Shoutout to the guy who told me that rubber bands in a dry suit aren't just for looks

I was reading through an old thread last night and found out that the rubber bands on your dry suit cuffs actually help seal air leaks under pressure. Blew my mind because I've been diving off the Gulf Coast for 3 years and never knew that. I always thought they were just to keep your gloves from falling off. Anyone else learn something basic way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

evahenderson1mo ago

Rubber bands in a dry suit aren't just for looks" yeah that hit me hard too. I've been diving for maybe five years now and I only found out last summer from a random YouTube video. Always just thought they were there to keep things tidy or something. Felt like a total idiot when I realized they actually serve a real purpose. Now I check mine every single dive like some kind of paranoid dad.

claire8721mo ago

Pile right on that feeling of finding out way later than you should have. I was the same with my dry suit zipper lube - thought it was just some fancy grease until a gear failure on a night dive taught me otherwise, and I had to call the whole thing off. @adams.uma your snack bag trick is genius, I'm totally stealing that for my next trip. I bet rubber bands would keep my spare mask strap from flopping around too. Now I'm the guy who double checks every little thing before the boat leaves, like a total newbie but better safe than shredded.

adams.uma1mo ago

Huh. I still use them to hold my snack bag in place.