cutting down latex neck seals

[Yorkie gone under]

hey up guys,

well, weather in melbourne as follows:

42 celcius on saturday, good job the water was 23 celcius at 20 metres otherwise might have been a little "cooked".  Cooling down to a chilly topside of 22 on saturday, but a little more respectable 28 on sunday.

so as you can guess, no need for a drysuit yet.  but i am wanting to get the neck seal sorted - my voice rises a couple of octaves when i put on my brittanic at the mo, but being on the other side of the world, i am paranoid about cutting down the seal incorrectly.

can anyone proffer some hard-learnt advice on what best to use, how best to do it or any other tricks of the trade ? would be much appreciated........

also, how hard is it to attach the neoprene neck collar to a membrane drysuit ?  easy enough for a numpty with glue, or best spending some australian pesos to get it done ?

cheers and all the best in the sunny northern hemisphere !!

a

[Dominic]

Have you stretched it?
If not, stick a football in the neck seal (or a dive cylinder) and leave overnight - if you're lucky, it'll no longer need cutting, and even if it does, at least you won't cut it down, get it perfect, and then need a new seal two weeks later after it stretches a little..

[Mdemon]

I got sick of bulging eyes and recklessly trimmed an inch off my neck seal.  Worked a treat. Stretching with a football didn't but worth a try.

My tip - use sharp, long scissors.  Those cut-a-penny-in-half heavy duty shears a lot of us are using against fishing nets are good, if a little short. Next, cut slowly, firmly and in as long a cut as you can - I cut through both sides of the neckseal at the same time.  What you are trying to avoid is little nicks where the cut changes direction.  These form weak points whick could tear when stretched.  It is possible to trim these out afterwards, but tricky.  I suppose you should cut a bit less off than you think you need, to give a margin of error - you can fix cock-ups on the next attempt.

I've only done it once, but it worked.

HTH

John