YKK BDM vs TiZIP zippers

[Peter_C]

I just bought two TiZips and put one into my friends TLS350, and the other is slated for my partners Bare drysuit. The zippers seem to be pretty nice and they sure are more flexible. The nice thing is they are easier to open and close. I plan to use them from here out, but as of yet the TLS350 has only seen a few dives. Some drysuits, like the TLS350, require you to sew the zipper into place.

Santi which is one of the top drysuit manufacturers seems to think it is a good product.



You can watch the whole video, but at 2:00 is more info on the TiZip from Santi. I so want this drysuit!

 

[shfaith]

Hello, why can't I reply based on quote?

 

[beester]

Anyone else using the TiZip on their drysuit and have any experience?

I'm due for a zipper replacement soon. Traditional YKK zipper, starting to fail at the teeth where the material has started fraying too close like most zipper failures.

It would seem that the TiZip may not have this sort of issue but I don't know anyone that has had one for more than 2-3 years with 200-300 dives on it?

Didn't want to react already... since I've only been diving a T-zip for 15 dives but here goes for what it's worth (15 dives).

I own a DUI CF200 with a traditional YKK zip. It hasn't failed me and I'm still using the original one (+250 dives on it). I needed a new drysuit because I couldn't reach my valves with my winter undersuit in the CF200 (it's a backentry). So I bought a Santi E-motion. You can choose between a traditional zip and a t-zip. I'm normally not an early adopter when it comes to dive-gear but I pulled the trigger on this one because I wanted an ultra-flexible suit (for cave diving) and if the technology is available for a flexible zip why not use it?! It seemed contradictory to use a rigid metal zip if it wasn't needed.

Anyway... after 15 dives in about a month and a half, I can say that I'm very satisfied. It's dry as a bone, needs much less maintenance and care than my YKK zipper and is so flexible and at the same time strong. I was and am worried about the things I read about the end fixation of the zip (coming loose) but so far no problem. I don't know if this is because of SANTI adjusting this or T-zip itself.

We'll see in a year and another 100 dives if it stands the test of time... but I'm hopefull

 

[OceanEdge Outfitters]

Didn't want to react already... since I've only been diving a T-zip for 15 dives but here goes for what it's worth (15 dives).

I own a DUI CF200 with a traditional YKK zip. It hasn't failed me and I'm still using the original one (+250 dives on it). I needed a new drysuit because I couldn't reach my valves with my winter undersuit in the CF200 (it's a backentry). So I bought a Santi E-motion. You can choose between a traditional zip and a t-zip. I'm normally not an early adopter when it comes to dive-gear but I pulled the trigger on this one because I wanted an ultra-flexible suit (for cave diving) and if the technology is available for a flexible zip why not use it?! It seemed contradictory to use a rigid metal zip if it wasn't needed.

Anyway... after 15 dives in about a month and a half, I can say that I'm very satisfied. It's dry as a bone, needs much less maintenance and care than my YKK zipper and is so flexible and at the same time strong. I was and am worried about the things I read about the end fixation of the zip (coming loose) but so far no problem. I don't know if this is because of SANTI adjusting this or T-zip itself.

We'll see in a year and another 100 dives if it stands the test of time... but I'm hopefull

Hi beester,

The best way to maintain the TiZip is to keep it clean. The only part that you want to lubricate is the end of the zipper (the U channel. Aside from that, its super easy to open and close. It will not frey like a traditional metal zipper and it's ultra flexible when bent in either direction compared to a metal zipper that only bends in 1 direction.

Protect your investment if you haven't done so already, register your SANTI Drysuit in the STAY Dry Club and increase your warranty to 5 years plus additional benefits for registering!

Enjoyr your SANTI E.Motion Drysuit!

Stay DRY, Dive SANTI!

 

[beester]

Hi beester,

The best way to maintain the TiZip is to keep it clean. The only part that you want to lubricate is the end of the zipper (the U channel. Aside from that, its super easy to open and close. It will not frey like a traditional metal zipper and it's ultra flexible when bent in either direction compared to a metal zipper that only bends in 1 direction.

