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Chapter 1- Diving Equipment Diving Equipment 27 soap and water to remove body oils which will attack the rubber. When dry, dust the latex seals of your suit with pure, unscented talcum powder. Clean your dry suit zipper periodically using a small nylon brush and soapy water on the teeth. Dry suit zippers should be lubricated with paraffin wax on the outside only. Silicone spray should never be used on dry suits or dry suit zippers. Silicone on your suit will make it impossible to create a strong bond when patches are applied during repairs. Rinse the outside of your suit after each diving day, paying particular attention to the valves. If the suit has been flooded in salt water or if you sweat heavily while wearing the suit, rinse the inside, too. Be sure to allow both the outside and the inside of the suit to dry before storage. Many people make the mistake of only feeling inside the upper torso of the suit to check if it is dry at the end of the diving day. Sweat accumulates in the lower portions of the suit, creating mold if the interior of the suit is not allowed to dry before storage. Turn the suit inside out and be sure it dries thoroughly before you put it away. Your dry suit should always be stored rolled up in a bag. Waterproof zippers are especially vulnerable to mishandling. More zippers are broken through improper storage and handling than through actual use. Zippers have a reasonable bend radius when open but less than 50% of the same bend radius when closed. If your suit is stored with the zipper closed and a weight belt is dropped on the zipper, it may possibly break. Store your suit with the zipper open. Effective dry suit underwear is critical to the optimum performance of your dry suit in cold water (figure 1-30). The function of dry suit underwear is to trap a layer of air inside the suit. The number of layers and type of underwear you will require is dependent upon the water temperature, your individual body type, and physiology. There are several different types of underwear materials commonly used for diving including Thinsulate®, radiant insulating material, “woolly bears”, and polypropylene liners. Dry suit underwear must not drastically compress when pressure is applied or it will not work efficiently at depth. Thinsulate® is one type of dry suit underwear that maintains most of its original thickness in use. Conversely, “woolly bears” lose much of their insulating capacity during a dive. You may not realize it while you are diving, but frequently you will sweat while wearing your dry suit. For this reason, you will want to launder your dry suit underwear occasionally. Woolly bears may be laundered with mild detergents. Radiant insulating material may only be laundered with non-phosphate detergents. Thinsulate® can be laundered with bleach or soap. Improper laundering of Thinsulate® garments will destroy their insulating abilities. Consult the manufacturer’s directions for proper laundering. Be especially cautious of undergarments which produce lint. “Woolly bears,” in particular, will create lint which can clog your dry suit exhaust valve, causing it to jam, either open or closed. If the valve jams open, it will leak and you will get wet. If the valve jams closed, you will not be able to vent air from the suit and you could experience an uncontrolled ascent. FIGURE 1-30. DRY SUIT UNDERGARMENTS


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