Threw away $200 on a cheap drysuit zipper repair kit

I tried to fix a stuck zipper on my Viking suit myself with one of those budget repair kits from Amazon. The zipper tore worse after 20 minutes, and I had to pay a shop $150 to replace the whole thing. Lost the $50 for the kit PLUS the repair cost. Has anyone else had a bad experience trying to DIY gear fixes?

3 comments

3 Comments

colescott5d ago

Have you seen the testing someone did on those cheap zipper repair kits on YouTube? They pulled the adhesive apart with maybe 5 pounds of force and the zipper teeth just crumbled on the test suit they used. I was going to try one on my old drysuit until I saw that video, and honestly it saved me from the same headache you went through. Those kits are just a total scam for drysuits since the zipper has to handle so much pressure and flexing underwater, not like a jacket zipper that barely moves. The shop that fixed mine told me the glue in those kits actually corrodes the nylon teeth over time, which is probably what made your zipper tear worse. Sucks you got hit with both costs though, that's a rough lesson.

charlies375d ago

A buddy of mine tried the same thing on his Kokatat last winter. He was all proud of himself for saving money, spent an afternoon gluing and clamping it. First dive trip after that, the zipper blew open about 10 feet down. Got a face full of 45 degree water and had to abort the whole weekend. Cost him a new zipper plus the shop labor, and he caught a cold that turned into bronchitis. He still gets mad if anyone mentions DIY zipper repairs.

felixm295d ago

Hold up, is it really that bad though? I mean, yeah, your buddy got cold water in his face, but people panic and abort dives for way less than that (a little water never killed anyone). Those YouTube tests are usually staged with the cheapest crap they can find and probably don't match the real-world flexing a suit gets. I'm not saying it's a great idea, but acting like a DIY zipper repair will definitely explode on you 10 feet down feels a bit dramatic. Most of the time, if you put the work in and use decent adhesive (not the junk from Amazon), you can get another season out of a crusty old zipper before you really need to pay a shop.