Repairing the seams of a wetsuit.

[Ronniemu]

I purchased a Bare wetsuit 11 months ago and the seams are unraveling on the legs by the leg zipper. It's under warrantee for 1 more month; I was told that I could send it back for free repairs. My problem is, I only have one wetsuit. The diving season here on Long Island is short and I need my wetsuit for a couple of months. Many knowledgeable friends of this forum, suggested that I could apply seam grip (seam seal) on the defective area. My wife can sew well and offered to re-sew the area where the stitches are unraveling and then apply the seam seal. My questions are:

1) Do I need special thread?

2) Has anyone repair there wetsuit and if so could you offer your advice?

3) If you own a Bare wetsuit are you having the same problem?

Thanks, Ronnie

 

[mikerault]

I just did a repair to a wetsuit that had run and the underlying neoprene had split, I used a spiral stitch to pull the edges together then applied silicon glue to both sides of the repair. Not sure how well it will stand up to stress yet, giving it overnight to cure. I used standard thread, doubled. Some say use heavy duty or dental floss.

Mike

 

[mfalco]

I would try a light weight monofilament fishing line.

I haven't before, but an old wetsuit I had had a seem falling apart, and it seemed like it was sewn together with fishing line.

 

[scubaaaronh]

Nylon upholstery thread. It is water resistant and wont rot as easily. It is a heavy guage thread. I also put a thin bead of aquaseal over it.

 

[redacted]

Do not use Aquaseal. It cures hard and inflexable. It will not stretch with the suit. Use neoprene cement which will cure soft and stretchable. I use it to repair wetsuit seams which are coming unglued and to stop stitching which is coming undone. Catch it early enough, and the restitching is probably unnecessary. If you want it to look pretty, you may want to send it back to the mfgr. DIY patches may be fairly noticable, but they get the job done without missing much diving.