I have about a 1/2 inch long tear straight down the neck seal from the top of the gasket. The gasket isn’t very old BUT I didn’t really do a great job on trimming it two summers ago when it was replaced. The tear goes through about 3 and a half rings. YES I had to trim it or pass out.
Iam hoping I could maybe? put some tape or something to just get me through another month of occasional use till I don’t really need it after that and then get it replaced by Kokatat. Maybe use it 6 more times for about 3 hours time at the most.
Maybe Gear Aid Tenacious Tape?? I don’t want to make it worse if possible…
If I send it to kokatat no idea how long till I would get it back.
Instead try this
You need to patch it with something that will also stretch, tenacious tape won’t do that.
This may get you by - cut up some other piece of latex - if you have a dive shop nearby get a gasket from them - and place it securely over that spot using somthing like aquabond. Not sure if on the inside or outside will likely work better.
Just order a neck kit
While I can’t say that I enjoy replacing my neck gaskets, it’s something that you can do in an hour or so, let it dry overnight, and be good to go the next morning. It can be a bit messy, but is not difficult. On occasions when I thought I had completely screwed it up, it was just fine, by the light of the next day.
Kokatat sells a kit that includes clamping rings that makes the job fairly easy. After using the kit several times, I now prefer to just use a large cylinder, can, or traffic cone and stretch the neck gasket over that.
Only after many replacements (gluing the new gasket over the base of the old gasket) do I bother to send it back to Kokatat to have them replace the original sewn-in gasket.
Repair with Neck Gasket tool:
http://kokatat.com/media/pdfs/KokatatNeckgasketW.pdf
Repair wihout Neck Gasket tool:
http://kokatat.com/media/pdfs/KokatatNeckgasketWO.pdf
A quick search will also yield videos to help.
Greg Stamer
Rubber tube patch kit
– Last Updated: Jun-03-15 6:27 PM EST –
Since it is already torn, try this: Get a piece of thin rubber, either latex or butyl, and glue it over the affected area, allowing lots of overlap.
I have patched delicate pure latex bike tubes with ordinary butyl patches and it worked just fine for longterm use. With a neck gasket, I don't know well the above trick will last, but it could be a cheap way to get by until you replace the neck gasket.
And do buy a neck gasket, because the patch job is probably not as durable as an intact neck gasket. There is a lot more strain on a neck gasket than on a bike tube held inside a tire carcass.
local vendors???
Marshall at the River Connecton in Hyde Park, NY replaced my gasket last year. I had it back within 48 hours. The price was actually lower than Kokotat.
Torn gaskets are not warranty repairs, so I went local for speed. In my case, Marshall FedEx’d back my dry suit snce he is over an hour away from me.
humm
Hyde Park is about 350 miles away. I will give them a call. Or I could try and do it myself. Could save me more money in the long run. Wonder were is the cheapest place to buy a new kokatat neck gasket plus do they come in a larger size as I had to cut off three rings last time so not to pass out. Too small neck gaskets for us thick neck people. Plus I think that’s why this gasket tore as my cut wasn’t perfect.
Recommend Kayak Academy
Kokatat gaskets come in large or small, off brands come in XS,S,M,L/XL,and XXL. Call up Kayak Academy for advice rather than ordering over website. They will steer you in the right direction and also sell all of the tools you might need.
Leak test
I did mine last through Kokatat. Had them leak test and patch whike they had it. I think that was $20 more. When they did this for my girlfriend, they found delamination so just replaced her suite.
I have heard from others who have used Kayak Academy and found them to be cheaper and faster than Kokatat.
Second that
I replaced my neck gasket after talking with GG, who provided lots of useful advice. The gasket and the field repair kit I bought from them were just the ticket. Even though I had a Stohlquist drysuit at that time, he correctly identified the right Kokatat gasket to use.
Second the bicycle patch
The neck gasket on my first drysuit tore in two places right at the start of a week long trip. The gasket was old and due for replacement, but I had neither the time nor the tools along on that trip. I did, however, have one of those little Rema bicycle tube patch kits. With nothing to lose, I treated the gasket just like a bike tube. Took 3 patches total to properly seal the rips, but the repair held perfectly until the end of the season when I replaced the gasket.
you could probably ship it for $20
Must be a better way.
I’m surprised that a better solution hasn’t been found, than a glued latex gasket. Even with extreme care, I had a new neck gasket fail when I circumnavigated Newfoundland, that could have caused a real issue, since my suit did not have any kind of a backup, other than a loose hood.
In this case even a neoprene neck gasket would have been safer – not quite as dry, but much better than torn latex. I have had a few peers swap out their latex gaskets for other materials, for long expeditions, and understand their reasons.
Some diving drysuits offer silicone neck gaskets and some have systems that allow gaskets to be replaced relatively quickly in the field without glue. I wonder if something like this can be retrofitted to a kayaking drysuit: http://www.sitech.se/products/modular-solutions/neck-tite.aspx .
Perhaps the kayaking market is just too small to fuel much innovation.
Greg Stamer
Very good idea
Have you asked Kokatat?
I would guess they know about that system, but if not, a little birdy could peep an idea in their ear…
1 day transit
USPS Priority Mail to W.NY is one day transit. The job itself doesn’t take long. Gonna be closed 6/8-6/10.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
No I haven’t…
If you speak with Kokatat I’d be interested in their response.
Greg Stamer
Sent the link to them
We’ll see what the response, if any, is. If I do not hear back in the next week or so I will call them. They don’t know me, but maybe it is a small enough company to still listen to user ideas.