Bi laminate repair?

[mullannix930]

im looking for my first dry suit. I am not going with a high dollar one so no DUI. I do have a question about repairs. Can bi laminate suits be repaired? If I get a hole in a bi-lam can I patch it?

I have seen some say that the bi-lam suits are intended to be thrown away, but that is too expensive of a proposition for me.

 

[runsongas]

small holes can be aquasealed, larger ones can be patched sometimes

the two causes that generally mean the suit needs to be totaled are either the seams give out or the layers start to separate

 

[HeatCker]

i have two drysuits..
a bare nexgen (bilam) for warm water, above 60 F
a bare D6 (neoprene) for colder temps
i have read that gluing the nexgen can be tricky, ie gluing pockets on etc
apparently glue doesn't seem to want to stick to the nexgen material, i've never tried it
maybe bare has glue that will work
anyway, that aside, i find the bilam material to be very very tough for normal dive activities
i've got lots of dives on mine and it shows absolutely no signs of wear/tear or deterioration

 

[zider]

I owned a bare nexgen for years and was successfully able to patch several pinholes that developed over time. I used a combination of aquaseal and the vinyl from a patch kit. I would think that anything short of a significant tear should be repairable.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I have seen some say that the bi-lam suits are intended to be thrown away, but that is too expensive of a proposition for me.

Did they give any reasons for this statement? Sounds like someone trying to justify the suit that they paid way too much for.

 

[mullannix930]

No. It was a statement on here that I found when I did a search about the USIA aqua sport.

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Bilams are the EASIEST suits to repair on the market. Check out this video where I slice my suit, and patch it. It will hold indefinitely if you follow the instructions. If you skip a step, well, that's a different story. Don't be scared of a bilam, they are simple to repair yourself.

Whites Drysuit Patch Kit | Dive Right In Scuba - Plainfield, IL - Dive Right in Scuba

 

[mullannix930]

On a different note. I may be getting (free) a neoprene suit, if it fits. Can the boots and seals be changed? Can the seals be changed to a system like the SI tech?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

All of the above can be changed. You can see our pricing here:

Drysuit Repairs | Regulator Repairs | BCD Repairs - Dive Right in Scuba