How to Use Tape on a Dry Suit Neck Seal

In cold waters, many scuba divers will don a dry suit to stay warm while submerged. Dry suits are designed to keep water out and typically have rubber gaskets around the neck, ankles and wrists to seal out water. However, over time these seals will wear out and must be replaced. You can repair a seal, temporarily, using some spare material and a bit of duct tape, but it is best to wholly replace a malfunctioning rubber neck seal gasket.

Things You'll Need

  • Duct tape
  • Rubber sealant
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Instructions

  1. Repair

    • 1

      Lay the dry suit on a large flat workspace with the neck gasket facing toward you. Assess the degree of damage to the neck gasket. Smaller cracks can be repaired temporarily, but large tears may require an entire neck seal replacement before the dry suit is functional.

    • 2

      Press the two ends of the small tear or crack together so that they touch. Tape the two ends with one length of duct tape on the inside of the neck seal so that the outside of the neck seal is exposed, but the two sides of the tear hold firm to one another.

    • 3

      Fill in the gap with rubber waterproof sealant. Check that the gap in between the ends in the tear does not increase as you apply the rubber sealant.

    • 4

      Cover the outside of the tear with a second piece of duct tape and smooth out both strips of duct tape along the tear. Allow the rubber sealant to set and dry as directed by the product instructions. Most sealants will set within a 24-hour time frame.

    • 5

      Remove the duct tape from the tear area slowly so you do not pull the rubber sealant from the tear or crack.