gasket chafe ?

[Phil Allen]

Ok, now that it's drysuit season once again, anybody have any good recommendations for preventing the chaffing where the edge of the neck gasket meets the flesh? It's unpleasant.

Phil

[scamlin]

Ok, now that it's drysuit season once again, anybody have any good recommendations for preventing the chaffing where the edge of the neck gasket meets the flesh? It's unpleasant.

Phil

I find that shaving the morning of the paddle reduces chafe a lot. If I don't, the stubble on my throat irritate the skin.

Scott

[Phil Allen]

I find that shaving the morning of the paddle reduces chafe a lot. If I don't, the stubble on my throat irritate the skin.

Scott

Ok, but what should I tell my wife, who has a similar problem?

Phil

[Gcosloy]

Go heavy on talcum powder before donning the suit, also on the cuffs. Help ease entry and exit as well.

[Doug]

I find the opposite to be true. If I shave, I chaff. If I don't, I won't.

[Suz]

Ok, now that it's drysuit season once again, anybody have any good recommendations for preventing the chaffing where the edge of the neck gasket meets the flesh? It's unpleasant.

Phil

A little goes a long way:

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/AQUSG125.ht...%3don%26Hit%3d1

Another alternative:

buff headgear

http://www.buffwear.com/catalog/

Put some of the cloth inside and some outside the gasket. If you are to swim using it, you will get some wicking up and over into your drysuit. If you roll quickly, you get very little. If you swim, you ought to pull the buff out of the inside of the gasket to prevent the wicking.

I also find that sometimes it is caused by old gaskets with gummy edges. (both of yours are new though so that isn't the issue.)

Suz

[John Martinsen]

I find the chaffing subsides after an outing or two, although sometimes body glide will help as well...

[GJ Carey]

I second Suz's recommendation for silicon grease.

[risingsn]

A little goes a long way:

http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/AQUSG125.ht...%3don%26Hit%3d1

Another alternative:

buff headgear

http://www.buffwear.com/catalog/

Put some of the cloth inside and some outside the gasket. If you are to swim using it, you will get some wicking up and over into your drysuit. If you roll quickly, you get very little. If you swim, you ought to pull the buff out of the inside of the gasket to prevent the wicking.

I also find that sometimes it is caused by old gaskets with gummy edges. (both of yours are new though so that isn't the issue.)

Suz

Suz,

Not being the sharpest knife in the draw, I assume you are suggesting putting a little grease on the neck & Wrist gaskets before putting on the dry suit. Is this the same silicone grease that I use for pool & plumbing gaskets? If so, you can buy a big tube @ a pool store for not much $.

Thanks,

Chuck

[konstantin_art]

Phil and the rest of the “red necksâ€,

The chafing at the neck is inevitable, especially on the ocean, less so in fresh water. The salt is the culprit, leaving swollen red marks.

One thing you can do to help heal the rash faster is to use the “Triple Paste†(Medicated Ointment) for baby diaper rash.

You can also use it right before you put the dry suit on to “waterproof†the skin.

The “Silicone Grease†only lubricates, the “Triple Paste†lubricates and heals.

Phil, the rumor is that you have a baby, so there should be no problem for you and your wife to keep stealing from her tube.

As for using the “Body Glide†as Johnny The Smoke suggested –this product should be banned by law in all countries where people wear clothes!

Body Glide is only suitable for the tribal sportsman in the Amazonian Jungle who doesn’t risk ruining his loincloth that his sweetheart gave him for Christmas, in lieu of socks and a neck tie.

For the rest of us it will ruin all clothing it comes in contact with. There is no washing off of the thick paraffin-like and stiff residue under your shirts armpits, for instance.

To sum it up, “Triple Paste†–YES; “Body Glide†–HELL NO!

And, yes, a “shadow†or a real beard prevents chafing for the lucky ones among us.

These are just my experiences.

Feel free to treat your own red necks the way you like, although I’ve heard that this condition is incurable!

Greetings,

Konstantin

[Phil Allen]

Konstatin-

You may or may not have clue about gasket rash, but you've got one part completely wrong. My step daughter is 22.

Phil

Phil and the rest of the “red necksâ€,

......

Phil, the rumor is that you have a baby, so there should be no problem for you and your wife to keep stealing from her tube.

.....

Greetings,

Konstantin

[PeterB]

Konstatin-

You may or may not have clue about gasket rash, but you've got one part completely wrong. My step daughter is 22.

Phil

He may be referring to the Pirate Ducky, your mutant love child.

[konstantin_art]

Sorry Phil,

Someone in NSPN recently had a baby girl –I thought it was you.

My bad!

Back to the important point.

Clue or not, the “Triple Paste†works for me.

And does not ruin my clothes.

Konstantin

[Michael_Crouse]

Hey Konstantin you might be thinking about me and Kim, the baby girl part, not the gasket or diaper rash part.

[Suz]

Suz,

Not being the sharpest knife in the draw, I assume you are suggesting putting a little grease on the neck & Wrist gaskets before putting on the dry suit. Is this the same silicone grease that I use for pool & plumbing gaskets? If so, you can buy a big tube @ a pool store for not much $.

Thanks,

Chuck

Actually don't put it on the gaskets. Put on the drysuit and then with your finger, put a little of the lube under the area where the irritation occurs. Don't put all over everything.

The Trident Silicone is a food grade silicone and as such, I wouldn't mind putting on my skin. Big tube from the pool store, not so sure. Not even sure if there is other stuff in it that could cause premature deterioration of the gasket.

