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Over the last 25 years improvements in fabrics, insulating material, waterproof zippers and introduction of the spray-hood have led to much more reliable suit design. This was initiated by the IMO immersion suit standards, the offshore oil industry demands for better quality and international military-commercial developments, such as submarine escape and immersion suits with surface survival times of 24 hours under worst environmental conditions. A common problem is the incompatibility for clothes or survival suits and lifejackets. The core problem is the inability of life jackets to self right immersed persons wearing high buoyancy suits. Best solution is an integrated immersion suit that includes the life jacket as a system (2).
15.3.1 Importance of Dry Suits
Little as half a litre of leakage of water into the suit (or sweat and urine) reduces the insulation value by one third.
Long term effects of hypothermia can be protected only by a “really dry” dry suit.
Key issues of good dry suit design are (2,4):
- Reliable neck and wrist seals by continuous rubber collar.
- Easy entry, single-handled with perfect sealing zip closure.
- Fitting neoprene gloves and sized rubber made Wellington boots.
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