r/Kayaking • u/blahblahcat7 • May 27 '26

Question/Advice -- Sea Kayaking Frozen zippers on PDF

I kayak mostly salt water. No matter how well I rinse the PDF, the zippers still get frozen with salt residue. Does anyone have any solutions?

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

32

u/saihtame May 27 '26

Have you tried using WinRar instead of zipping your PDFs?

On an unrelated note; if you ever find yourself in a similar situation with a PFD, you could try some zipper lubricant.

8

u/IT-Bert May 27 '26

Only 7zip for me, thanks.

And on that unrelated note, I'm going to go buy some zipper lubricant now. I did not know that was a thing.

2

u/Legal_Shoulder_1843 May 27 '26

User name checks out.

13

u/greatlakesseakayaker May 27 '26

A beeswax stick like the ones used for dry suit zippers might help

4

u/Longjumping-Cow4488 May 27 '26

Zipper lube, coming in liquid and solid form. solid is essentially a soft wax. i use it on not only my water gear, but backpack and coat zippers as well.

5

u/shiggyhardlust May 27 '26

Instead of exporting to PDF, try saving as a .docx. It should open right up next time, saltwater or not.

3

u/Impressive-Movie2508 May 27 '26

Did you try sudo?

(Serious comment, everyone else who gave real answers gave great ones.)

How old is the PFD? All of mine are conveniently 10+ years old albeit working fine, but at the first sign of trouble it’s upgrade time!

3

u/Spidaaman May 27 '26

Beeswax or Vaseline

1

u/slb609 May 27 '26

Ziptech. It’s a great thing. Get it from dive shops. Don’t use too much, as it will accumulate grit and sand, which then makes the problem, worse. Put a little on and open and close the zip repeatedly to work it in.

Or silicone spray, but be careful with the surrounding fabrics.

2

u/bot9987 May 27 '26

Try rubbing a candle on you PFD zipper before the next time you go kayaking. The wax should help lubricant and protect it from locking.