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Spent $200 on a drysuit repair kit and it totally backfired lol
So I got this fancy vulcanizing patch kit for my drysuit thinking I'd save cash on shop repairs. The latex glue was a pain to spread and the patches peeled off after two dives in 45 degree water near Seattle. Ended up paying $350 at a shop to fix the same leak plus the damage I made worse haha. The kit aimed to patch small tears but the instructions were super vague and my glue job was lumpy. Now I'm stuck with a half-used kit and a lesson learned that some jobs are better left to pros. Anyone else try DIY drysuit fixes and regret it?
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ramirez.caleb16d ago
Vulcanizing kits are a total scam for anything beyond a pinhole, honestly feels like half the DIY repair market is just selling us the illusion of saving money lol. You see it everywhere with gear too, people think they can fix their own wetsuits or tents and end up making things way worse. Kinda like how I tried to change my own car oil once and ended up with a puddle in the driveway.
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knight.oscar16d ago
$350 to undo your own fix is brutal. I can't believe the patches peeled off in 45 degree water, that's barely cold for a drysuit. I always thought those vulcanizing kits were supposed to be the gold standard for emergency repairs. You'd think for 200 bucks the instructions would at least walk you through the glue thickness or curing time. Sorry you had to learn that lesson the hard way, but thanks for the warning, I was about to try the same thing on my old suit's wrist seal.
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