DIY weather sealing--silicone wrist band?

[YuengLinger]

Got the idea from using a Lens Band for my droopy ef 24-105mm. The Lens Band keeps the zoom barrel from sliding down while walking.

Would adding a silicone wrist band (which is all the Lens Band really is) to the mount area for, say, a Sigma 50mm Art or some other non-weather sealed lens accomplish ANYTHING towards keeping mist/rain/snow/hail out of the body?

Please don't tell me to go out in the rain and test the idea!

I got a few free wrist bands as a memorial gift from Paul C. Buff with an order earlier this year. Was hoping to put them to some kind of use.

(If this has been asked and answered, sorry. A search revealed so many hits not on point that I just decided to ask.)

 

[AcutancePhotography]

Well, it probably would not do any harm and since you already have the bands your future investment is exactly zero.

Why not give it a try. Anything that can possibly block dust and water with no disadvantages can only help.

I think it is a pretty clever and simple idea.

 

[retroreflection]

No.
Liquids do funny things around small gaps, capillary action can lift water all the way to the top of redwood trees. A relatively loose band at the lens to body joint could serve as a water retention device, enhancing the wicking of water into the body.
Weather resistance systems use o rings that are slightly thicker than the gap they are sealing. Closed up, they compress to form a barrier that is unlikely to be bypassed by water at low pressure. It might seem like the silicone band is compressed around the lens barrel, but on the fine scale it is in tension over tiny bumps in the surface. And, there is minimal force back to the camera body, where the important leak path is.
A DIY enhancement should have a barrier at a distance from the leak points, like an umbrella. Unless you want to jam that silicone thing inside the lens mount.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I think the odds are in favor of making things worse, since it will tend to collect runoff and channel it into the lens / body joint, maybe at any point on the circumference.

I just do not see it working. I've tried various sealing methods for keeping moisture out of electronic devices. The best ones work by filling the void area with grease or other waterproof jell, then gaskets work well as long as they are not damaged, or get dry and crack. Even heat shrink materials don't do the job. Some heat shrink devices have a meltable inner liner that melts and fills the void area, and that works because there is then nowhere for the water to go.

 

[YuengLinger]

Thanks--very glad to have your input. Seemed too easy...