oh no; i just ripped the latex seal on my brand new drysuit!

thelawgoddess · Post by **thelawgoddess** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:12 pm

i was getting my drysuit ready to go meet calvin and epuffy and nailer for a dive this afternoon. it was going to be my first dive in my drysuit. and i stretched the seal over cans last night. well, the neck was still way too tight (like turning my face blue), so i read the manual and i read two other drysuit manuals, and i read a bunch of stuff online, and basically it came down to stretching it over something and take a sharp blade knife and going around the whole seal in one motion between two of the ridges ... and so that's what i was doing - just going around the very first section, and everything was going just swell ... until i was getting close to all the way done ... and all of the sudden i heard a pop and the saw that the seal had ripped like 3-4 inches straight down the neck.

i felt like i had just been in car accident. actually, i still do. you know how your adrenaline makes your heart pump really fast and you get that ill feeling in your gut? i feel so shitty right now. i don't know what happened. i am very handy with things like this - doing meticulous and/or precise tasks, and i am very, very careful because i am somewhat of a paranoid perfectionist. i just don't understand what went wrong. and i am very, very bummed because now i won't get to go learn how to use my drysuit and i have been really excited about it and looking forward to it all week.

i seriously just want to curl up in a ball with my cat and cry!

Joshua Smith · Post by **Joshua Smith** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:29 pm

Bummer! That sucks, LG. I screwed up my neck seal the first chance I got, with my new drysuit, if that's any consolation. Don't beat yourself up over it. Neck seals are fickle and temperamental beasts. I'm still looking forward to a dive- you want to go wet? It's supposed to be 81 this afternoon....

thelawgoddess · Post by **thelawgoddess** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:57 pm

well, i probably should. better all wet than not wet at all, eh?
and that way, nobody will know i'm crying over my drysuit ... ;-)

Zen Diver v1 · Post by **Zen Diver v1** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 4:22 pm

Well, chalk up this experience as a "learning tool."

Neck seals are best trimmed with a very sharp pair of scissors, and possibly an extra set of hands, one to hold the seal, and one to actually cut. If the seal is placed under tension, as in over a tank neck, and then cut with a scalpel type knife, the result is what you experienced; the seal just splits down the line of incision.

If in doubt take it back to the shop where it was purchased and ask them to trim for you; that's what I've done in the past.

-Valerie

thelawgoddess · Post by **thelawgoddess** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 10:29 pm

yep; yep ... i don't feel so bad now. still really bummed ... but i went diving anyway (luckily it's still summer!) ... and hopefully i can get a new seal this week.

Tom Nic · Post by **Tom Nic** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:06 pm

Tough luck LG!

Knowing that I was prone to those kind of incidents is the reason I had folks at the local dive shop trim the seals for me. If it tears while they're doing it, they buy the new seal, if while I'm doing it, I buy it.

Don't worry, this will pass and you'll be diving dry and happy in no time!

BASSMAN · Post by **BASSMAN** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:37 pm

LawGoddess,
Sorry to hear about your loss.

Hey just think, "It will be less than a one "Scuba Unit" to get it repaired.

$\:D/$

thelawgoddess · Post by **thelawgoddess** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:49 pm

less than one scuba unit? i hope so!!!

and yeah; i'm going to have the shop pre-trim it for me this time ... :-)

Aquanautchuck · Post by **Aquanautchuck** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:25 pm

Dang, sorry to here about your rip. I have come close but not yet. Two people do help. I have cut my seals several times and don't stretch them but hold them flat when I cut them. Good luck.