Something for you late-night twitchers to ponder… I have a QR Superfull wetsuit with a quick release zipper, which is cool for getting out of the suit quick but a hassle to get zipped up before the race. I have to ask someone to do it for me, and usually that means well before the race because during the last 10 or so minutes everyone has got on race-faces and/or are otherwise distracted and I don’t want to impose. If I zip up too quickly (with help from others) I overheat. My suit is very snug and when I put it on the QR zipper releases and I can’t re-engage it on my own. Any creative ideas for keeping the QR zipper engaged while putting on the thing by myself? The seconds saved by the QR zipper are, for me, negated by this hassle, unless there is a creative fix.
Same problem, but with my Hydrofull (too cheap for a Superfull … though sometimes I wish I had cuz the shoulders are so flexible in your suit). My solution works great: I bring the wife. And she zips me in.
If you come up with a solution, let me know. I’d be interested for those inevitable wifeless races.
I have a Superfull cuz I got it REALLY cheap (as with all my tri gear). A thought just came to me: I wonder if a safety pin wouid/could keep the zipper from disengaging…
My wife is not all that interested in watching me suffer, so she stays home
I couldn’t initially get it for the life of my but a little practice and it’s not a big deal for me now. I guess practice makes perfect. Never new about the breakaway zipper thing till last week, can’t wait to try it.
The Superfull is absolutely F**king awesome isn’t it.
I have the superfull as well and simply bring the zipper up about an inch or two before I don the suit. That way it’s already in the tracks and I can zip it up myself.
I put the suit on by rolling it inside out down to the knees. When I have the legs pulled all the way up to my waist, then I simply roll the rest up my body. It’s not that difficult and it helps keep the zipper in place. Get the bottom half of your suit on right and the rest comes pretty easy.
I have the QR Hydrofull, used it during St Anthonys this year. Just make sure you don’t pull the zipper up too high as I did and the last .25 of the swim the zipper decides to do its own quick release and the entire back was exposed to the water. Not a good situation
I always need help with the zipper on my wetsuit. I wear a jersey or tri-suit under it and I always seem to snag the fabric if I try to zip myself. I usually ask someone I know to help, but sometimes strangers. I usually help them. It can be a conversation starter. If taking a few seconds to help a fellow racer zip up a wetsuit is an imposition, people need to really lighten up.
Just ask around while your getting ready for your wave, I’ve found people are always really nice when you need to be zipped up.
Though…I’ve got an Orca Predator now and it practically zips it’s self up.
My experience is that you can’t put on a wetsuit well enough just on your own. It is always better if you can ask someone’s help. So the fact that zipper is like that is not an issue.
Besides the feature that allows to pull up to open the zipper is really handy for faster transitions.
