Paddling tips, tricks, news and gear reviews from an Unsponsored point of view

Looking After Your Drysuit

It’s hit the time of year here in the UK that it is time to put the drysuit away and dig the shorts out. It’s been a long and wet winter/spring so the kit has taken a fair bit of abuse.

Looking After Your Drysuit

I’m currently the proud owner of a Palm Spark Surface Immersion suit. When I say proud I mean it. However you need to look after your gear if you want it to last as long as possible. Leaving good gear in a damp state in the back of the car or in the bottom of a gear bag is not going to help it survive.

The suit has been a superb choice and has served me well over the last year+. It’s now time to get it ready for storage.

First things first I make sure that my kit is washed in clean water and then dried thoroughly. While I’m doing this it gives me an opportunity to check out the state of the seals, taping and stitching. Any issues and I take care of them. The next job is to give the suit a little reproof using Nikwax. I tend to buy Nikwax in one litre bottles as it’s enough for a few big jobs and will get used before it hits its end of life date.

The Grangers XT range also comes highly recommended with a number of big names in the outdoor industry favouring the brand.

All of the latex seals are checked for damage and wear. If all is well they are treated with Aerospace 303 UV protector. Finally the zip is treated with TiZip Silicone grease. The suit is then stored rolled up with the zip on the outside. Brass zipped suits should also be stored with the zip open, plastic zips should be closed.

Palm Europe Zip Guide.

2 Comments

  1. mantamx

    “with the zip closed”? All brass zip manufacturers recommend opening zips while not in use (let alone storage)…

    • Unsponsored

      Quite correct I have updated my post. Working on old info!

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