Recent web gleanings

[DavidRitchieWilson]

Thnaks, John, for your field-notes about the difficulty in obtaining a watertight seal with the front-entry Aquala. There must be a knack about getting the seal right and getting it right is the result of trial and error over a long period.

Thanks too, Buzz, for the information about clamps as a way of shutting off the ends of the folded material. Both methods - the pleat and the clamp - are discussed at some length in Fred Robert's book "Basic Scuba". Roberts mentions how such clamps are lined with leather (e.g. Desco) or rubber to protect the chute from damage when closing the suit.

David

[cstmwrks]

Having had two tunnel entry Aquala suits myself I can add that getting a good seal was always problematic due in part by the seam in the tunnel. That small gap left from the thickness of the suit material was a perfect channel for water entry. It took pure clamping pressure to deal with it. Another issue was the overall size of the entry.. more material, more surface area to seal. For my second Aquala I had them make the suit with a smaller dia opening. This made for less material to deal with but at a cost of getting out of the suit when you were damp.
I have made some chute entry suits from molded parts.. not having the full length seam down the tunnel makes sealing the suit much easier. I would bet that owners of the dipped or sprayed rubber suits had less trouble than Aquala owners.

Bill