: The zippers in a dry suit are ~$100 and they're only ~24" long.

I found them (YKK) at $120.00 for 34", and that's unacceptable. Plus, they
wanted me to buy in large volume runs. It's sad when a zipper costs as much
as all the other materials combined that are used to build a folder. I needed
about 16ft which would have been over $500.00US.

Same thing happened when I tried to buy unsupported Urethane for making a
skin. The minimum order was over $7000.00US from Stevens and Bayer.
I would need several lifetimes to use it all. Unsupported Urethane is used
by First Light Kayaks of New Zealand. It's mainly used commercially for
making medical bladders for IV use and such.

Do you think that "First Light" would sell me a little of their easily
replaced stocks ? Of course not ! And I had planned to buy one of their
overpriced boats. Think again.

Tom