On a previous thread Parker mentioned that as neoprene ages it compresses. That made me think that quite a few survival suits I've seen on sport boats heading out of Westport and Ilwaco might have a survival suit or two on board (at least its a good idea for halibut, albacore, or even near coastal salmon fishing). Anyhow, its a good idea to have your suits pressure tested at a marine store or raft shop. I had three, eight year old suits that never were in the water. They'd only been taken out of the bag for zipper lubing, replacement of strobe batts, and general inspection. I took them to Englund Marine in Astoria for a check out and they informed me that the neoprene was far too compressed to be safe. I guess it loses its floatation capacity as well as allows for seam gapping. Anyhow, being the skeptic I am I had them pressure test it in fromt of me and yes, it was very porous. I ended up buying three new suits (not from them) and feel that it is just part of the game every five or so years. For safety, at least have them professionally inspected.
I can't help but think that some of the fatalities we had last fall off the coast could have been avoided by a few bucks out of the pocket and some better awareness of the ocean conditions.
Kudos to Parker for bringing up a good point.

Maybe you should store your suits in a vacuum pack bag or something similar. I'd ask around at Seattle Marine Supply or somewhere similar that sells alot of the "gumby" suits to the commercials, they've got to have some tips.

-N.

storminN i would not recomend vaccume packing survival suits or waders by doing that you suck all the air out of the neoprene colasping it will cause damage to the neoprene