We got our new Kokatat Super Nova(semi)dry suits last night. Tried them on and now have a question. These suits have a neoprene neck gasket instead of the latex. Supposed to be more comfortable. We’ve never tried any other dry suits on, so have nothing to compare it to. It surprised us how hard it was to pull the neck seal over our heads. Once on, it was fine.
We do have one question. Kat has long hair (down to the small of her back). She said it felt like it was ripping her hair out when she pulled it on. then after she had it on, the hair was trapped inside the suit by the neck gasket.
What do you gals (or guys) with long hair do when putting on a dry suit? She’s thinking about getting a hood just to prevent the pull. Will it be harder to take the suit off once her hair gets wet? Should she pull the hair thru the neck seal so it hangs down outside?
Sam
nylon stocking
over her hair…it’ll slip right in without pulling
Pull the hair out
My wife pulls the gasket slowly and carefully over her head. She holds the back of the gasket open with her fingers while the front presses her nose into her face.
Once over her head, she holds the back of the gasket open with her one hand and pulls her hair to the outside using the other. The hair is then bunned using hair ties.
If you saw my hair, you would value my advice at well under $0.02, however.
303; plastic hangers a no-no
303 protectant will give anything with rubber more elasticity. Also, wet neoprene stretches more. Try getting the gaskets wet first. Same principle as dunking your sprayskirt before you get in the boat and try…urk…to…ugh…get it…grrrr…around the f***ing coaming (somebody help me!!)
By the way, don’t store anything with rubber on plastic hangers. They emit fumes which make the rubber break down. If you’ve ever had a drysuit where the neck gasket disintegrated but the wrists were fine, this may be why.
Use talc on the inside of the seal
You’ll be amazed at how easily it pulls on over hair.