Dropped $400 on a fancy drysuit valve and it froze shut on my first deep dive in Puget Sound

Bought a top-of-the-line inflation valve thinking it'd be bulletproof, but at 100 feet in 45-degree water the damn thing seized up and I couldn't adjust my buoyancy. Had to abort the whole job and swim up with a buddy hauling my gear. Anyone else had a 'upgrade' fail in the worst way?

3 comments

3 Comments

kellygrant16d ago

Holy crap, a hundred feet deep and it just froze solid? That is terrifying to read. I can't believe a piece of gear that costs that much would fail that hard on its first real test, especially in Puget Sound where the water is so cold and the currents are no joke. You must have been absolutely panicking when you couldn't adjust your buoyancy, I would have been yelling into my reg. Honestly, I'm surprised the valve didn't just crack or leak instead of seizing up completely, that sounds like a nightmare.

ramirez.vera15d ago

HAD a pricey regulator freeze on me in Hood Canal, $500 paperweight at 80 feet.

wren23015d ago

Tell me about it. Had a fancy dry glove system leak on my first dive and ruined a brand new undergarment.