Wetsuit Repair:
Wetsuits can take a bit of hammer in the water and out of the water and its almost inevitable that your wetsuit at some point in its life will need a repair. I purchased one of the most expensive wetsuits on the market, the Rip Curl H Bomb which is powered by lithium batteries. These wetsuits dont come cheap, even at trade they are 550! I was gutted when my longboards fin cut into my 3 month old wetsuit. The slice was around 3cm long and it had gone right through the neoprene and over time it looked like it would just get worst if I didnt repair it. Also when I did wear the wetsuit it was letting in cold water which made the wetsuit useless in the middle of winter!

This article will hopefully demonstrate that theres no need throw away your wetsuit because it has a tear in it, or the seams have come undone. There are many wetsuit repair products which can help prolong the use of your wetsuit if disaster happens.

Which Wetsuit Repair Product?
First of all which wetsuit adhesive shall we use? Well I have done many repairs on my wetsuits over the years and I find the best product to be Black Witch. If the repair is located on area of the wetsuit which doesnt receive stress like a leg panel like in the pictures a repair with Black Witch can hold up for a life time. If the repair needs to be done on a stress area like the paddle zone seams where the neoprene is stretched a lot a reapply of the glue after a few months may be needed. However, you would agree repairing your wetsuit has got to be better than binning it! I would give Black Witch a 10/10!

However, there are some other wetsuit glues out there which provide neoprene patches and tape such as Neoprene Queen. These kind of kits are real handy for larger repairs.

I have provided a list of wetsuit repair adhesives below and links to where you can purchase.

1. Black Witch
2. Neoprene Queen – Wetsuit Glue and Patches

How to repair and wetsuit?
Follow the four steps below to fix small holes, rips and seam leakages. Also we have provided a very informative wetsuit repair video from LOMO wetsuits.

Step 1. Make sure you clean the area of the repair and within the split so that there is a clean surface for the adhesive to bond.

Step 2. Apply the glue evenly within the split making sure than all of the split is covered with adhesive.

Step 3. Join both sides of the split together to form an even surface and apply hard pressure to bond the glue and split together. This can be done with your hands and hole the pressure for around 5 minutes until the wetsuit repair glue has set firm.

Step 4. Leave the repair for at least 24 hours before you use your wetsuit. Some product descriptions say black witch will set within 5 minutes, but i always leave for 24 to make sure the glue has fully cured and the split is joined.