Before you put on a Yazbeck Wetsuit do this – Pre-lubing Wetsuit – Step by step

The easiest, safest and fastest way to don the suit is to do the following:

1- Take a half empty bottle of water, and squeeze inside it some hypo allergenic and fragrance free hair conditioner. I would say the size of a small egg.

2-Shake the bottle until you get a diluted yogurt-like liquid 

3- Pour some in each leg of the trousers, while gripping tightly both leg openings together to prevent the liquid from exiting too early.

4- Shake the trousers and massage them, in order to coat the lining with the gooey solution

5- Slip one leg at a time, with toes pointing downwards, in order to avoid nicking the neoprene with the toenails.

6- Use palm of hands to pull and adjust

7- Do the same with the jacket. Pour from the wrist cuffs and also from the waist area and make sure the shoulders get a good share of the solution.

8- Wear either head first or one arm at a time. Adjust the elbow part to fit in place

9- Until you get the feel of it, try and use the palm of the hands in pushing / pulling / rolling motion. This will eliminate accidental nicks and tears.

10- Once the successive stages become a fluid motion, this whole suit can be donned in less than a minute.

11- Socks can be worn dry, and this should be done in a roll and squeeze motion like a condom. If finger tips must be used, make sure they are on the fabric lamination side, never on the neoprene lining. To remove the socks, just roll them outwards and keep rolling while pushing. 

12- The 5 finger gloves can be we worn slightly lubed. To take them off, just roll out a few inches, pull where the inner wrist is and blow as you would a trumpet, which will; cause them to come out instantly.

13- To take off the jacket of the suit, you have 2 methods:

     a- You unbuckle the clips and pull both sides of the jacket up a few inches, forming a “canal” – Pour water and start pulling as it gets heavier, while adding more water. The heavier it gets, the faster it will be to just “peel” the whole jacket off your torso. This can be done before coming out of the water (much faster, easier and healthier this way). 

     b- Say you are out of the water and need to just take it off without water, then unbuckle the clips, lift up the edges and bend forward 90 degrees, so that the beaver tail part flaps on your back and you can grab it with one, then both hands. Start pulling slowly, without exerting sudden or excessive pressure. Keep pulling until you can get both elbows inside the rolling out area, push outwards and upwards and voila.

14- For the trousers, just roll them down until you reach the feet. Once the bundle is at its lowest below the calf area, point your hands BACK to your legs and push down. This will impose an even and gentle stretching of the trousers opening, which will “slide” them out completely.

15- I know many divers like to use baby powder. I wouldn’t. 2 reasons: 1- It is not as effective as the conditioner mix above and, (2) If inhaled, it will cause discomfort to the lungs which you certainly do not need before a dive. Not to mention it is not healthy and messy.

16- For maintenance, rinse with freshwater, turning it inside out. Hang to dry completely. This shouldn’t take long, due to the absence of fabric lining. You can leave in the sun but for a very short period of time only. Short enough to dry it and let the UV kill the bacteria if any. Too much sun will damage the neoprene. The 3 enemies of Poly-Chloroprene (100% CR Neoprene) are the Petroleum based lube (such as KY Gel) Ozone and the UV’s – Also storage in excessive heat (IR) will age it faster and make it harder with time. 

17- If there are nicks and tears, do as mentioned in (16) and then once totally dry, use the Yazbeck Glue to fix it. Takes about 15 minutes total and it’s like new again and you can dive in it right after fixing it, if done properly as per instructions.

18-  If diving repetitively for days at a time, soak overnight in a bac of water to which you will add a cup of distilled clear vinegar (5% Acetylic acid) – This will prevent an eventual bacteria breeding that may cause skin staph infection. Better to prevent. Remember that this bacteria grows in an alkaline environment (sweat, urine) – To counter it, vinegar is magic. When diving daily long hours each time, I would even mix some vinegar to the water and conditioner mix, as a prevention measure to maintain the skin in an acidic environment, which in the worst case scenario will be neutralized by the aforementioned alkaline conditions. 

19- On a side note, I would recommend a mixture of 95% Pure or Isopropyl alcohol with 5% Liquid Glycerin, to be added to 30% of Vinegar (5% Acetylic Acid) and dropped in your ears before and after dive. If you always do this, you will keep ear infections at bay. 

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