Warning: my Kirby Morgan band mask flooded at 90 feet off Port Angeles

I was doing a hull inspection on a tugboat last Thursday and my brand new drysuit seal let go at the wrist. Water got into my thermals and I started shivering bad within 10 minutes. Had to call the dive and surface early which cost the client a half day at $800. Has anyone else had trouble with those new silicone seals from the 2024 batch?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavin_kim2d agoMost Upvoted

Man, that sucks. My own personal nightmare right there (I've never had a drysuit seal go, but I did have a wrist seal pop on a rental once and it was like having a garden hose down my arm the whole dive). $800 for a half day is brutal, especially when it's not even your fault. Makes you wonder if the manufacturers are skimping on rubber to save a buck, you know? Hope you got that seal sorted before the next gig, nothing worse than feeling that first trickle of cold water and knowing you're done. That shivering spiral is no joke.

erickelly2d ago

Man, @gavin_kim is right about that shivering spiral being no joke, once it starts you're pretty much done regardless of how bad the leak actually is. That $800 hit stings even worse though because it's not like you can bill the client for your own gear failing on them.

fionafoster2d ago

and that's the thing, @erickelly, it's like everything's designed to fail just outside of warranty these days, not just dive gear but appliances and cars too. seems like the whole system's built around hoping you'll just pay to fix it rather than expect something to last.