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05-24-2019, 11:57 AM #1Registered User
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Fix your own fucking gear with Aqua seal eh
ever time somebody ask how to fix their shit I read the same inane recomendations, sew it together with dental floss/ slop on the bath tub sealer or send it to sew & sew or some fucking thing. So instead of repeating the same instructions every 3 weeks I am gona put together this thread on how to fix your own fucking gear with aqua seal ... cuz I be like the Tom Vu of Tolulene eh
Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-24-2019, 12:03 PM #2
^^^ bout time eh?
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05-24-2019, 12:09 PM #3Registered User
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Subscribed!
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05-24-2019, 01:10 PM #4Registered User
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You gonna talk about how you came to BC with nothin and look at all these backwoods honeys I can attract with aquaseal and costco dental floss ?
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05-24-2019, 06:16 PM #5Registered User
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I'm a BC native but not actualy a native but i digress, so 20 yars ago I started by fixing my own dry top by gluing in the new latex seals with AQS, its a tricky job so when other paddlers found out I gave good seal soon I was fixing suit for other people and I was awash in beer .
Aqua seal, seam seal, shoo goo, freesole is all LIQUID UREATHANE in various consistencies made by the Mcnett corporation and its all good stuff for fixing your out door shit without ever sewing anything, you should be able to get it at outdoor stores,dive stores, fishing stores, Walmart
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aquaseal-...esive/34529533
this is the stuff ^^ you want, its only 7.50$ at walmart for 3/4 oz which is plenty, I just finished an 8oz tube but that was a lot of fucking dry suits
Unless you store the unused portion of your AQS in the freezer in a sealed jar it will have dryed out by the next time you need it.
Unless you put the AQS in a sealed jar the food in your freezer might all taste like toluene
To thaw the frozen AQS for use put the tube in a cup of boiling water and yer good to go in 10 min,
so while putting latex seals in drysuits IS pretty tricky the average repair on any piece of 3 layer gortex outdoor gear IS NOT hard to do, its about knowing how to use AQS which i learned from the drysuit gig
some typical fixes are ski cuts on the inside of pant legs or a hole from tagging a tree on a pow run, simply put you tape the hole together the most accurately you can with masking tape on the OUTSIDE, dab a little AQS on the INSIDE (don't use too much) , cut a piece of thin material (thin scrap nylon/ an old anti static dryer sheet) to overlap the hole by 1/2 an inch, cover with a piece of plastic bag, role it flat with a bottle and leave to cure overnight. In the AM peel off the tape and plastic, if you did a good job with the masking tape the fix will be almost invisible
so here are the inside of the cuffs on a pair of 8 yr old Arcterxy (of course) shell pants which is a very light full zip 3 layer pant with no gaiter , they are too light to be alpine ski pants but I got em for 82% off so they are alpine ski pants ! You can see all the yellowish repair spots, there are about 3 doz cuts on both cuffs which have been fixed with no backing because the material is so light, I think there is AQS on the black fabric because I patched the back side of the kevlar and then covered with more AQS
break on thru to the other side, this is the outside of that same cuff, it doesnt look too bad really, you can see where I fixed a good sized edge cut just to the right of the kevlar boot guard
this is something i just noticed when I held the pants up to the light its sunlight shining thru all the fixed areas on the same cuff so you can see how many holes, but look at the 2nd pic ^^ and things look pretty good, its hard to believe its the same cuff
I counted about 3 doz hits on both cuffs of this piece, if I didnt fix them these pants should be shredded but they still look good and still work fineLast edited by XXX-er; 01-11-2023 at 04:24 PM.
Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-25-2019, 11:35 AM #6Registered User
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everybody puts holes in their bike saddle so AQS will adhere permanently to naugahyde or leather so its good for fixing bike seats or gloves or shoes
so here is the near new yeti saddle of my 5.5 that had a tear about the size of fingernail, I colored the foam and exposed naugahyde underneath black with a sharpie, a dab of AQS, tape a piece of plastic bag tightly over the spot and let cure over night, the plastic bag made the AQS conform to the seat and it turned out pretty good IMO
Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-25-2019, 05:28 PM #7
I did not know I needed that...thx!
I’m gonna add that to the shopping list
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05-25-2019, 07:02 PM #8Registered User
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- Oct 2017
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just repaired some waders with aquaseal and it worked beautifully. the simpleton that I am, never occurred to me that it'll fix my other layers too. thank you sir.
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05-25-2019, 08:53 PM #9
Would you put AQS on the inside of wet suits? I've always put it on the outside so as not to to chafe?
"...if you're not doing a double flip cork something, skiing spines in Haines, or doing double flip cork somethings off spines in Haines, you're pretty much just gaping."
