wader repair

[SandySteel]

I have a friend who wants to repair his neoprene waders and is looking for a service (possibly in the Portland area) who will do this for him.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated. I gave him a "how to" on wader repair but he would like to have these "professionally" done.

(in this case, to me, professionally just means expensive but they are his waders.)

Eric

Oh man Eric, tell him how easy it is and to save his money. I posted before one easy way: Tell him to eat several burritos and about 45 minutes later get into his waders, cinch the belt tight, and get into the water (river or bathtub) and mark where the bubbles come out with a crayon. Glue patch both inside and outside. There are other ways to find a leak of course. Someone posted to wrap the upper waders tight around a basketball pump and blow them up in the tub. - RT

[smilesforu]

If he can afford to have them professionally done he should think about a new pair . You can probably get them repaired at the local dive shop since they deal in neopreme all the time.

I would do as RT has suggested and put some duct tape on the top and seal in a reversed vacuum tube to inflate. Then take some soapy water and wet the suspect area. The bubbles will give away the hole if it is a small one. Mark with crayon and apply shoe goo or a neopreme repair kit on the spot. If it is a large hole it can be sewn shut first with unwaxed dental floss before repair.

If you choose RT's method stay away from open flame
Tight Lines

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Marty M
Steelheader.net

[Hoosier Daddy]

Geez, does this guy even cast his own line?
How bout tying his own leaders? It's not rocket science, get the Aquaseal out and go to it. Or just buy a new pair. That's like paying someone to brush your teeth for you.

[Roeboat]

Gotta agree with chnookie on this one. Give me a break. You are going to get holes just about everytime you bust brush. I have waders that are solid patches and do not leak. Inflate them with an air compressor, sponge with soapy water, mark the holes and patch them with aquaseal. Buy some accelerator to speed the dry time. If you only have shoe goo..go for it. It works but dries stiffer and peels after a year or two or three but who cares...ready to be repatched again anyway. Do all your waders at once and your ready to go. You could use RT's method but as he said you'd better eat a lot of burritos.

[Roeboat]

One other note..I have aquasealed a piece of bicycle tube over the large holes at the back of the heel before and have patches that have lasted several years now with no leaks. It seems that bicycle tube really stands up well to abrasion (chafe) from the wader boots. Of course the norm is to sew a new piece of neoprene on and then seal that but it often dries hard and bites into your heel...whatever works!

[Navigator]

RT

That's too good.