Protect your investment if you haven't done so already, register your SANTI Drysuit in the STAY Dry Club and increase your warranty to 5 years plus additional benefits for registering!

Enjoyr your SANTI E.Motion Drysuit!

Stay DRY, Dive SANTI!

Well I'm up to 25 dives... and can report my first wet dive in the santi-emotion. Apparently the end U-channel was not fully closed when I jumped in... yikes! (4°C). I'm sure it was closed when zipped the suit up, but I hadn't lubed the end piece for at least 10 dives so that probably caused it to open up just a tiny bit, enough to get wet. Since that unfortunate cold dive, I've lubed the end every 2-3 dives and no problem anymore.

The lube provided by Santi is just a very small tube, so my question is how to source it when I'm out. The texture is more viscose than normal silicon grease, so I don't know what it is. Do you have any idea?

PS: Yes I'm registered

 

[mcmahon76]

the fraying problem you have experienced is due to teething problems in the company relocating.All BDM zippers are hand made and with nearly sixty years of expertise in the industry.NASA etc use BDM because you come first.hint always clean your zipper with a soft brush soapy water (this comes with bdm zippers and with wax)shake,leave to dry then wax,be gentle with the wax just brush the elements especially the inner elements,run the slider up and down.job done.your nickle silver bdm will be like new.lets just say i have a very close connection to bdm if i can help you just ask.

---------- Post added December 20th, 2013 at 07:30 PM ----------

go to bdm hand made quality clean wax dive

---------- Post added December 20th, 2013 at 07:38 PM ----------

use BDM the nasa do!

---------- Post added December 20th, 2013 at 07:40 PM ----------

If anyone want waterproof zipper for drysuit, maybe JQJ zipper is a good choice.
It belong to the top-grade quality in China and it is recognized by many companies.

bdm nasa use them

 

[Aqua-Andy]

mcmahon76: Nice job reviving a ten month old thread and using it as a sales pitch!!! I have had two drysuit zipper failures, both have broken between the teeth as in the video posted (if you search my prior posts you can find the info on the issues I had with BDM zippers). Both of my zipper failures happened with around 30 or so dives on the zipper you seem to feel is far superior to the newer technology. Just at my local dive shop they have been seeing many more zipper issues than in the past. When I first started diving almost eight years ago drysuit zipper failure was almost unheard of unless you had a ten year old suit or it had many hundreds of dives on it. Now they have been seeing (I have also been seeing in my friends suits) zipper failures in the 50 or so dive range. YKK/BDM zippers are just not lasting anymore and the quality seems to have gone down hill in the past few years. This has gotten to the point that where my local dive shop has seen zipper replacement as a revenue source as they were sending way too many suits out to the manufacturers for repairs. The owner of the shop has learned how to do zipper replacements and is doing around one a week. Now you say the fraying issues are due to the company relocating, what about all the other quality issues we have been seeing? The fraying issues pale in comparison to the other failures we have been seeing in these zippers. The question I have is when did the company relocate and does it coincide with when the quality of the zippers went down hill? If this is the case don't you think YKK/BDM should be reimbursing the customers for all the zipper failures due to quality since the move? All the drysuit manufacturers say that YKK/BDM does not warranty zippers and that they absorb any zipper warranty issues and that is why they only warranty them for 30 days or so. In the case of Bare they have all but given up with the traditional brass zipper in favor of the newer technology and others have been following suit. I believe it will take more than reviving a ten month old post to renew customer confidence in your product. Now I will say that I have a Whites Fusion with an OEB labeled zipper that Whites says is a YKK product. My fusion is two and a half years old and knock on wood I have not had any problems with it yet. I just hope that when the zipper does eventually fail in my Fusion that Ti-zip will have a product that will work with the curved shoulder to shoulder entry system they use.

 

[foglesre]

My fusion is two and a half years old and knock on wood I have not had any problems with it yet. I just hope that when the zipper does eventually fail in my Fusion that Ti-zip will have a product that will work with the curved shoulder to shoulder entry system they use.

Yes, that was my only reservation about purchasing a Fusion. I hate knowing there's a superior technology out there that is not compatible with this suit. I had considered the Fusion One for this reason, but unfortunately it's incompatible with the SLT neck.