on trips

[bleeb]

Those of you with drysuits, especially trilams, how many of you take them when traveling to warmer climes (by air)? Do you normally bring backup seals and glue?

I just got in an interesting discussion with some friends who just got back from somewhere remote. They'd flown with somewhat bulkier 3 mm full suits, but the advantage of a wet suit is that minor damage to the suit wouldn't be a show-stopper. If you're somewhere remote or on a liveaboard, drysuit repairs and materials might be more of an issue. Thoughts?

 

[TSandM]

Well, I have both taken a dry suit to a warm destination, and suffered through a variety of leaks. The good news is that, in fairly minimal undergarments and warm water, you stay warm. The bad news is that being wet in a dry suit is profoundly unpleasant, even if you aren't cold.

I have patched neck seals with bicycle tire patches (worked well enough to get me through several days of diving). I have patched wrist seals with duct tape (worked for almost two YEARS). A hunk of duct tape will patch most holes in a suit well enough to finish a trip. If I were doing the dive trip of my life to someplace amazing, I'd probably pack some Aquaseal and a set of wrist seals -- they aren't really hard to replace. I have a neoprene neck seal now, so having that fail is a pretty remote possibility.

The more I travel with my dry suit, the less I think I'll ever dive wet again.

 

[RJP]

In traveling to warm water locations I bring a DUI 30/30 tropical drysuit with Zip seals installed at the wrists - the most likely suspect in terms of tearing a seal. (Don't like neck Zip seals, and they don't make them for the ankle seals.

Of course I also bring a wetsuit with me, just in case...



In fact on a recent 3-week Truk trip I tore my neck seal after 57 dives with one dive day left. (Almost 200 dives total on that neck seal.) Glad I had the wetsuit with me.

 

[Doc Harry]

Those of you with drysuits, especially trilams, how many of you take them when traveling to warmer climes (by air)?

If the water temp is 75 degrees F or lower, and I plan doing repetitive dives, I take my dry suit.

Do you normally bring backup seals and glue?

Absolutely, backup neck and wrist gaskets and glue.

Also take patch material for the trilam fabric.

 

[piikki]

In traveling to warm water locations I bring a DUI 30/30 tropical drysuit with Zip seals installed at the wrists - the most likely suspect in terms of tearing a seal. (Don't like neck Zip seals, and they don't make them for the ankle seals.

Of course I also bring a wetsuit with me, just in case...
.

That's my solution too. When I got my first drysuit, I was not convinced about zip seals but I thought that as long as it's my only drysuit this could save a lot of heart ache. When I get second suit (I have already given in and stopped thinking that it is an IF), this suit with the zips will stay a travel suit if I don't get zips on the second suit.

And if it's a trip of a life time, I will certainly bring a wetsuit gear too (and pay extra luggage fee if needed).