Drysuit Storage

[Kevin B (RPS Coach)]

At the moment, this may be a bit hasty, but thinking ahead, is there a "proper" way to store a drysuit? Assuming you've repaired everything and the weather has finally cooperated, do you have to do anything else besides store it in a cool, dry place? Should it be folded or hung up?

[Bob C]

Hi Kevin

Deb and I fold our drysuits and store them in a cool, dry space. We do not hang them as we've been told by a reliable source that hanging them on plastic hangers can react with the neoprene in the gaskets and cause them to break down.

[Brian Nystrom]

Plastic hangers will not react with neoprene, but they can with latex. Using a wooden hanger eliminates that problem. Dry suits should always be stored with the zippers unzipped.

[djlewis]

I could have sworn that Kokatat said to store with the zippers *zipped*, to minimize stress on the zipper seams. What's your reasoning for unzipping?

--David.

[Bob C]

Whoops, I meant (actually Deb meant)Latex. For a complete survey of how to store that dry suit, per Kokatat, here's the website address:

www.kokatat.com. Go to care and feeding of drysuits and you'll learn more than you'll ever want -- but you'll have your drysuit for a long time.

[jason]

A direct link http://www.kokatat.com/instruction2g1.htm

From the page "Store your suit with the zipper completely open except the last four inches. This will help alleviate pressure on the sealing elements. Protect the zipper from being folded sharply, creased or crimped. If hanging the suit, use a thick armed hanger, or hang by the waist, like trousers."

[Brian Nystrom]

Everything I've seen says to leave the zippers unzipped to prevent the "lips" on the zipper from taking a set and becoming compressed. If you examine the zipper carefully, you'll see that it works by pressing the two sides of the material in the zipper together tightly.

[djlewis]

Hmmm... here's a somewhat different set of instructions from Kokatat as well, at http://www.kokatat.com/DrysuitStorage.pdf.

Keep the garment clean, rinsed as needed, and hang

dry. If the suit will be stored in a clean environment, the

ziper should be left open. This will help alleviate pressure on

the sealing elements. In dusty or dirty environments, store

with hte zipper closed. Store either hanging or loosely rolled.

Do not store dry suits or tops in the same room with gas

appliances or other combustion exhaust. Do not store dry

suits or tops in excessively hot and/or humid locations or

where latex gaskets are in direct sunlight. High heat and

humidity, extreme dryness, exhaust fumes from cars or gas

appliances and exposure to UV and ozone can destroy or

shorten the life of gaskets.

[Brian Nystrom]

Look farther down the same page and you'll see the other instructions. They're somewhat contradictory, but the gist of it is that you should store your dry suit with the zippers open unless there is a specific reason not to. If I was storing mine in a "dusty or dirty environment", rather than keeping the zippers closed, I'd simply slip a plastic dry cleaning bag over the top and leave the zippers open.

[bethany]

Yeah, I left mine zipped last year and then couldn't unzip the relief zipper when I took it out again. (I got it open with a dose of the Boeshield T-9 stuff I put on my bike chain.)

--b