Dry Suit Boots...How easy......

[Hightower]

would it be to say purchase a pair of boots and attatch them to your drysuit bottoms?

Andark want £90 for doing it.

[m chappelow]

once stuck some normal wellington boots to a childrens drysuit ,as it was of the sock type and my son kept walking about in them putting holes in ,as long as they are not pvc i dont see a problem and as long as the mating surfaces are buffed up , some good waterproof contact adhesive ie inflatable boat glue ,also you will need some rubber tape ,then use an old 2 litre plastic drinks bottle stuffed down the inside leg to get it all stuck in proportion ie no creases or bubbles left ,

[Nasher]

The wellies option is the cheaper way to do it.

The only consideration is to make sure the current latex will fit snugly over the top of the chosen wellies before gluing. If the latex tube part is too big or small making a watertight seal is a bugger.

Oh, and don't do what another member of this forum did once and stick one welly on at 90deg to the leg
(You know who you are)
Drysuits that automatically make you stand in a camp fashion didn't catch on.

Nasher.

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

once stuck some normal wellington boots to a childrens drysuit ,as it was of the sock type and my son kept walking about in them putting holes in ,

That's the trouble with mine. They're not too difficult to get on, but either have to put one foot on the other to remove a leg (making holes in the sock)or roll around on the floor looking like someones kicked me in the nuts

I figured that boots would be a better option.

[Buff]

Depends how expensive your drysuit is? Attaching boots to a drysuit immediately creates a weak point which if the boot is not attached correctly will cause you more problems in the future. My advice would be to let the experts do it, at least that way it is guaranteed.

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by Buff

Depends how expensive your drysuit is? Attaching boots to a drysuit immediately creates a weak point which if the boot is not attached correctly will cause you more problems in the future. My advice would be to let the experts do it, at least that way it is guaranteed.

If you get it wrong then giving to an expert to sort out is an option, but having a go yourself first is a lot more satisfying.
I've put new neck and ankle seals in drysuits over the years with no problems. I believe it's one of those things that the experts try to maintain the mystery of so they can fleece people out of cash for something that 90% of people would be capable of doing if they were shown how and had a go.

Nasher.

[Mikeallenuk]

Originally Posted by Hightower

would it be to say purchase a pair of boots and attatch them to your drysuit bottoms?

Andark want £90 for doing it.

Last pair of boots Andark fitted for me outlasted the drysuit !!!! They fitted neoprene boots to my Crewsaver Breatheable Hyperdry that I am using now, worth every penny.

Mike A

[Buff]

I would not disagree with Nasher on his point especially relating to neck and wrist seals, these are relatively easy if you know roughly what you are doing. However, boots are a totally different kettle of fish. Believe me I know, the company I work for repairs more dry suits than any other world wide and we outsource attaching or repairing attached boots!

[m chappelow]

if you are using the suit for diving then is a different matter but for surface use i dont see a problem ,most decent diving shops sell neck seals and cuff seals in kit form, i have always repaired my own suits ,infact when i started diving in the late 1960s most people bought a wet suit or dry suit in kit form and it was done on the kitchen table ,main points are to get the fabric clean and remove any of the old tape ,glue , and reminents of the previous seals.its not that long ago that inflatable boats could be bought in kit form .though i know people that would take a bicyicle to the shop just for a puncture ,.

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

infact when i started diving in the late 1960s most people bought a wet suit or dry suit in kit form and it was done on the kitchen table ,,.

Thanks for that, you've just brought back some happy memories

My Mother used to make wetsuits for my Father, brother and myself exactly as you've said.
They arrived in the post as a reel of fabric backed neoprene, either pre-marked out or with a paper pattern, a reel of neoprene tape and a pot of glue. After cutting out each seam was glued and taped over.
We are talking 30 to 35 years ago though, and they'd be used for diving. They were expensive too as I remember, roughly the same price 30 years ago as an off-the shelf steamer wet suit today.
My Mother would 'Tailor' them, adding bits in the back or taking a bit out, and just gluing it back together.
I often had one of my older brothers old ones with a slice taken out and glued back together, then they'd be passed on to Davybouy on here to cut and glue for his kids. Mad.

Nasher

[jyasaki]

The dive shop I frequent does a lot of diving drysuit repairs. In general, here's the procedure:

Buff the top edge of the boots that will receive glue. Using a heatgun, remove the old boots. Remove as much adhesive from the fabric as possible, clean with a strongish solvent (MEK, Toluene). Place a form in the ankle, and roll back to expose the section to be glued. Mark where the top edge of the boot should be on the form to mate up with the leg. The form should keep the fabric ankle open; solvent wipe the fabric, and apply adhesive to that area. Same with the boots. Allow to dry, apply another coat. Repeat last step. Depending on adhesive used, either when tacky or when cured, place boot in position over the form, and carefully roll the adhesive-lined fabric over the boot. If the adhesive is heat activated, hit it with a heat gun while rolling the fabric on, if it's not, roll it down. Most manufacturers apply a heat activated seam tape; you can get by using a thin line of polyurethane adhesive (Aquaseal, Shoe Goo, etc) on the exposed edges of the seam, though an accellerator is recommended to thin it out, speed cure, and prevent running.

