That $200 drysuit patch kit I bought was a total waste of money

I was over at a dive shop in Norfolk last week and overheard a guy saying you need a specific brand of patch kit for drysuit repairs. So I dropped $200 on this fancy kit with special adhesives and patches. Used it on a small pinhole in my suit after a job on the bridge pilings. The patch peeled off after two dives in 52 degree water. I talked to an old diver at the dock and he said just use aquaseal and a cut piece of neoprene from an old wetsuit. That fix has held for three weeks now. Has anyone else had bad luck with those expensive patch kits or am I just doing something wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

lilys811mo ago

Wait, did you prep the area right before you put the patch on? I read somewhere that if you don't rough up the surface and clean it with alcohol real good, even the expensive stuff won't stick... I've heard from a few guys online that those big brand patch kits are mostly just marketing hype. They use the same basic rubber cement that you can buy at a hardware store for a fraction of the price... Your old diver buddy is probably right. Aquaseal and a scrap of neoprene is the old school way that's worked for decades... Maybe those $200 kits are meant for big tears or special materials, not just a simple pinhole. Seems like overkill for what you needed.

victor_carter511mo ago

Pretty sure I could botch a simple bandaid repair too, ha.