Dry suit owners learn pretty quickly that latex seals have a much shorter lifespan that the rest of the suit. Replacement is typically necessary every 2-4 years, depending on the amount of use – or abuse – combined with the natural aging of the latex.

When the time comes to replace the seals you have a choice:

• Send the suit back to the manufacturer. This guarantees you good work and they will usually check the suit for leaks and other defects as well, which is a good idea periodically. However, the cost with shipping can be high and it can take several weeks to get your suit back.
• Have the seals replaced locally. Dive shops are a good source of quality repair work. They must do good work, since the risks of a seal failure for divers are much higher than for a kayaker. Service is generally quicker than sending your suit to the manufacturer.
• Do it yourself – which I assume is why you’re here. Replacing seals is somewhat time-consuming, but it’s not difficult. Seals and adhesives are available from kayak shop and online vendors. My personal favorite is OS Systems (http://www.ossystems.com). They offer a wide variety of latex seals, sock and even hoods, in a variety of sizes. Getting seals that are as close to the ideal fit as possible reduces the amount of trimming you need to do to make them comfortable. Another key benefit of the DIY approach is that if a seal fails, you can fix it immediately is you keep spare seals around (a good idea), or at least pretty quickly if you have a local source of seals.

The following tutorial is in two parts. Part 1 shows replacement of a pair of latex socks, but the procedure is the same for wrist and ankle seals. It’s a very simple process that anyone can handle.

Part 2 is neck seal replacement. This is a more involved project that requires forms (which can be easily made at home) and a fair number of spring clamps. The clamps shown are available for around a buck apiece from a variety of sources, so buying them is cheaper than the labor cost would be to have someone replace the seal. They’re useful for a variety of projects beyond replacing neck seals.

Part 1: Replacing Technique for Wrist/Ankle seals and Latex Socks