Well, I got 6 years out of them but it’s finally time to replace the latex wrist and neck seals on my Palm Torrent drysuit. Looking for recommendations on where I can get that done. I have zero interest in doing it myself. Thanks for any help on this!
Do you have a local specialty kayak shop - if so, you can try there.
In regards to sending out to have done, I’ve heard god about Kayak Academy in Washington - https://kayak-academy.myshopify.com/collections/drysuit-repairs. I haven’t used them - I do my own wrist gaskets but send to Kokatat for necks.
@radskierman:
I originally figured I’d just send it back to Kokatat to do, but found that I’m well-equipped to do it myself and save on the shipping cost.
@Peter-CA said:
I do my own wrist gaskets but send to Kokatat for necks.
At risk of leading this thread astray, could I ask why you don’t do necks? I’ve done the neck and wrists in one suit and found it to be relatively painless. I didn’t find there was any more or less difficulty with the neck and wrist gaskets. I did not do a full removal, just attached the old one to a stub of the existing that was still in very good shape.
I’m just about to replace the wrist and neck gaskets in my own suit, as the neck has gone sticky/gummy after about 4 years.
@Sparky961 said:
@Peter-CA said:
I do my own wrist gaskets but send to Kokatat for necks.At risk of leading this thread astray, could I ask why you don’t do necks? I’ve done the neck and wrists in one suit and found it to be relatively painless. I didn’t find there was any more or less difficulty with the neck and wrist gaskets. I did not do a full removal, just attached the old one to a stub of the existing that was still in very good shape.
I have replaced one, but don’t have the form and haven’t found something else that works well as a form. My full dry suit is a Kokatat (I have 2 paddling suits also), so without the form I decided when it comes time to replace neck, I’ll just send to Kokatat and also have them leak test and patch at the same time. They have puts lots of little patches on it the 2 times it has been back, so definitely some leaks have occurred.
I am glad to have this service, but the Original Poster won’t have this option as the suit in question is a Palm brand suit. Palm left the US market years ago and not sure there is any official service site any more.
I do do wrists myself because I have found a Nalgene type bottle works well as a form for the L/XL wrist gaskets I wear.
I mailed mine to Marshall at the River Connection. His turnaround was 2 days which mattered to me during the winter months.
I do do wrists myself because I have found a Nalgene type bottle works well as a form for the L/XL wrist gaskets I wear.
On that note, and for the benefit of anyone who’s thought about replacing wrist seals themselves but hasn’t yet on account of not having a proper form, “finding” a round item that’s the right size is easy. What I did was use an old soup can, wrapped with several layers of duct tape. Just keep winding on the tape until the diameter is perfect.
Then on the side of the cuff which faces the form, I applied one layer of tape overlapping the spot where the visible junction between fabric and latex occurs. That way, any sealant that oozes from that junction won’t accidentally glue your dry suit to the form (I doubt that this would be a concern when using an “official” two-piece form that comes apart for removal, but removing a tight-fitting, one-piece form that’s partially glued to the suit could be a problem, and I didn’t want to run that risk).
And on a somewhat related note, I’ve found that when a tear occurs and I don’t have the time or materials to replace the seal, patching the tear with an intact piece of latex from an old seal works remarkably well, because most of the remaining part of the seal is in good shape and can tolerate the additional stretching that’s required on account of the patched location stretching far less than before (I believe that aligning the margins of the patch on a diagonal to the direction of stretch, such as by making the patch shaped like a truncated triangle, reduces the chances for new tears to occur at the patch edges). Of course, there’s always some risk that it will fail when putting the suit on or taking it off, but not when simply wearing it. So, if you get the suit on without the patch or other parts of the seal failing, you are good to go (at least I feel good about it, not being miles from shore like some of you people would be). It’s not a permanent solution, just a time-saver that gets you on the water, and two such repairs that I’ve done have turned out to be far more durable than I ever would have expected.
wasn’t there a replacement video on youtube by Kokatat or their website? Couldn’t find it.
There are multiple videos online and a wide variety of items that will work as forms. I use two rolls of cheap packing tape that are taped together as a wrist seal form. Neck seal forms are really easy to make and you can use pretty much any reasonably rigid material. I used 3/8" plywood because I has it handy, but even heavy corrugated cardboard will work. Plastic spring clamps are readily available for around a buck apiece. Once you have the forms and clamps, they’ll work pretty much indefinitely. Charge a friend twenty bucks to replace a neck seal and your clamps will be paid for…and then some. 
Someone I worked with used a flat soccer ball, and would inflate it to get the right fit.