New fresh materials, just finished big batch for a surf school
Alterations coming soon.
any seamstresses, wardrobe theater types with heavy material experience let me know.
Must have machine
thanks

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spindrift

Edited: 11/12/2025 at 01:30 PM by spindrift

Just finished a large surf school repair order on some truly wasted wetsuits
Shredded or non existent collars and stress areas.
They would be trash otherwise
Got a lot of practice..... complete new collars, zippers, seams....I'm getting really good at this

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spindrift

Took a slighty aging Patagonia out today. It was really a bit too warm (unlike yesterday, with another suit) but upon taking it off, exterior seams are shedding the thin bead of rubbery sealant. So I guess it'll be Aquaseal.

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wavewatcher - >ww - >wavewatcher, again

WW : I love the fact that ,you seem to be the used Wetsut benifactor ,but even more so that you seem to be a sunsert conisrer ,such as myself, tonnights another Spectacular Mxfelid Parrish one with propper tones !

The sunsets make me wonder whether there was a major volcanic blowup.

I continue to shrink, so size 34 board shorts are tending to become too big. Also reveals size differences between brands. Vissla sizing tends to be smaller than most. Volcom bankruptcy bargains made it affordable to downsize their wetsuits.

The Patagonia suit in question has interior taping in fine shape, so almost no leaking. I've become very sensitive to cold. It was almost embarrassing to be in the water with guys who were skinning it or wearing minimal rubber.

A swim today suggested that the speed of the longshore current was about 1 minute/100 yards. I should've done a passive float to get more detail.

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wavewatcher - >ww - >wavewatcher, again

Howdy ww, hope all is well.
A lot of the suits with that little bead of glue on the outside of seams don't hold up well. Like you said, good interior seam tape is the best for keeping water out.
I'm not apologetic about hating cold water. Two surfers ear operations and arthritis are my rewards for being a tropical kid in nanook of the north land. Starting around morro it gets really cold. At first i used achin' farmer john/beavertail crap.
Good to have your input on suit design and fit mate. I want to ramp up the repair stuff to dive industry stuff too.....nobody does them, seriously.
Come have lunch and hang at the Riverfront brother.

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spindrift

With the Patagonia, the outside bead of glue may be mostly decorative or maybe to protect the seam. It's been a privilege to be able to snag a few really good suits at much-reduced prices. Matuse just had a sale that put a "vintage" suit within reach. 3mm hooded. First visit to the beach was impressive.

I'm not familiar with the dive industry. I got a bit of training in college (slight connection to a professor who studied seaweeds) but never went further. Moving to Wyoming didn't help, though I suspect Yellowstone Lake might have been interesting. Florida must have a huge number of people with tanks (and snorkels) in the water and there should be some incentive to repair wetsuits rather than constantly buy new ones. I suppose a tourist visit to Divers Direct in Miami might be interesting. Costco in Portland, Oregon had a dive shop set up in their store about this time of year. Winter was dive season for Puget Sound and other spots.

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wavewatcher - >ww - >wavewatcher, again

Interesting juxtaposition of wetsuit info.
Ww is an intrepid cold water adventurer who reports back with informed reports on different styles of the funny rubber suits. And styles, comfort.....warmth.
While I see what actually holds up out in the real world.....and I HATE cold water!
Don't see many matuse or Patagonia in my shop, they hold value. Best overall is by far oneill
Hyperflex are having major qc issues

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spindrift

I lived in Jacksonville, where if you wanted surf, you needed to like winter storms.

Moved from there to Oregon, where I thought the cold nasty Pacific would be off limits. Soon had a 6/5/4.

I've gotten extremely sensitive to cold--this season, been shivering even with a really good 3/2. It was a cloudy day with a few showers, but water was 69!

Still, right now, it's possible to be comfortable in the water with a wetsuit, so am wiling to get frozen at 70º rather than boiled at 84. Even with the inner ears hating cool water. Earplug, hood, whatever.

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wavewatcher - >ww - >wavewatcher, again

I've got a pile of old kid's wetsuit I can hook you up with, Spin

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Moved on to the new one...