[Paddlewise] 303 substitute?

I was on the verge of buying a dry suit and all the recent talk on
Paddlewise pushed me over the edge (not the mental edge, at least I don't
think so, but then again.....).

I drove an hour or so to the Kittery Trading Post, a favorite sports shop in
Maine, on Saturday and tried on a large (6', 185 lbs) Kokatat Gortex suit.
As I was rolling around on the floor trying to get my foot through the
gasket, a little 6-7 year old girl came over and very seriously asked 'are
you all right mister?'.  Before I could respond, Mom grabbed her hand and
pulled her away.  She must have thought I was over the edge too.

Anyway, I spent half the morning looking for 303 Protectant for the gaskets
without success.  Is there a reasonable substitue?  I have a TurtleWax
product for vinyl, etc. that brags about it's state-of-the-art UV protection
I'm tempted to try.
When I finally got my head through the neck gasket I noticed it was just a
wee bit tight and as  I was on the verge passing out, that my feet were also
starting to fall asleep too.  I heard/read somewhere to stick some
appropiate sized objects into the gaskets for a few days to help them
stretch.  Any comments on this technique?
Getting into and out of the dry suit was quite a workout.  I think I'll have
to put it on the night before so I have time to rest up for the next day's
paddle.  Of course then I'd probably have to piddle in the suit and slosh
around in it all day :-(.  Any idea as to the cost of having a fly put in
and how long it takes?



 


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