Trelleborg AB is a multinational industrial company based in the town of Trelleborg, Sweden. Historically they produced a variety of rubber products; including tires, boats and assorted leisure goods. However, these products are now available far cheaper from Asia and so Trelleborg, instead, focuses on advanced products such as protective suits, high-pressure vaults, and specialised tubes for submarines and airplanes. From their own History page:

Trelleborg products are found in a wide variety of contexts worldwide. They seal, damp and protect, both in everyday settings and under extreme conditions.

A Viking wearing a Viking: Robert Hedin, Commercial Diver

If, like my friend Rob, you are a commercial diver (or indeed a hazmat, military, fire & rescue or law-enforcement diver), then you will likely be intimately familiar with at least a couple of Trelleborg’s range of Viking Drysuits, as these are now the industry’s standard. They are impermeable, durable suits that can be used in a wide range of environmental conditions where there exist set standards for safety—they are extremely abrasion-resistant, will protect a diver from any contaminants in the water and can be easily washed down and decontaminated afterward.

If, on the other hand, you are simply diving for pleasure and not intending on exposing yourself to any toxic waste, you should still be aware of the existence of vulcanized rubber suits^*, particularly those with the Swedish Viking brand and specifically their old Sport and new ProVSN drysuits. The EPDM rubber of these suits is amazing stuff. If you cut one of the suits across its seam, you will see that there is actually no seam: the manufacturing process bonds the two separate layers so that they become one, which for you and I means… no leaks!

Viking Sport Drysuits

During the 1980’s Trelleborg introduced their Viking Sport drysuit, aimed at light technical and recreational divers. Although similar in appearance to their red and black commercial siblings, they are made from a lighter-weight rubber. These are no longer in production but can be purchased reasonably cheaply secondhand and, unlike crushed neoprene suits from the same era, will require little repair beyond new neck and wrist seals, if any, to get them back in action. Any repairs that you do need to make are as simple as patching the hole in the inner tube of your bike tire and can even be done hastily and temporarily in the field.

Viking ProVSN Drysuits

Towards the back end of 2009 Trelleborg released their new Viking ProVSN drysuit. I can’t say enough good things about these suits. The armatex nylon layers that sandwich the rubber central layer are stretchy and create a great-looking, comfortable suit that is available in front and back entry versions, with a variety of customisable features. Perhaps the only drawback of the suit is that the outer layer is permeable and so it is “problematic to decontaminate”—for most though, that is unlikely to be a problem.

What’s this about The Vulcans?

Vulcanization is a process best explained by someone else! So here is a link to a Google search: What the hell is vulcanized rubber?! The process makes rubber more durable and as far as a drysuits go this is great news; not only are vulcanized rubber suits incompressible (and so do not become less buoyant with depth) but they are also extremely hard wearing.

Who doesn’t like to see fellow human beings wearing rubber (or is that just me?)

Popularity: 13% [?]

When using a drysuit divers will need to add air to their suit on descent to avoid the accompanying, potentially painful,  squeeze that is explained by Boyle’s law and the associated increase in pressure. Since drysuits themselves provide little or no thermal protection, insulating underwear is required to prevent hypothermia. This underwear needs a certain amount of loft to be effective. So, as well as adding air to avoid squeeze, divers must also add air on descent to maintain loft and remain warm.

All the air added should be there solely to equalize the compression that occurs with increased depth – the diver is equalizing the airspace inside the suit in order to remain comfortable and warm.

Additional adjustments may be required for buoyancy control and these should be made by adding air to or subtracting air from… the Buoyancy Control Device (whether that is a traditional BCD or a bladder/wing).

Drysuits should not be used for buoyancy control – they are suits that keep you dry whilst Buoyancy Control Devices, well, they are just that.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Why Dry Suit?

Why Not!!

I have spent many happy dives in a 3mm Shorty and never thought I would ever Dive in a cold country, But I started to realize what a waste it was not to dive in my own country and miss all those weeks waiting to go to sunny Climates.

So December 2007 the 13th to be exact I did my PADI Dry suit Specialty and dived in a lake in a dry suit, water temperature 4 degrees Fahrenheit, the visibility was stunning and the crispness of the water could be felt on your face, chilly hands but hey I was diving and a new world of diving opened up to me.

So what makes me an expert? What I can tell you is that I have done many dry suit dives for pleasure and as a Rescue diver on training courses. The first thing I would like to say about Dry suit diving is be prepared to feel like you have never dived before, I felt so strange with a few more things to think about, slightly uncomfortable, and managing your buoyancy in different ways, all added to a new experience and something different to the norm.

When buying a Dry suit look for and buy the best you can afford have it made to measure if you can it will really help with everything if it fits you personally well. Decide what seals you would like there are choices like Latex and Neoprene I find Latex for me works well but I know Neoprene can be a little more comfortable, Take advice from your supplier he really knows his suits and be able to advise you which way to go with the types of diving you want to do.

There are so many options some personal research into the different types of suit will reap dividends in the long run, I personally like Trilaminate suits with which you wear an under suit of varying weights and warmth to suit the environment you are diving in, so the long shot is that they are very flexible in the types of diving you can do and the temperature ranges you can tolerate.

Once you have decided what you are going to buy book yourself onto a course with your chosen training agency, please don’t be tempted to just dive and have a go there are many things to learn for safety and your enjoyment, of course you will also learn to care for your Dry suit which is so important with an expensive piece of kit that is looking after you, did you know the zip on Dry suit was developed by NASA for the space program?
Now you know you got to look after it, regular cleaning and lubricating with Bees wax will keep it in peak condition, it’s the most expensive part to replace.

I really hope I have inspired you to take a leap and try dry suit diving its different but I am so glad I did I know you will too.

Should you need any help or advice please doesn’t hesitate to contact me via Scuba Jedi.com, or for just a chat I can talk scuba all day.

Until the next time Dive safe my Scuba chums.

Nick Hopes

Popularity: unranked [?]