Sew or Glue Thigh Pockets

[Anthony A.]

If you use aquaseal and install the pocket correctly the suit will still stretch. It will get some rigidity due to the extra material but not so you notice.
Using Aquaseal -
In order to allow the suit to stretch you must glue the pockets on with the suit stretched.
Put the suit on,
lay the pocket in position,
trace around the pocket,
take the suit off and cut cardboard wedges roughly the shape of your thigh but larger.
Remember it will be flat.
Use a couple pieces to make it stiff.
Wrap a towel around the cardboard to reduce the risk of snagging.
Shove that in the leg of the suit and lay the pocket on.
It should fill the outline.
IF the outline can't be seen, cut bigger pieces of cardboard and repeat until the pocket is in the outline.
Glue the perimeter and I also run an X across the outline from corner to corner and then at 0 and 90 degrees.
Lay the pocket on and add weight.
A large book and 15 or 20lbs of hard weights works well.
Allow to dry overnight.
The pocket will be secure and the suit will stretch.

Thanks Jim, have you ever used this method to attach nylon cordura pockets that dont have neoprene backing?

 

[LiteWeight]

Is that section of your wetsuit rigid/stiff or is it just as stretchy as the rest of your suit?

It's stiff, because the pockets have a stiff backing. I had no problem getting the wetsuit on with the pockets. It was actually easier since the pockets 'straightened' the legs for me and it was easier to get my legs into.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

My dilemma is do I glue them on (I have an unopened bottle of neoprene cement) or do I take them to the local gear repair place and have the lady sew them on. I'm not concerned with removing them, if I get a new suit, I'll get new pockets, I just don't want them to fall off.

I think others have answered this for you, but I can't resist piling on. Glue is the way to go. Done right, they won't ever come off. Sewing a pocket on seems like it would create more problems than it solves.

I've added pockets to trilam and neoprene drysuit and glue always works. I'm thinking I'll add them when I replace my 3 mm wetsuit when I replace it. (It's long in tooth and I use it with classes in the pool.)

 

[W W Meixner]

MT...

This is a much better option...fully adjustable...easy to attach/detach...wet suit/dry suit...web harness/conventional BCD...

I have a keeper and 2'' ''D'' ring attached to the vertical webbing just above the pocket...perfect place to clip on a reel...

Pockets are 6'' x 9'' with 2'' deep bellows...three drain grommets...Velcro closure...two inner compartments...with inner ''D'' ring...

No need to mess with Aquaseal...or risk damage with a mis-placed stitch...

Best...

Warren

 

[kelemvor]

I used some clip on pockets like that OMS one. Mine was a dive-rite. Later I bought/installed a glue-on and I greatly prefer it. Maybe it's just my fat-boy build but the clip on pocket tends to slide down when I'm back on the boat or just before splash while on the boat. Not much of an issue really but I have zero issues with the glue-on. I never tried stitching it and mine is not stretchy. Not that the lack of stretchiness has been any kind of issue for me.

For what it's worth, I also used aquaseal.

 

[divezonescuba]

I have done pockets on 3 and 5 mm suits. The pocket shorts are too bulky and one time, I forgot to put them on. The strap on pockets seem to get out of position on me.

I do have a non-dir pocket on the front of my offset buckle waist belt. They made me take it off when I did tec 40-50. That is really handy as it can keep small tools, defog, Jon / Buddy line, etc.

I aquaseal with the entire tube for an individual pocket. I then do a few hand stitches in each corner after it has dried to also have a mechanical bond, just in case. Maybe not necessary. My degree of redundancy is based on the fact that I mainly use the pockets during technical diving I don’t want to lose the pockets or anything in them, ever.

Divegearexpress says to coat one of the surfaces with cotol. When I did that, the neoprene just absorbed the cotol, so I don’t think it really had much of an effect. When I used plain aquaseal, the installations seemed to come out better.

A small irritation to pockets on the wetsuit is that you might have to take all the stuff out to take off the wetsuit.

 

[WarrenZ]

you can always get a tail pouch thats what all the cool sidemounters do I find the pocket shorts get in the way with the tanks. you have to do a reach around/ below to get into thigh pockets tail bag I can unclip and bring in front of me.

 

[Anthony A.]

Is everyone herehwho uses the glue method using neoprene backed pockets or regular nylon cordura?

 

[StefinSB]

I prefer to have them glued and sewn. Makes the edges look very clean.

9276ECF8-956E-400B-8A49-2ED05FB08508

• StefinSB
• Feb 1, 2019

 

[Anthony A.]

Im looking to attach a single pocket on my right wetsuit leg. All it would carry is my smb and spool. Curious if anyone feels a difference in trim and "freeness" when diving with items in your leg pocket vs. without.