Wetsuit Lube

Hello Friends!

We are in the first few weeks of Spring (maybe just September?) and the warmer weather has brought all the good! I’ve played endlessly in the sea and hope you had an opportunity to play too!

Last week was a little bit of trick being away and battling with network and time so I missed our weekly catch ups both on the blog and the IGlives but I'm back! Soooo!

We’ve spoken about masks, I thought I’d share about lubricants for open cell wetsuits because the value of peace.

An Open cell wetsuit ‘means that the inside of the wetsuit is open cell neoprene, think of a rubbery and tacky surface that likes to stick to whatever surfaces against it’ , this means you never get cold underwater or you do eventually, the magic is in the 'eventually' bit.

But, if you’ve been in an open cell wetsuit without lube you know 2 things, strangulation and suffocation are the words that live between the struggle and the panic of feeling like you are stuck in this small rubber cave where dementors live. Harry Potter.

My first introduction to an open cell wetsuit was horrendous to say the least, when I say I near cried trying to get into one and then the panic that followed from feeling like the suit didn’t quite sit right so my neck felt like a chicken to the slaughter I don’t kid (my gran is a Pro at the chicken and neck vibe), so as the kids blew air between my arm and suit to release the rubber against my skin so it sat better and less rubber duck, I knew I never wanted to get into one ever again. I swore.

I held to this promise for a little while until Charl, my second instructor popped up while in Cape Town and had an extra suit for me to try, he said ‘Zandz I promise it will be okay’, he showed me how to lube the suit and get into it and I can tell you with confidence that, this changed everything. I ordered my suit soon after and am loving it, we’ll talk about the hood another time.

What lube to use?

Well Charl has this magic gooey powder found in Cape Town that all the kids that side use, but not everyone has access to this good good, so what else can you do?

1. Chatting to Daniella (Danz of all trades), she spoke about mixing hair conditioner and water in a bottle and using that, I’ve tried it and can confirm it works great.

2. Soap, I’ve used dish washing soap before (Sunlight dishwashing soap. I know, poster child for elegance :)) , but I can confirm it works beautifully, I venture to say better than option 1, but kids say it makes your skin dry… I’m not sure about this but have used this mix a few times without feeling super dry soooo….

3. You can jump into the water/get your suit wet and then get into it. Go with 1 or 2… and then maybe 3, depends how much of a fight with your suit you enjoy Bahahaha!

How do you lube your suit?

Start with your pants,

1. Fold the pants at the knees over the suit (so your solution doesn’t go running before its done its job)

2. Throw a fair amount of lube through the waist end

3. Grab the bottom of the pants (the ankles), hold the ends shut, hold closed the waist end and shake up the lube nicely through the pants, working to ensure every part is coated

4. Position your top on the floor with the bottom folded over towards the chest and the arms folded in as well and the hood facing up (set this up before you start lubbing pants cause you only have 2 hands)

5. Pour the solution from your pants through the ankle side into the top (this is to ensure the leg exit is sufficiently lubed too)

6. Hold the hood and arms closed, close the top bottom and move the solution through the top in to the hood, and then through the arms then discard of the solution.

7. Make sure your arms are well lubed and your hood and neck got sufficient love, I can’t stress this enough J

8. Run around like a super hero because once you’re in your suit… it feels so good you wanna save the world.. but first, the water.

Enjoy your dive friends!

Props to Charl for this lube learning ;)

And in our Instagram lives for this week!

We spoke to Weldon Wade,a Bermudian Scuba Diver, Freediver, Close Circuit Rebreather diver, commercial diver and the founder of the community Organisation called Guardians of the Reef, we speak about Bermuda, Diving, Rebreathers and touch slightly on the diversity in representation in Bermuda, click here for the interview.

Happy New Week everyone,

Xx