Erik Sprenne wrote: << Adjustments should be made only in small increments - it would not be good to have a leaky suit or to have so replace a brand new, but cut-too-much gasket. >> Certainly this is good advise but the problem with adjusting the fit of a latex seal is in knowing how loose is too loose, how do we know when to stop?. So while I agree people should proceed with caution, how shall we know when we have found perfection? For many of us it has been a matter of reaching a bearable fit. We didn't dare go beyond that for fear of developing a leaky seal. Erik pointed out that the gaskets are stiffer when they are cold. More good advise, so we should be careful to try and keep the suit warm before trying to stretch that tiny neck gasket over our (well some of us) big heads. << Don't forget that paddlers face conditions (flowing water on rivers or in tidal races, and surf in open water) where the water will be moving with some force and will penetrate a gasket that might otherwise be watertight in static conditions. >> I wonder if this is really the case. I understand the logic but if a seal is water proof in static conditions any moving water would have to be directed at a very strict angle relative to the seal for there to be any effect at all. So while I can't refute the idea that moving water exerts more pressure, I just don't see this as a real world issue. Besides, how less forceful is the water when I crash into it during a planned roll? << I prefer to cut one ring at a time, and suffer through a few hours of paddling before making further adjustments. After changing gaskets, I go out on a close-to-home test paddle, and might even carry a small - but good - pair of scissors with me. That way, if the tightness is unbearable, I can head for dry land and make adjustments on the spot (hoping to not go hypothermic in the process:-). >> This is exactly how I have dealt with gaskets in the past. I am no expert on this subject but I have to question the validity of this approach. By Erik's sentence above I read that he trims his gaskets to avoid unbearable discomfort as I did in the past. I have stretched and trimmed my neck gaskets (Kokotat large) to fit my 17.5-18" neck. Stretching leaves the gasket with tiny little weather checks which will, over time, develop into full-blown tears. Now my necks are very tight, but not so tight so as to severely restrict blood flow to my fat head. A recent encounter with a winter dry-suit diver has forced me to rethink the conventional wisdom regarding gaskets. I have never trimmed my wrist gaskets, yes they are very tight (on my 6'1" 230+# frame) but they were never painful. From time to time my drytop wrists would cause my hands to go numb. No big deal I thought, after all I am a Seakayaker right ?? A few weeks ago NSPN held a Cold Water Workshop to test out our winter gear. The air temp was in the teens and the water was 33° with quite a bit of ice over most of this particular estuary. I was the first on the water, full drysuit, w/ GTX socks, surf shoes and standard fleece underneath. Everything was working well, I was nice and warm so I started to break ice by making channels through the thin stuff. Within 30 minutes my hands had progressed beyond painfully cold to completely numb. I could still move my fingers, I just couldn't feel them. Clearly playing Chopin was out of the question. I remembered from somewhere that pain-free cold was a bad thing so I quickly put to shore to warm my hands. My hands were so far gone that I could not even get out of my drysuit without assistance. This was starting to stink of really bad judgment on my part. Then a club member came over to care for me. He's a winter paddler but his experience with diving drysuit gaskets is what lead me on this current crusade. He said that drysuit gaskets need only be tight enough such that a single finger could easily be rolled beneath the seal to pull the gasket away from the body. Further, since I had never trimmed my wrist gaskets it was the constriction on the blood vessels that caused my episode with frozen hands and not the gloves that I was wearing. I'm not one to take anything at face value but memories of numb hands due to too-tight drytop wrist gaskets seemed to support this guy's argument. I cut the heck out of those wrist gaskets, I mean I cut a full inch right off. He said they were still tighter than they needed to be but I didn't want to chance cutting too much, so after my hands warmed up I redressed and went back out onto the water. What a difference, I couldn't even feel any restriction on my wrists, my hands were nice and toasty warm and the seals were holding up. I found out later that I had left a bit of my Polypro showing from underneath the wrist gasket. And yet after several rolls, trick rolls, sculling and other such nonsense there was barely any moisture that had wicked through the seal via the Polypro. So that's the episode that starting me questioning this whole trim-the-gaskets-until-they're-just-bearable logic. Again, I am no expert on this or anything else for that matter. But for this man, and this body, tight gaskets led to a dangerous inability to keep my hands warm. So I will trim *my* gaskets down, way down past just bearable and onto down right comfy. If I ruin some gaskets in the process, so be it. I have to learn to replace gaskets sooner or later anyway. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
on 12/27/00 3:29 PM, SeaKayakNH_at_aol.com at SeaKayakNH_at_aol.com wrote: Snip > part. Then a club member came over to care for me. He's a winter paddler but > his experience with diving drysuit gaskets is what lead me on this current > crusade. He said that drysuit gaskets need only be tight enough such that a > single finger could easily be rolled beneath the seal to pull the gasket away > from the body. Snip > So that's the episode that starting me questioning this whole > trim-the-gaskets-until-they're-just-bearable logic. Again, I am no expert on > this or anything else for that matter. But for this man, and this body, tight > gaskets led to a dangerous inability to keep my hands warm. So I will trim > *my* gaskets down, way down past just bearable and onto down right comfy. If > I ruin some gaskets in the process, so be it. I have to learn to replace > gaskets sooner or later anyway. I agree. It's hard to describe to someone how much to trim off but the end result is that a properly trimmed gasket won't feel tight. You should not be aware of the gaskets at all. I trim one ring (3mm to 4mm) at a time in the comfort of my home and get pretty close to the right fit before I go kayaking. If needed I'll trim more when I get home. I want it slightly snug so it keeps water out and not a bit tighter than that. I'm just as liberal on trimming my neck gasket as I am on the wrists. (I don't have ankle gaskets, I had Kokatat install the latex socks). Rex *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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