Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
If anybody ever has to patch a bladder, I found the very best thing, way better and easier than aquaseal and some sort of patch material.
Go to West Marine and get a urethane patch kit. There are two, make sure you get the one that lists “urethane” as one of the materials that can be patched. It’s a clear sheet of repair material that is peel and stick. You just cut out what you need with scissors giving yourself about a half inch or more all the way around the hole. Clean the area first with acetone or denatured alcohol and then peel and stick on the patch. Press the patch firmly in place for a few seconds and you’re set.
I put one on my Oxycheq wing about 10 years ago and it’s still there permanently with absolutely no signs of peeling off or giving up anytime soon.
Wings also don’t “explode” underwater. In fact they are under no pressure really, they just have some air in them at depth and it gravitates to the highest point of the wing as you dive and change positions. The rest of the wing is just kind of floppy. If a wing is so inflated underwater that you’re afraid it will “pop” then you have way too much air in it AND you have a stuck OPV.
Go to West Marine and get a urethane patch kit. There are two, make sure you get the one that lists “urethane” as one of the materials that can be patched. It’s a clear sheet of repair material that is peel and stick. You just cut out what you need with scissors giving yourself about a half inch or more all the way around the hole. Clean the area first with acetone or denatured alcohol and then peel and stick on the patch. Press the patch firmly in place for a few seconds and you’re set.
I put one on my Oxycheq wing about 10 years ago and it’s still there permanently with absolutely no signs of peeling off or giving up anytime soon.
Wings also don’t “explode” underwater. In fact they are under no pressure really, they just have some air in them at depth and it gravitates to the highest point of the wing as you dive and change positions. The rest of the wing is just kind of floppy. If a wing is so inflated underwater that you’re afraid it will “pop” then you have way too much air in it AND you have a stuck OPV.
