Drysuit seal repair?

[Badger]

I pulled out my drysuit and one of the latex arm seals must have gotten a drop or two of some sort of solvent on it. There is a small hole in it and it is sticky all around the hole. If it gets folded over, it wants to "grab" the latex.

Any suggestions on a quick repair? I remember reading a few years ago about sending drysuits off for seal replacement, and may have to do that after the weather warms up.

[Bill_AirJunky]

If all you want to do is repair the seal itself, then a tire patch or Gorilla tape will do the trick. But the real way to fix it is to replace the seal. Shops like Wiley's & Adrenaline can get that done for you. Or they sell the seals for DIY job too. The wrists are pretty easy to do. It's the neck that is tough.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Bill_AirJunky

[footndale]

Use Aqua Seal glue for the hole.

[hunter77ah]

I sent one to ocean Tec for repair (barefoot international). They did a nice job.

[Woodski]

@Badger: you can repair the hole with an old bicycle inner tube section or similar with contact cement and since it may only need to be temporary, you could use some duct tape or similar to cover the sticky section and keep if from gooping other surfaces.

[Steve5sst]

Others have said it already but I'll chime in with using a tire patch. One wrist and one ankle seal of mine tore. It was a bit tricky to get the two sides of the tear next to each other to then glue the patch on, but for just a few bucks, that repair has lasted several seasons and is still in tact. It made it a little harder to pull those openings over my wrist/ankle, but not bad. Be sure to "rough-up" the area on your seal for where the patch is going to go, so that the glue gets a better grip.

[JasonK]

Last year my buddy sent one in for repair and it started to leak after the first use. So he sent it back and so far has only used it once since then.

So I say try the tire patch.