*** Valves

[Richie]

A delicate question, well maybe for us bashful softies down south,  I ‘m in the process of buying a dry suit and was wondering about getting a pee valve fitted. (One dubious benefit of the wet suit)
Has anyone had experience of these, are they a source of external/internal leaking?
Are there different types – I’m looking at the O’three.
There must be obvious benefits in the hydration/duration/depth balance as well as the obvious kidney ease – help please.

On a med/tek note – how do you measure adequate hydration for diving?

[Ben Harris]

Although I know little. Surely two zips means twice the chance of zips breaking. And they are a tad expensive.

But how often do zips break???

Are they the weakest point on a dry suit?

[Richie]

I thought the pee valve was a little twisty valve thing rather than a zip - there are zips aroung but they are for surface use only unless, i guess,  you nail your self down and pump air into your suit like there's no tomorrow - mind boggles.

[Dominic]

Umm... P valves don't involve zips. You're thinking of a convienence zip.

I confess the only thing stopping me from getting hold of a P valve is the thought of how the rest of my dive club would react. Well, there's the cost as well...

I'd be more likely to get the balanced one rather than O3s simple "unscrew and go" job tho..

[Hobby]

Ben,I think Richie's actually on about the valves,y'know the one's that are used with a surgical sheath(like a condom),tape and a tube.
The zips are awfull.I've got one in one of my suits.Remember that it's a ND suit however so it'll be below par for a start.If,with cold trembilg hands you manage to undo said pee-zip, you take the skin off your fingers as the zip,by nature is like a blooby clam.It's like trying to get your fingers and tops with a nun wearing a chastity belt.If you do manage to find "it","it" has, in anticipation of being mauled by said teeth,shrivelled to peanut size so has to be streched out to ensure you don't pee in your suit.Now you have'nt enough hands,you need 2 to hold the zip apart..(or take the the pain)!You need another hand to hold "it".
IMHO it's far better to undo your main zip and pee over your neck seal...or maybe buy a pee valve.
Hope this helps,Hobby.

[Ben Harris]

Like i said,

I know nothing.

Valve, you sick puppys. Its one thing getting dressed in rubber for for marys sake but doing that. Its not natural!!!

Save the money learn to cross your legs whilst finning!

Hobby, Why are NDiver suits under par (sob, ive got one!)

[Dr Stevil]

Agreed! ND under par??? On what gorunds?
my 'spare' suit (ie haven't flogged it yet) is a ND 8mm Neoprene with "convenience zip", never had a problem with the zips.

P-valve , yes... strange reactions from others, but I like the idea of being able to drink as much water as you like with worrying about holding it all in, so have thought about this one many a time.

Apart from the issue of buying the right size "condom" (f***ing extra large, what else !  yeah, right... :lol2:  )  the real problem is the "learning curve", I believe it is quite steep, I'm sure there was a review of this problem in a Dive mag some months ago - I'll try to dig it out.

Chee-az
Steve

[Dominic]

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Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]ND under par??? On what grounds?

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Oh dear.
Settle in. This could be a long one

[Ben Harris]

Give me something to do at work!!!

Had no problems with my suit. I thought NDiver had a good rep!!

Hobby, handbags at dawn.

[Richie]

Had an ND way back, the glue holding the boots (wellies style) to the legs would fail usually from a weight belt being dropped on them. And since the odd leak was par for the course this would go unnoticed in the heat of the moment, jump into water, invert and wheyhayyy &nbsp;big bubbles and 15kg negative with &nbsp;no BCD. 30m here I come. Liberal use of Araldite solved it. Hours of fun for all. &nbsp;