There is an old saying, a stitch in time saves nine. Modern consumerism in a throwaway society wouldn’t get it, its an old fashioned notion that you take care of your stuff, do the small repairs when needed, and save yourself from bigger repairs later. Or from buying a new one, and you won’t likely find a new Matuse Hoplite for $200, but its a great wetsuit and I love it, as I do my Coral Reef wetsuit that I’ve had for 6 years (and it was used when I got it).
Modern wetsuits really aren’t good for more then a couple of seasons if surfing a bunch, seams just get stretched out, can feel the leaks just wading out. Maybe not a problem in warmer climes, up here in the PNW, not a good thing.
Usually buy my wetsuits through Left Lane Sports - sign up, get regular emails on sales. Just bought a new Xcel Revolt hooded 5/4 with waterproof chest zipper and all the whistles and bells for $200 delivered. Personally consider that a better ‘bargain’ then a $20 jar of wetsuit glue…
Icc Thanks for the tip. I live about 20 min away from Left Lane Sport, & must admit I’ve never heard of them. I’ll have to sign up for there mailing list.
What I find with contact adhesive is that it’s only as strong as what you’re adhering it to. Often a repair will fail because the neoprene just tears again. In other words the contact adhesive doesn’t come unstuck from the neoprene it’s stuck to, but the neoprene comes away from itself again with the glue still stuck to it. This possibly has something to do with the super stretchy neoprene used these days.
From my experience there are three types of repairs where contact is worth consideration: 1/ A split in an existing seam, 2/ A tear where either the top or bottom layer of nylon is still intact and 3/ An area of the wetsuit where not a lot of stretching takes place. The most common tears I tend to get are from fin and reef cuts on the legs and arms of my suits, and these get a real work-out everytime I take my suit on and off. Aquaseal is great for these since you can A/ use it in conjunction with a bit of thread and B/ spread it thinly either side of the repair to reinforce the neoprene there.
In conclusion both aquaseal and contact adhesives are good products. It’s a good idea to have both in your repair kit. However, if I had to choose one I’d choose aquaseal since it’s useful in a wider range of applications. It is, without a doubt, the duck’s nuts.
Coarl Reef is still in Business??? I’ve owned a few of their suits…even a few custom fit suits.
It’s kind of like welding… when the repaired area becomes stronger than the rest of the whole mess…and then you get repeat damage due to that…Weak wet suit strong repair…new tear…over and over…
I’n stoked with West wetsuits but they have a good suit for short fat old guys like me. and a good price…not made here.