Bare knee area a big weakness....

[ScubaSarus]

Although I like the comfort and fit of the Bare 7mm Arctic full suits, I have once again worn out the knee area of my second Bare suit only after 15 dives. I admit I do shore dive in some rocky areas but take care of the suit very well. I feel the bending of my knees with minor scruffs may be more responsible than the scruffs themselves. Once a minor scruff starts on the knee, the neoprene opens up easily when stretched by the knee.

On my first suit,the same thing happened and I glued proper knee pads on it and material started seperating just above the knee pads after 2 years without any scruffing on were the separation occured. The neoprene just seems to come apart.

Unfortunatly this second suit is just over 1 yr old and Bare will not fix it at thier cost.

I emailed them back and suggested a design change that they put proper knee pads on thier suits and not just some verticle anti-scruff stuff.

Have any others worn out their Bare suits in the knee areas?

I've got a Henderson F/J with 7 years of tough New England usage and the knees are still as good as new. The F/J flushes more and is cooler that the Bare FS though.

I think I've purchased my last Bare and will spend more on a better brand next time. I'm going to glue knee pads on this second suit.

 

[DM Dan Morrison]

I had the same experience with a Bare 7mm Artic full suit this spring. Mine seperated after only 6 dives.

The LDS owner said it was because I spent too much time on my knees and wouldn't send it back to Bare (didn't want to pay the shipping I guess). How much time can you spend on your knees in 6 boat dives anyway?

One of the staff their took pity on me, sent it back to Bare anyway and the replaced the legs at their cost. Although we never got an admission from Bare that it was a defect, they did the work very quickly and without question.

I truly believe that there is a defect with this suit in this area, maybe since ScubaSarus has got this started we'll find out.

 

[Bill Fisher]

wow...that really stinks.

I have a Bare Artic one piece 7mm, and I've had it for 4-5 years
and it still is in great shape?

 

[DM Dan Morrison]

Just to add that since getting the suit back and repaired, I have actually tried to be a little harder on it than I should, just to see what's up. I think the new legs Bare attached are a slightly different material or pad attachment process. These new legs seem much tougher.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Im not sure if its a defect but a weakness for sure that needs addressing. But I also would like to know of others as it could be a defect in the Bare suits.

Thanks for posting Dan

 

[two.crows]

Two divers in the family, same suit (Bare Arctic 7mm bought in fall 2006): same problem on both. I was actually looking for some solid pads to stick on... any hints?

It seems the same problem you have: starts with a small nick and then just keeps on opening in the knee area. I tried glueing, but that didn't hold up for long either.

Other than that, its a great suit - keeps me oK throughout the winter, with water around freezing.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Yes bumb on a good solution befor my knees are worn right thru. What type of glue also. Would Goop be OK or is it too hard and brittle.

 

[h20newbie]

There are two of us with splits in the knees of this same suit. Annie's extents from one side to the other-beyond repair-it is less than a year old. My is two years old , has a small spit in the knee ( same one as Annie's by the way) which I have tried to patch and it is not holding. I am sending this back to bare for assessment of the problem and repair. And NO, I don't spend time bouncing off the bottom with zebra mussels before it is asked. I am very careful with my equipment and and certainly unhappy with the knees of this suit.

 

[mikerault]

Get a dry suit with proper knee pads!

Mike

 

[spectrum]

Mine is from 2005 and I think it was in the first summer that I got a small 3/8 long slice in the outer nylon of 1 knee. I'm not sure how I did it. This June I could see the neoprene was beginning to stess so I did a 1-1/2 inch square 3mm patch over it.

I don't understand why some are getting so cut up and allowed to go to failure.

Pete