BTW, make sure you put the left boot on the left leg, and vice versa, and make sure the boots face forwards.

Check with your local dive shop for sources for the rubber boots (they're usually insulated, so you might want to take a look before deciding on suitability.)

All in all, it's not a really tough job, but I've got a drysuit repair guy 15 minutes away, so it's unlikely I'd ever do it on my own (until something changes.)

jky

[Hightower]

I went to Andark yesterday to have a look at the boots they'll fit for me. These were diving boots which disapointed me a I thought they might be a more traditional boot where liners can be used. I tried the boot on and the first thing I noticed was how close fitting they were. Couldn't get any pairs of warm socks on to insulate the foot. The other thing was that they weren't ridgid across the sides and from experience I have found this to sometimes feel uncomfortable as your foot can get crushed easily.

A very attractive assistant did show me a modern drysuit with fabric socks that are aparently unbreakable, but when she rang me back today she told me that these couldn't be ordered.

I also looked at my Dunlop wellys to see if these could be fitted, but as I found out, the wellys have a larger cirumferance than the leg on the drysuit. So using traditional wellys is out as well.

So I might be getting the puncture repair outfit out again this year and soldiering on with what I've got.


I have my eye on a thermal boot and I'm going to buy a 2pc floatation suit this should give me some more options on my Winter RIBbing.

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Check with your local dive shop for sources for the rubber boots (they're usually insulated, so you might want to take a look before deciding on suitability.)
jky

The Boots I looked at weren't insulated. Perhaps I should keep looking for the boots then.

[m chappelow]

Originally Posted by Nasher

Thanks for that, you've just brought back some happy memories

My Mother used to make wetsuits for my Father, brother and myself exactly as you've said.
They arrived in the post as a reel of fabric backed neoprene, either pre-marked out or with a paper pattern, a reel of neoprene tape and a pot of glue. After cutting out each seam was glued and taped over.
We are talking 30 to 35 years ago though, and they'd be used for diving. They were expensive too as I remember, roughly the same price 30 years ago as an off-the shelf steamer wet suit today.
My Mother would 'Tailor' them, adding bits in the back or taking a bit out, and just gluing it back together.
I often had one of my older brothers old ones with a slice taken out and glued back together, then they'd be passed on to Davybouy on here to cut and glue for his kids. Mad.

Nasher

remember the tape was yellow and kept comming off and the neopreane was engish mesh or shark skin, funny i was only looking at an old recipt for one last week from 1972 £12 two piece suit, kids they dont know they are born these days ,

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Hightower

The Boots I looked at weren't insulated. Perhaps I should keep looking for the boots then.

Talk to Ravenspring-their replacement prices are pretty good. Some of those ones I was flogging had what looked like short wellies on them-fitted and supplied by Ravenspring as far as I know.

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by m chappelow

remember the tape was yellow and kept comming off and the neopreane was engish mesh or shark skin, funny i was only looking at an old recipt for one last week from 1972 £12 two piece suit, kids they dont know they are born these days ,

Ahhhhhh.

That Yellow tape................and the Dolphin badge you stuck on afterwards...........

I'm drifting off now into a rose tinted world of seaside holiday memories.

see you all in a few hours.

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Talk to Ravenspring-their replacement prices are pretty good. Some of those ones I was flogging had what looked like short wellies on them-fitted and supplied by Ravenspring as far as I know.

Thanks Matt, I'll speak to them.

[Hightower]

Well after several personal visits to shops the general view was that it's going to be a difficult job and that it'll have to be sent back to Typhoon for replacement boot fitment something about stitched seams and thin material.

I've Email Typhoon this afternoon, so I await a response before continuing.

[4str]

This might work, it is commonly used by cavers in wet caves:

1) Locate a pair of comfortable Welllingtons.
2) Go to a place that has plumbing stuff and find a piece of thin plastic pipe that fits _inside_ the very top of the boot. Make a couple of rings out of the pipe.
3) Go to a tire shop and find an old inner tube that will stretch over the top of the boots with the rings in the top. Make a set of wide rubber bands out of the old inner tube.
4) Cut the cuffs off your drysuit to about shin height. (It works best to match the cross section of the top of the Wellingtons to the open cross section of the dry suit legs. This eliminates any folded material.)

Donning:
1) Put on your drysuit.
2) Put the rubber bands around the ankle of the Wellingtons.
3) Put on the boots and pull the bands so that they constrict the legs of the drysuit against the top of the boots.

You can actually wade in the water and water does not enter if you have set things up correctly.

Hope this helps someone.

[jyasaki]

I'd think that something like a wheelbarrow inner tube would be about right, 4str.

jky