I’ve been using my new NRS drysuit for the last two months and am happy with it except for the main zipper…it’s pretty stiff. It’s a real struggle when I’m wearing it( usually need help) and even seems stiff when the suit is on the living room floor and I’m kneeling on top of it. The pee zip is hard to pull too but manageable.I’ve done three applications of McNet zip lube on the teeth and made sure I got some inside the zipping mechanism track but it’s still a bitch.
I know they’re all stiff and I see others struggling too but do they loosen up over time?
Bert
There is some lube for it
Can’t remember the name of it. It lubricates the zipper. “Zip Ease” I think!
Andy
They do not loosen up with time
At least, mine did not. I only recently applied zipper lube to them. Get in the practice of rinsing your drysuit with fresh clean water after using it.
I’m afraid these zippers are just plain tight so that they are waterproof, and that’s what we’re stuck with.
yup
same as pikabike. Worn mine about 50 times now and it’s still stiff, after a year. Aarons too. We help each other out, especially those first couple inches by the shoulder.
Make your own lube.
Call me fussy, but I make my own lube sticks out of 50/50 paraffin and beeswax. I learned to do this while maintaining drysuits for the offshore oil drilling industry in the 80’s. Commercial lube sticks just didn’t cut it.
Paraffin is available just about anywhere, beeswax you’ll find at craft stores. Be sure and use a double boiler for safety’s sake when melting your brew.
Double Boiler?
I’m not sure what that is.
Do you find the paraffin-beeswax better or just more practical and cheaper when maintaining lots of zippers?
Thanks
Bert
thats exactly what Kokotat
advises. They do not advocate any commercial cleaner.
They recommend running a toothbrush over the zipper. Apparantly dental health is important for zipper teeth too.
Nesting pots
"Double boiler" may be parochial, sorry. I’m referring to the two-pot method, where your flammable material is isolated from the stove burner.
A pot of water is brought to a boil, then a smaller pot containing the paraffin/beeswax is placed on top of it. Much safer than placing a potful of petroleum byproduct directly on a red-hot element.
Straight Parowax is too dense to transfer onto a zip in stick form, and pure beeswax is too crumbly. Combine the two to get a useful product.
I’ve recently found that craft store beeswax has already been cut with paraffin, so you may have to refine the 50/50 ratio to get good results.
I use straight parafin on my Kokatat
suits after cleaning. Rub a block of parafin up and down both sides (inside and outside) of the open zipper. Then, work the zipper open and closed a few times. Works great and is simple.
~wetzool
Is there a reason not to use silicone
spray? Does it react with the material or not persist? (I am expecting delivery of NRS Extreme tomorrow.)
Thanks!
Use silicone wax instead
I’ve been using one that was originally intended for use on Vectran bowstrings. It’s made by BCY. So far, it’s the best dry suit zipper lube I’ve found.
I take my wifes dining room candles when
she is not looking and rub the bases all over my zipper. Works well for me, but I am fresh water only. As long as you stay low on the candle she will never know, but your zipper will.