While fighting to adjust my fins in the surf (to work sans booties) I was pushed butt first into a rock. Something sharp on the rock, likely crustaceans of some sort, grabbed the suit. After rinsing and drying my wet-suit I found this(!).
I ordered some M Essentials Aquaseal Urethane Repair Adhesive
- Clean up all that impregnated sand. (Not totally possible…moving on)
- Apply alcohol… (was not sure if that meant to the suit or the applicant. Best to be safe. Yes, that is (was) an unmarked bottle of home shine with grapefruit rinds in it…)
- Use dive weights and a coffee cup to hold open the holes.
- Dab a bit of the glue into the holes and let dry 5 minutes. (1st coat) (was more like 10)
- Dab a bit more glue into the holes and let dry 3 minutes (2nd coat) (more like 5)
- Press the hole closed. Press it tight so the glue holds the hole closed. (wipe all the extra glue on the dog…good girl!)
- Dab a bit of glue on the outside to reinforce the location. (3rd coat) (gloop, whoops!)
- Let it stand (cure) overnight then use the wet-suit like normal. (That means stay off the rocks!)
RESULT:
So far it looks good. Waterproof is not an issue since it is a wet suit. The proof will be if the tears/rips stay closed.
I had also read that some people use this to improve high wear areas (evidently like the seat of my pants) on gear like gloves or knees of wet suits etc. They tape off an area and paint a thin coat over the entire area. If plagued by excess butt-holes in the future I will likely tape around them and apply this glue liberally.
Lesson learned… do a dry fit if you have any changes to gear. (No booties — do the fins still fit?) Do it next to the truck rather than in the surf.
Resources – Good video of the process. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcFmr8jMq9g
Did you rip your suit, gloves, booties, or other gear too much to fix? Check out some new options here….
Another link to the glue – M Essentials Aquaseal Urethane Repair Adhesive
B-Outside 
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