# Drysuit Seal Replacement



## lncoop (Sep 10, 2010)

Thinking about buying a semi-dry suit and replacing the neoprene neck seal with latex (wrists are latex and it has booties). I've heard of people doing this but have never tried it myself. It would be for my daughter so I'd really want it done right and am not sure I'm up to DIYing it properly. Already asked the company and they told me to "kick rocks, kid" as our good friend Bucketboater would say. Thoughts?


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

Why not just buy a dry suit?


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## lncoop (Sep 10, 2010)

Randaddy said:


> Why not just buy a dry suit?


Because IR has their Rival semi-dry marked down to $271, so even if it costs me a C note to replace the seal I'm still way ahead, and the way this kid's growing........


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## FatmanZ (Sep 15, 2004)

If it's the company I'm thinking of, I was also told to go kick rocks when I inquired about the opposite earlier this year - installing a neo gasket in place of a latex gasket that was worn out. 

Just yesterday I ordered one of their semi-dysuits for my son and I was debating adding a latex neck. Depending on how tight the neo gasket is, a swap out may not be needed. 

The trick to swapping out or adding a latex gasket will be whether or not there is enough dry suit material around the neck area to glue the latex gasket to. The neo gasket may be bigger than a latex gasket. I don't think the latex can be glued to the neoprene with good results. 

If the latex gasket will mate up OK, that will make for a super cheap drysuit at just under $300 total. ($271 drysuit, $28 NRS latex neck gasket).


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## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

In that case, do it. If it doesn't have booties you should order those and glue them in while you're at it.

Lots of info on gasket repair on here. I recommend buying mini cell foam from NRS for a good form. Also, cut a hole in the top of a 5 gallon bucket lid and sand it smooth. The suit stays clean in the bucket and you get a good platform to work on. 

You can glue the new neck gasket to the neoprene or to the WPB fabric directly. I'd probably choose the latter. If you cut the neoprene gasket out you might want to save it for another use (they are hard to find).


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## lncoop (Sep 10, 2010)

Great. Thanks for the advice guys. Just pulled the trigger. Brand new suit with booties for $271. The neo neck may be dry enough for her, but I found someone here who can do the mod if it comes to that. When she outgrows it in a year or two I'll pass it on to a little buddy of ours.


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## FatmanZ (Sep 15, 2004)

Nice video clip showing what Randdaddy mentioned about replacing a gasket:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPmiQmNRLPE


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

According to what I.R. told my G.F. this morning you can replace the neoprene with a latex gasket. Sounded like they offer gasket replacement, sucks they didn't sound to eager to help ya out though. 

Just ordered one myself, wanted a full on dry suite, but at that price I can deal with upgrading with a latex neck gasket if I need to.
Was using a 2 piece dry suite before with ir semi dry top, wasn't to bad, did start to feel leaks after a minute or so if I was swimming.


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## mttodd (Jan 29, 2009)

Thanks for the link fatmanz.


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## lncoop (Sep 10, 2010)

mattman said:


> According to what I.R. told my G.F. this morning you can replace the neoprene with a latex gasket. Sounded like they offer gasket replacement, sucks they didn't sound to eager to help ya out though.
> 
> Just ordered one myself, wanted a full on dry suite, but at that price I can deal with upgrading with a latex neck gasket if I need to.
> Was using a 2 piece dry suite before with ir semi dry top, wasn't to bad, did start to feel leaks after a minute or so if I was swimming.


They might have gotten sick of calls from cheap bastards like me wanting a dry suit at the price of a used semi-dry suit. I might call them back and ask one more time if it hasn't shipped yet. If it has I'll just get my guy here to do it. That's good to know it can be done though.


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## mattman (Jan 30, 2015)

Could be, I thought to try and have them replace mine before sending, but figured I might get a fuck off, so gonna see how it does with neoprene first, maybe go take it for a swim. Figure I should at least stay dry rowing, and neoprene has a little less strangulation factor, still an upgrade from what I have.


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## huckh2o (Jul 6, 2015)

*IR will do it for $70*

I work at IR. I just spoke with our customer service guys. They said it's $70 to put a latex neck in a semi-dry suit. It's a little more complicated than just gluing in a gasket. You actually have to sew and tape an inner receiver into the suit and glue the gasket to that piece. 

It's easy for us to do at IR...but it would be a pain to DIY. Not saying you couldn't it would just take a decent sewing machine operator, a piece of waterproof/breathable fabric (ideally similar to what the suit is made from) and access some high quality waterproof/breathable seam tape. After you sew and tape the receiver you could glue in a gasket. 

If you get the suit and the neoprene neck isn't as dry as you want you could send the suit back for a latex neck at a later point if you wanted.


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## lncoop (Sep 10, 2010)

Great! That's exactly what I was looking for when I asked the CSR but I'm sure things are a little crazy at IR between the holidays and the big sale, so no harm no foul. I'll follow your recommendation. Thanks Huck.


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## SteamboatBORN (Sep 22, 2012)

Not to hijack tread, but does anyone know if you can replace neoprene with latex on a stohlquist ez drysuit? 


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


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## huckh2o (Jul 6, 2015)

*Probably*

you could probably do it. it might be ugly if you don't have much sewing experience. i'm not sure about how the stholquist suit you have is constructed but here's what you would have to do to put a latex neck in a generic dry suit/top with just a neo neck.

youll need a piece of waterproof breathable material that is bigger than the neck neoprene neck opening. cut this to be larger but roughly the same shape as the neck opening. you will need to cut a hole in this piece to glue a neck gasket on. we'll call it this piece the receiver. you sew and tape (you can iron on tape at home) the receiver in and glue the neck gasket to the receiver. after you get that all taken care of you'll probably want some drain holes in the neck outer fabric so water doesn't pool up


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