The drysuit zipper lube I ignored for years finally bit me

I always thought the fancy zipper wax was a gimmick, so I just used whatever grease was in the shop. Last week on a job out of Port Angeles, my main zipper seized up at 40 feet and I had to abort, which cost me a full day's rate. Anyone else cheap out on this and learn the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

quinn3411d ago

Swapped to the brand name zipper wax after my suit tried to kill me on a muddy river job. Now I hit the zipper with it every three months, even when it seems fine. Takes two minutes and costs less than a tank of gas. Also started keeping a spare zipper pull in my kit, that little plastic tab snapped once at the worst possible time.

juliaa651d ago

You ever have one of those moments where you're 100% sure the universe is just testing you? I had a zipper pull snap off on a pickup truck tarp, not even a wetsuit, and I still threw the whole tarp in the trunk for like a month out of spite. The wax thing makes sense though, I've been using the cheap stuff and honestly my zippers probably need a support group at this point. Maybe I should start a rotation schedule like you, but I'll probably just forget until something rips. That's solid advice on the spare pull too, I've got one in my glovebox now, right next to the emergency granola bar I'll never eat.