Drysuit wrist gaskets

Curiosity,
to learn if Kokatat’s instructions work in my case. And probably a touch of my own sometimes stubborn independent nature where I want to find out things for myself.



I did call Kokatat and was told they don’t recommend cutting because the gaskets are not conically shaped and you run the risk of splitting the gasket. If the stretching doesn’t work, they can replace them with gaskets they supply to the USCG which are a bit thicker, conically shaped, and can be trimmed. I was also told that after stretching, there will be a slight rebound but not much.



Also checked out NRS instructions: “We recommend stretching new gaskets around something slightly larger than the gasket opening overnight. Trimming the gaskets is not recommended and may cause gasket failure.”



On the other hand, Stohlquist says: “Gaskets should be carefully trimmed to fit as described below. Stohlquist does not recommend pre-stretching latex gaskets, as this will decrease the life of the gasket.” Maybe Stohlquists are conical?



I kept the gaskets stretched last Tuesday and Wednesday. Wore the suit Friday and it was terrific. Too many catch-up chores last night to check it out, but will today. If they rebounded and cut off my circulation, I’ll have no choice but to do surgery. If they’re good to go, then I saved some time. In either case, it’s a learning experience.

ah
I have a Stohlquist with conical, indexed gaskets. There are rings at regularly spaced intervals, allowing one to cut to the ring to widen the opening. I always thought this was a clever design.



Maybe it’s easier to make cylindrical and not conical gaskets. I’d wager there were also some people who didn’t trim carefully which may have led to tears.



Regardless, excessively tight wrist gaskets can make paddling miserable in some conditions. Glad you were able to get yours to fit better, that’s what really matters.

My replacement gaskets do have
The rings spaced about 1/4" apart on the neck gaskets, but not the wrist. My original wrist gaskets had the rings. These have one ring about an 1/8" from the opening.



Thanks for calling and asking. I haven’t trimmed the wrist yet so I have them stretching now. I will trim if needed, but have many months before I will be using the suit yet.

So far, so good.
Wore the top today while watering my garden (it’s the two-piece zip switch suit) and while the wrist gaskets were snug, they weren’t tight nor did they leave red marks on my wrists as they had earlier. Progress!



I was stretching them on glass containers with an 11-inch circumference. Also wiped some 303 on the gaskets. No idea if it helped - it just happened to be handy.

303
once a month only to much is bad for gaskets. Just rinse all the time

Shame on Kokatat…
…for knowing using seals that won’t work for some of their customers. It seems pretty stupid to not use conical seals that are adaptable to everyone. Stretching doesn’t work if there is a large difference between the seal size and one’s wrist size, but they insist on using seals that they tell you not to trim. That’s ridiculous.



Despite their warnings, I have trimmed the seals on Kokatat suits successfully, so it can be done.

and unless the material changed…
…I’d heard that stretching can shorten their lifespan and lead to tears.

Ditto
…measure once cut precise… ah comfort… never had issues