SnohomishDiver
Registered
I bought a new Bare XCD-2 drysuit years ago, and never dove with it. I just inspected it and it's in great shape, except a mouse got into the storage bag and chewed a small (I'd say less than dime-sized) hole in the groin area - not over any seams.
This is a hyper-compressed neoprene suit. It has a thin nylon/spandex lining bonded to the neoprene. I'm not sure what the outer cover is - looks like possibly Cordura nylon.
In Barsky's book on Dry Suit Diving, in the repair chapter, it says to use a soldering iron to burn a circle in the nylon lining where the patch goes, moisten it with the proper solvent, and pull off the nylon liner before gluing the patch directly to the neoprene. I've never seen mention of that anywhere else; does anyone do that? Should I risk burning a hole in the suit to fix it, or just adhere the patch to the liner?
For the same repair, I bought both Aquaseal with Cotol and "Dry Suit Glue" from DRIS. I also have a nice scrap of thin neoprene wetsuit material I can use for the patch. Any thoughts on which of the adhesives would be the better choice?
Should I pull the edges of the nibbled area together and butt-glue them together, possibly creating a small puckered area in the material, or should I leave it flat, patch the inside and then maybe just fill the small void with Aquaseal or glue. And finally, should I also use the thin neoprene to slap a small patch on the outside as well?
Please forgive me for the OCD questioning on this. I called Bare and of course they said to take it to an authorized dealer for repair. My LDS (a Bare dealer) said they'd just slap a patch on it. And I see subtle differences in searching for how others do a patch job. Thanks in advance for your advise!
Mike
This is a hyper-compressed neoprene suit. It has a thin nylon/spandex lining bonded to the neoprene. I'm not sure what the outer cover is - looks like possibly Cordura nylon.
In Barsky's book on Dry Suit Diving, in the repair chapter, it says to use a soldering iron to burn a circle in the nylon lining where the patch goes, moisten it with the proper solvent, and pull off the nylon liner before gluing the patch directly to the neoprene. I've never seen mention of that anywhere else; does anyone do that? Should I risk burning a hole in the suit to fix it, or just adhere the patch to the liner?
For the same repair, I bought both Aquaseal with Cotol and "Dry Suit Glue" from DRIS. I also have a nice scrap of thin neoprene wetsuit material I can use for the patch. Any thoughts on which of the adhesives would be the better choice?
Should I pull the edges of the nibbled area together and butt-glue them together, possibly creating a small puckered area in the material, or should I leave it flat, patch the inside and then maybe just fill the small void with Aquaseal or glue. And finally, should I also use the thin neoprene to slap a small patch on the outside as well?
Please forgive me for the OCD questioning on this. I called Bare and of course they said to take it to an authorized dealer for repair. My LDS (a Bare dealer) said they'd just slap a patch on it. And I see subtle differences in searching for how others do a patch job. Thanks in advance for your advise!
Mike
