Wet suit question

Several years back I bought my first wet-suit when I started this sport.  Well, that trusty wet-suit has developed a hole… in the inseam … (ok, bring on the jokes).  

It's a 2.5 mil (??) farmer john style and I've just been happily fishing away with the air-conditioning for a while.  Other than noticing there is a hole there … as I sit pedaling my hobie  … I really don't have much of a problem with it.

I've never owned a wet-suit before.  I got it just for this sport.  Down south, most of the kayakers fish in waders, not a wet suit, but I LIKE the farmer john and I do fish very frequently up in Humboldt.    So -- I need to have a good wet suit.

I don't dive at this point.  It's strictly for kayak fishing.

The questions:

1) Is there an easy, reasonable way to mend this?
2) Should I consider replacing this for safety reasons? .. or just keep wearing this air-conditioned version?

Love to hear the opinions and advice…. and inevitable jokes.

Dave 

Go to your local dive shop, they should have a repair kit.

Lots of shops can repair the hole and glue the seams.  Check dive shops and surf shops.

Quit risking your safety with a 2.5mil suit,

Dave if things go to hell and you end up in the water for even 20min that thickness of a suit is going to have you in dire straights,  heading for hypothermia.

My setup now is a 7mil FJ with a relief zipper installed and I wear a 2mil jacket over it.

IMHO of course

It's probably too thin to blind stitch.  You can sew it yourself or go to the dive shop.  I like to use thick thread doubled.  First glue the edges then sew.  Then coat both sides of the new seam with neoprene glue and let it dry.

Is there danger in using waders on a kayak?  Wouldn't it fill and sink you?

Waders are not an option for me, but down here in SoCal it's fairly common. 

For me, it's likely another "farmer john" style… and "To repair or to buy a new one … ??"  That's the question ...

for me sitting in a kayak in a 7 mil is just too darn hot. river kayakers for years have used what they call "fuzzy rubber". it's like light pile on the inside and neoprene on the outside. I have a farmer john and it's been good to me for nearly 10 years (and well over 1000 miles OTW), less a little bit of a sticky zipper. warm, comfortable, stretchy. I mean if you swim, chances are you are going to get right back on and keep going or if it was a disaster, then you go to shore. Something would have had to go terribly wrong to spend 20 minutes in the water after a swim. dunko and come up and grab the boat first, flip it back and get on. NEVER GO ALONE is my motto so there's always a buddy with me for the safety side.

Yeah, sitting in a 7mil can and does get hot, I'l have splashed water on myself to cool off lots of times. I have 3 suits with 7 being the thickest, ones a 3mil shorty, I choose which one to wear based on where I'm going and weather to some extent.  I've also been a diver for about 30 yrs and spending all day in a wetsuit doesn't bother me like it might some people.

A few years ago I had planned a sturgeon trip on San Pablo Bay. That day the wind sucked so I ended up in the delta in a slough protected from the wind. 

Long story short, my hull cracked, the yak became unmanagble but I did get it to the bank about 50 yds away.

Had I gone with plan A I would have been probably 3/4 mile from shore.

Prior to the cracked hull I didn't have noodles installed, now I do.

Seeing people in 3mil suits out a ways on the Pacific just makes me nervous.

If you dig for them (here on NCKA) there are some pretty sobering first hand accounts of peeps spending allot more time in the water than they planned.

Be safe.

Go to your local dive shop, they should have a repair kit.

No they will not. There are custom wetsuit shops that will have the knowledge of how to glue and or resew the seam. I would expect though that the material has deteriorated to the point where it would fail again in short order.

NRS makes a 3mm farmer john wetsuit that makes it easier to adjust for the wearer's height. I found with other wetsuits off the rack that the distance from my shoulders to my waist was not correct for the suit. After the NRS wears out I will probably get a custom one made at Otter Bay Wetsuits. They also do repairs at reasonable rates and this includes replacing latex seals and zippers.

Glue it with McNetts Seal Cement, and then put a layer on top of the repair on each side, and then stitch it loosely by hand.

So here is how I solved this "patch kit" -- We will see how well it works over the long haul.

"Aquaseal" was recommended from the place that sold me both the kayak and the wetsuit. He told me to glue the torn seam, let is set, and then put a piece of neoprene underneath as a patch and glue that as well -- and he gave me a small neoprene swatch to go with it.

Below are the pix -- repaired it for my trip north next week.   I put it on and it seems just fine, though it is not as comfortable -- I do feel the repair.   

If it turns out to be a problem, will just purchase a new wetsuit.

OK, this is really funny.  Here it is 2020 and I find myself needing to repair another wetsuit.  I searched NCKA and found my own post and how I fixed one back in 2014.  Now for the kicker -- I need to make the same repair in the same place on a replacement wetsuit I bought a just few years back.  I'd say I'm hard on the crotch but then someone might make a rude remark.   

OK, this is really funny.  Here it is 2020 and I find myself needing to repair another wetsuit.  I searched NCKA and found my own post and how I fixed one back in 2014.  Now for the kicker -- I need to make the same repair in the same place on a replacement wetsuit I bought a just few years back.  I'd say I'm hard on the crotch but then someone might make a rude remark.   

so, how was the repair?

davejavu