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>> What make zipper? All are not equal. Viking uses the NASA >> spec stuff, there are many unsatisfactory imitations. >Don't know. Immaterial, actually. Not really. I've seen some crappy zips and I've seen the good stuff. I should have clarified my statement. All -decent- suits use a zipper -similar- to the ones used in aviation pressure suits. -Some- are identical. See below. >Kinda puts your previous assertion that >ALL drysuit zippers are the SAME as those used by NASA in its proper >light. They may be the same TYPE of zipper, they certainly are not the >SAME zipper. Quality ones are exactly the same. A friend of mine from flying circles is 'Huggy' Huggins, a U-2 pilot. They use David Clark pressure suits which are essentially the same as a space shuttle suit. The zipper in them is -exactly- the same as the one in my Viking suit. I've also looked over the EVA suits down in Houston and they are the same. Longer, but identical in every respect. >This particular failure may have been due to improper maintenance, it may >have been closed incorrectly. Yup. I have never forgotten to close my zipper, and I'm anal about keeping it clean and lubed. The suit has it's original one installed. Actually, the zippers get better with age as they break in and become less difficult to zip. Less friction = less chance of twisting it and brreaking it when zipping. >There are other good ways to flood a drysuit, too. Yup. >A neck seal failure (more likely in latex than neoprene). Never seen this ever. Have seen guys stick thumbnails through rotten latex (and rotten neoprene too) but since I change my seals annually and keep them talcumed and protected in the dark when in storage my seals are always 'nearly new'. Not an issue. >A tear from contact with the wreck in surge. I've nicked many a wrist seal and I've put small nicks in the thighs of my suit, but not enough to even abort the dive, never mind endanger the ability of the suit to keep bouyant. Just a bloody irratation. Towel dry on the boat, a bit of sandpaper, a bit of glue, and a patch. Back in the water for second dive. Nice to dive Viking. Quick dry. Lots of luck doing this on a CF-200 which stays wet for a week, or so it seems. Hate the bloody things, but some guys love 'em. To each his own. > A seam letting loose. Never seen a Viking or any neoprene suit do this. I don't dive with shitty ultrasonic welded crap fabric suits. Next issue. >I've seen all of these. Luckily, I've only had very minor leaks in my >suits. Really? On what suit did you see a seam fail in a manner that made it impossible to keep any lift in the suit? What manufacturer? In what suit have you ever seen a wreck-snag produce a large enough gash that it impacted the very ability of the suit to produce any lift? On what zipper did you ever see an end-to-end separation of the zipper? Just curious. If you have seen any of these, your friends better find a better drysuit manufacturer. I've not seen a Unisuit, CF-200, or any Viking suit do any of these things. >Double Fabers (neutral empty) with about 100cf of air: 7.8 pounds >Manifold: 2 pounds >Bands: 1 pound >Regulators: 3 pounds >Aluminum backplate: 1 pound About right. >I think your rig includes these items. That's around 15 pounds. I don't >know about your weights, fins, reel, and other stuff. All about neutral. I can tread water forever carrying 15 pounds. Next question. >If you're using a steel backplate, add 5 pounds. I do not. >Some of what you carry is ditchable, so in >any case you have at least this much to deal with, unless you ditch your >rig as well. Yup. >Add another 7.8 pounds with full cylinders at 200cf. Nope. You doubled the air weight. You included it to begin with at the top. >You start your dive at about -23 pounds MINIMUM, all of it to be >compensated for with your drysuit. Nope. For starters you are off by doubling the air weight. Plus, most of it is already compensated by the air in the microscopic threads of thinsulate insulation. The freemoving air in the suit is quite small. The thinsulate retains bouyancy even when saturated with water. I threw my undies in the pool and waited a week (so, it was an old set of DUI stuff that stank from sitting unwashed for a week.....). It still floated high and dry. (Still stank, too.....) >I've tried using my drysuit this way, and found the amount of gas in the >suit too large to manage. My neck seal kept burping ... so I use my BC. I >do know it works well enough to get my backside to the surface, though, if >my BC fails. Well, I believe that the added complexity of the need to manage two inflation systems is not worth it. Are you wearing -any- weight? I need about 14 pounds plus my tools to be negative with all of the air evacuated from my suit. If you are having a burping issue (no beans on the boat, please...) and are wearing any lead, you are off on the wrong track. Bottom line: My suit is -nearly- empty at the beginning of the dive and is even less empty as I use gas. >I think we'll just have to settle for disagreement on this issue. I don't >think the amount of drag added by a wing type BC is all that significant, >especially when balanced against the advantages using one brings. Fine with me, my system works. Been working for years. Neckseal does not leak. Water tests prove that with a buddy opening my shoulder zipper that I can still swim and maneuver. Cannot climb ladder. Knife hole in ankle would fix that issue if needed. My basic SCUBA cert course in 1974 made us all tread water for 15 minutes with a 20 pound belt on. Not a problem. I'm not suggesting that you change your system, with which you are comfy. My system works for me. Has since 1975. Fair shake? What sort of drysuit and undies are you using? That may be the missing link here. The majority of my bouyancy, like I said, is in air trapped in the insulation. Might be your issue too, maybe you should change yer shorts ;-) Dave Sutton -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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