"Cutoff" wetsuit

[zimpod]

My wife has a full, hooded, 6 mm Mares semi-dry wetsuit (which I have been unsuccessfully trying to hawk on SB for a couple of months now). This is the type that has the horizontal zippered entry across the shoulders. Rather than continue my pitiful efforts to get rid of the suit, I have decided to punish it by cutting off the hood, arms and legs to make it into a shorty/core warmer that my wife can wear on top of her regular full suit.

Has anyone tried this before? Does the cut neoprene need to be finished in some way (e.g. by burning/melting the edge) to prevent fraying?

 

[500 PSI]

Boil it down for 15 minutes, add salt, pepper, tomatos and hot sauce.... O'h sorry thats my chile recipe, I get it now, your making a fashion statement.

 

[redacted]

I cut the sleeves off a 3mm 2-piece. I touched the cut seams with a little aquaseal to keep that from unraveling. Worked OK for 3 years now.

 

[kidspot]

Try a lighter or candle very gently on the nylon edges of one of your discarded pieces first. I have used a lighter to "seal" the edges when I punched holes in a wetsuit once... it worked fine, but don't hold the flame as it will melt the suit very quickly. btw I was working on a .5 mil suit.

Aloha, Tim

 

[crpntr133]

If you could cut it with a hot knife that would probably be your best bet. Some soldering irons also have a flat blade that you can fit them with. Might be your best choice.

Still hate to see that much money go down the drain but I agree they are probably hard to hawk.

 

[TheRedHead]

What does your wife have to say? As a female, I wouldn't be caught dead in a hacked up wetsuit unless it was professionally done.

 

[zimpod]

Well, I think my wife will reserve judgment until she sees the end result. Shouldn't be too bad, since she will only wear it on top of her full suit...

 

[Brandon]

I hacked the arms off my 3mm wetsuit during the last dive trip.

Had the foresight to try on my suit the night before I hopped on the boat, and realized my shoulders had broadened a bit.

Rather than chasing down an open dive shop at 6am, I just hacked the sleeves off with my dive shears, creating my new ghettofabulous wife beater 3mm suit.

Like Kidspot said, a candle, lighter, etc., along the seams seems to help keep them from unraveling / looking crappy.

-Brandon.

 

[TheRedHead]

Doesn't anyone see wetsuits as clothes rather than equipment? Yes, they function as thermal protection, but they are also clothes. Frankly, I find the idea of a male cutting up a female's clothes as patently silly. She should make that decision, really.

 

[zimpod]

Frankly, I find the idea of a male cutting up a female's clothes as patently silly. She should make that decision, really.

So, you are saying that my diabolical plan to cut off her wetsuit and put it on her while she is still sleeping won't work?