Konstantin - I would look carefully at the tube of the baby bum cream that you are using for your neck and make sure that it doesn't contain any petrolatum or lanolin. I know that vaseline is a problem with latex but I think that I remember someone telling me that lanolin breaks down latex. I did a quick google search and found this link: http://www.endonurse.com/articles/2004/06/...set-gloves.aspx Look at the section about light, lanolin, mineral oil and petroleum. Also noted alcohol based lotions are a problem. So, be careful what you put on your gasket if you want it to last. On the other hand, if it makes it comfortable to wear, who cares about early breakdown - just need to get handy and learn to change out your gaskets.

Anyhow, a buff really works and then you don't need to put anything on to lube.

Suz

[bob budd]

If you are wearing your dry suit for the first time you might want to consider selecting one of the concoctions recommended herein and not applying until you have a problem. That is, I never have chafed (under my neck gasket) and thus use nothing. The result is generally discomfort at the worst. If you go to work on Monday with "ring around the collar" just tell everyone you kayak fearlessly in frigid waters and they will think you are a bad ass. It is perhaps important to note that I shave on Monday for the week and thus would inadvertently fall under the "don't shave" category in countermeasures.

[konstantin_art]

Suzie,

My neck and wrist gaskets are always shiny from frequent “303 Aero Protectant†application. So there is already a barrier between the latex and whatever is on my neck or wrists.

This 303 film also helps punching in and out of the gaskets.

It acts as a lubricant.

I do not put the “Triple Paste†to lubricate the rash prone areas –it is not applied liberally and left there. No, I am using it to waterproof the skin, so I apply and rub until it is absorbed and almost dry.

After each paddle I rinse the drysuit and wipe the gaskets.

So there is not much time for the adverse agents, if any, to attack the latex (if they can pass through the “303 Aero Protectant†film).

Thank you for the heads up, though.

Always something new to learn about drysuit maintenance.

And you are a great help as usual!

Konstantin

[pikabike]

I was wondering if 303 would work for this purpose! That's the first time I'd seen anybody mention using it to prevent the "ring around the collar" look.

Silicone grease works OK. Definitely get the food-grade 100% silicone stuff; dive shops sell it. It won't hurt either the latex or your skin. Feels almost like Vaseline, though--I won't use it unless I can wash my hands off with soap and water after applying it.

So far, I've used Body Glide twice...to make donning and doffing a full wetsuit easier (yes, it helps). I was toying with the idea of using it on the drysuit's neck gasket, but after reading the warning above, I'll restrict it to wetsuits. Thanks for the heads-up!

I've only gotten neck gasket irritation when paddling in salt water, never in fresh. Ditto for chafing in the armpit/shoulder area with wetsuits. Body Glide should prevent that from happening again.

[konstantin_art]

Pikabike,

I am not suggesting using the 303 to stave off the neck rash!

303 Aeroprotectant is used to maintain the Latex of all gaskets (keeping it supple). This is its primary function.

The fact that it helps with chafing is its secondary benefit –just a coincidence.

About the vicious “Body Glide†again.

You DO NOT need to use it at all if you wear a flat-seamed wicking shirt between your skin and the neoprene.

Wearing the neoprene next to my skin creates really nasty swollen red rashes under the armpit and shoulder areas where the Farmer John’s straps have rubbed.

Wearing a thin shirt underneath prevents this.

Pikabike, you say: “Ditto for chafing in the armpit/shoulder area with wetsuits. Body Glide should prevent that from happening again.â€

Yes, at the expense of ruining your wetsuit (and layers underneath)!

It will gunk up the fabric liner of the wetsuit –it will make the fabric stiff and you can NOT wash it with normal laundry detergents (not to mention the mild ones recommended for all technical clothing).

So keep promoting the damn “Body Glideâ€. Your gear –your choice.

You might just make some followers very unhappy and mad at you!

That’s all.

[pikabike]

Pikabike,

I am not suggesting using the 303 to stave off the neck rash!

303 Aeroprotectant is used to maintain the Latex of all gaskets (keeping it supple). This is its primary function.

The fact that it helps with chafing is its secondary benefit –just a coincidence.

About the vicious “Body Glide†again.

You DO NOT need to use it at all if you wear a flat-seamed wicking shirt between your skin and the neoprene.

Wearing the neoprene next to my skin creates really nasty swollen red rashes under the armpit and shoulder areas where the Farmer John’s straps have rubbed.

Wearing a thin shirt underneath prevents this.

Pikabike, you say: “Ditto for chafing in the armpit/shoulder area with wetsuits. Body Glide should prevent that from happening again.â€

Yes, at the expense of ruining your wetsuit (and layers underneath)!

It will gunk up the fabric liner of the wetsuit –it will make the fabric stiff and you can NOT wash it with normal laundry detergents (not to mention the mild ones recommended for all technical clothing).

So keep promoting the damn “Body Glideâ€. Your gear –your choice.

You might just make some followers very unhappy and mad at you!

That’s all.

I apologize about the wording re: 303. Secondary or primary benefit--if it helps the latex slide rather than chafe, it doesn't matter to me. I've not used it on gaskets yet.

I'm not promoting Body Glide, only stating that it worked for me the two times I used it. The wetsuit insides are fine, so I'll use it again. I wash my wetsuits after literally every use, with regular soap and water. There may well be residue building up and it's not been noticeable yet. Since divers and surfers use this stuff with their wetsuits, I wonder if they have had the problem you noted. Also, runners use it to keep seams from chafing. Could be a lot of ruined clothing out there if the stuff does not wash out.