From: STEPHEN.HAWKINS@OFFICE.WANG.COM ("Stephen Hawkins")
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Viking Dry suits
Date: 16 Apr 92 15:17:34 GMT
Organization: Mail to News Gateway

Mailed this a while ago to a few individuals, came across it while sorting
out my mailbox and thought it may benifit more people if I posted it

Viking Dry suits:

Regarding puncturebility. I have over 200 dives in my Pro so far with not a
mark or hole in it, although I did make a couple of mods in this respect.
My original 90x was used for 5 years (750 dives approx). During this time I
puntured it ONCE on a metal spike on a wreck which would have compromised
ANY suit not armour plated (or my Modified Pro). This was on the top of my
thigh. This appears to be a common place for me to scrape judging by the
scratches in my suit here. so when I got my Pro. I got a couple of rubber
knee patches (as used on a lot of neoprene suits) and glued them on the
thigh, and also one on each bum. (looks daft but the suit is now bomb proof)
the one other mod that I have made to all my suits is to add a bow tie to
the neck. (just in case the James Bond tuxedo underneath is soggy, and you
need to eat in that restaurant). In the UK a few people wear boiler suits
over the top if its a particularly snaggy wreck.

I've found that most damage to my suit (and the reason I retired the 90x) is
due to wear and tear out of the water. As diving officer and Head Instructor
to a University club, I spend a lot of time out of the water, organising
boats etc. and walking around a lot. Thus my 90x began to get threadbare
around the crutch and inner thighs due to sand abrasion (wet legs/sandy
beach).

I actually have swapped my Pro inflator for my old sports one. The pro was
to stiff for my liking to quick disconnect and connect. I agree on the Duck
laying a square egg noise it makes (who needs a dive alert 8-))(Have you
mastered playing tunes on it yet?). I just like the sideways squeeze system
rather than prodding. You can also use the sports direct feed as an inflator
for air bags etc. The Viking exhaust valve is the best!!! it never leaks if
kept grit free.

I have very thin wrists (pitty my stomach doesn't have the same problem) and
the Pro seals assume much fatter ones, they were also far too long, so I
just put a pair of sports seals on, just personal preferance/fit. (oh, by
the way changing seals on a viking is easy, so dont put it off when its
needed).

Neck seal: Wear it inverted and give it chance to bed in. I put my head in
before my arms, so that my hands can easily sort out the neck seal and lay
it flat from the inside. A good neck seal will stop your hood from
inflating.

Dry Hood: It should be. I get very annoyed when mine lets any water in.
Trick is to make sure the rubber comes right down to your eyebrows and pull
it under your chin. Put your mask over it (makes mask seal very easy to get,
no more tucking the mask under your hood). Some peoples hoods puff up from
leaking air past the neck seal (normally they've trimmed it too much). if
this happens, look up and press down on the top, the air will vent past the
mask. In some people this problem is caused by mask air from the nose going
into the hood!. Some of my club have put Apeks one way vents in the hood at
the top to stop this. It looks silly (like a policeman with a blue light on
his hat) and as it an Apeks valve you can guarantee a leak after a year.

Everynow and then wash and disinfect the inside of the suit otherwise you
wont want to wear it.

Always wipe the latex seals with the talc before putting away. DO NOT USE
talcum (even non-perfumed), but buy prper dry suit french chalk. You'd be
suprised how quick normal talk will eat latex.

I hang a couple of bags of silica desicant on a long ribbon down each leg to
dry out the feet end.

If Im leaving the suit for a while, I will wipe french chalk over the whole
outside to stop it sticking or perishing. I once but the sport away wet for
a month and found the legs sticking together.
Hint: if its really cold, wear a pair of intact surgical gloves beneath the
wrist seal (ie they become dry gloves) and put neoprene gloves over the top
to keep them intact (seems to work well).

Hope this is of help to people and if any of you come over to the proper
side of the pond, give me a call on 081 540 6013, and we'll go and put some
of this into paractice

Stephen Hawkins, <stephen.hawkins@office.wang.com>
Diving Officer; Kings College, University of London
BSAC Advanced Diver, Advanced Instructor