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05-25-2019, 09:35 PM #10Registered User
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yeah I agree for a wet suit probably on the outside, at the point you are fixing a wet suit you don't give too many fucks about how it looks but what you can also do is use solvent based contact cement which might be a neater fix
possibly used in conjunctio with AQS
I have used contact cement to fix neoprene suits, booties, pogies, gloves and kayak cockpit decks, just coat the 2 edges to be joined when the cement has dried put them together and they will stick on contact for a very bomber fix
again you don't have to stitch anythingLee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-26-2019, 09:38 AM #11Registered User
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so here is a Black Diamond ski glove where the glove material had cracked across the joints of the thumbs, so I smeared a little AQS over the crack and covered with a piece of saran wrap which is why the glove on the right has the shinny spots, I think the glove on the left I was able to pull off the saran and push the material around with my finger which is why the AQS has the matt finish
I used to use saran wrap to manage the AQS but Saran gets permanently stuck/left in the AQS whereas a piece of plastic bag will release and leave a nicer finish without the bits of Saran wrap, the bits of Saran don't really make any difference to the fix but plastic bag makes a nicer job
What I am trying to show you is managing the AQS after its on your piece with a piece of plastic bag , if you don't cover/manage the AQS you will end up with an ugly big glob
and its important no to use too much
I use AQS a lot on ski & bike gloves because it can DOUBLE the life, the key is to pre-emptively patch the glove BEFORE it has holes you are wrapping with ductapeLee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-26-2019, 10:23 AM #12
McNett is now named Gear Aid and is based here in Bellingham WA.
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05-26-2019, 10:57 AM #13Registered User
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yeah with a little goggling its actualy been > 2 yrs but the name change wasnt really all that clear
to me and I use a lot of the stuff, you can still buy AQS in the old white tube so that must be old stock or SFT, an unopened tube will last a long timeLee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-27-2019, 10:02 AM #14Registered User
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Angle Parking our very own crash test dummy skis over a rock during an early season mission (he claims there was snow) and puts a cut in a brand new skin which provided the opportunity to try an AQS fix
I am computer operation challeged and not sure why one picture is white and one picture is yellow
So here is the finished glue side, I heatgunned the glue scraped it off with a putty knife, cut a piece of material from a piece of used dryer fabric softener sheet, apply some AQS and squeeze it flat, when AQS has cured reglue with gold label, you can see the outline of the dryer sheet material but you really have to look ... its almost invisible
here is the finished skin side and according to AP worked good as new
I was looking around for something to macgyver a job when I came upon a used dryer sheet in the laundry room garbage can and I found it worked awesume to back AQS repairs
it also works great with slow set epoxy to fix cracks in a thule box because it is thin/strong/porous/easily conforming to complex shapes, you can squeegee the product right thru it and squish flat with a piece of plasticLee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-27-2019, 10:31 AM #15
Fix your own fucking gear with Aqua seal eh
Awesome thread, subscribed, and yeah way overdue.
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05-27-2019, 11:24 AM #16Registered User
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No matter how many times I shake it, I still get drips. Can aquaseal help?
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05-27-2019, 11:25 AM #17
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05-27-2019, 11:48 AM #18Registered User
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yeah I have posted something similar or maybe it was my post about fixing my Thule box with sticky fibreglass patch tape and epoxying over it, fibreglass cloth will also work, I don't have a box anymore cuz mine got stolen 10 yrs ago but it was on the car for 10 yars before that and had about 18 patchs from vibration/UV/ getting smacked around before we parted ways
BUT maybe you got a crack in the corner or in a complex tight curvey spot where the tape isnt gona work , or maybe you don't have any drywall tape and then the dryer sheets work fine BUT the key is to tape the crack together on the out side with masking tape and epoxy on the inside
repairs with 2 part epoxy and repairs with AQS are actualy very similar, maybe think of it as epoxy for fixing the hard things that don't flex (much) and AQS for fixing soft things that do need to flex (alot)
if you got a thule repair that looks ugly that is a great place to put stickers, same with ugly repairs on your favorite shell, its easy to just glue a crest over the boo boo with AQS and i will be posting some of thoseLee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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05-27-2019, 04:43 PM #19
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05-27-2019, 06:32 PM #20Registered User
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I've heard about people pre-emptively aquaseal-ing all the seams/stitches on hiking boots/approach shoes, wading boots, and other high-wear items that are grinding up against rocks in use. like a sacrificial layer. gonna give that a try sometime this week. destroyed too many boots on talus over the years.
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05-27-2019, 07:59 PM #21
Used some aquaseal to fix a pocket blowout on a pair of ski pants last year thanks to a post of yours, held up with my keys bouncing around in the pocket all year!
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05-27-2019, 08:20 PM #22Registered User
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05-27-2019, 10:57 PM #23Registered User
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Not even the folks at Aqua Seal know how awesome their product is, but xxx-er does.
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05-28-2019, 09:19 AM #24
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05-28-2019, 09:56 AM #25Registered User
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We are in Narthern BC, petty theft is not really a problem but I choose to not advertise just in case
Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know
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