Rant: drysuit zipper lube - the brand vs the 'just use soap' crowd

Ok so I've been diving commercial for about 10 years now. Always used the fancy brand zipper lube from the dive shop. Costs like $15 a tube. Last month my buddy Dave in the Gulf said he just uses dish soap and it works fine. I tried it for two weeks and honestly couldn't tell a difference. But now I'm paranoid about long term damage to the seals or zipper. Who here actually uses the cheap stuff long term and has it held up? Or am I just wasting money on overpriced grease?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_lee15d ago

Did you see that test someone did where they ran a zipper with dish soap for 500 cycles and it actually wore down the teeth more than the proper lube? I'd stick with the real stuff for something that expensive to replace.

michaeld4815d ago

Dave's probably not factoring in how dish soap strips the factory grease out of the zipper tape itself over time, not just the teeth. That tape gets stiff and can cause binding issues way before the teeth show any wear.

torres.thea14d ago

Silicone spray works better than both since it doesn't attract dirt like dish soap does.