Kirch`s Kwik-Patch Experimental Drysuit Repair

Kirc
h’s
Kwik-Patc
h
Experimental Drysuit Repair
by Chris Calatrello
An extreme close-up of a three inch circular Kirch’s Kwik-Patch applied to the inside right
knee of the author’s Toray fabric Bombergear paddler’s drysuit repairing a cut one and a
half inches long.
On F e b r u a r y
6, 2006 I bought a drysuit on Ebay from
Richard Franken, one of the Bombergear guys, for
$363.00. Bombergear, to the best of my knowledge no
longer doing business, designed, manufactured, and
marketed its own line of whitewater gear. Just to be
clear, I purchased a drysuit for paddling, not a diver’s drysuit.
Anyway, I won the auction before I'd had a chance to tell
my wife I'd bid on it. She got home and read the automatically generated email congratulating me on my winning
bid while I was s p e e d i n g home from work. We had a
pretty tense hour or two.
Richard sent a brand new, tags-attached Large sized
Bombergear Radiator drysuit. It was perfect in every
respect except that it restricted my arm movement and
torso rotation. He kindly agreed to take it back, but said
he didn't have a new suit in Extra-Large to exchange, but
did have a used suit with relief zipper. He threw in brandnew paddling suit for my wife (which she, sadly, never
wore and we gave to a friend in Nashville). I don't think
I've ever dealt with a seller who's acted in better faith
than Richard did, so when I unpacked the used drysuit, I
didn't feel ripped off when I saw it had an approximately
1½" straight cut across the right knee. I was convinced
Richard hadn't known of the cut or tear, and made up my
mind to get it fixed myself.
I think I got the idea for a duct-tape repair from something Tsunami Chuck Freedman wrote at the folding
w w w . f o l d i n g k a y a k s . o r g ) forums or on the meskayak (w
sage board at www.paddling.net. My repair looked like a
cartoon character's cross-shaped bandage after a dustup, but it worked perfectly the first two or three times I
used the suit. However, because I spent more for it than
I normally spend on gear, I thought it made sense to
attempt a more permanent repair.
> and about 2 inches in length across the right knee > just about where it bends on the knee-cap. Would
> you recommend sewing the tear first, patching on the
> inside, then Aquasealing the outside?
The author’s original duct-tape patch on the
drysuit’s right knee.
The black material
appears to be a Cordura-like fabric over the
blue-gray Toray.
I think there's value in checking out the experienceinformed opinions of others, so I posted a question about
repairs on one of the Internet paddling forums, and ran a
message board archive search at Paddling.Net, which is
where I first saw mention of A m i g o s (www.drysuitrepair.com/). I don't recall who gave me the advice, but
I was also told I could hand-sew the tear after closing it
with some form of backing material and painting AquaSeal over the rip on top - that way the Aqua-Seal would
seal and cover the stitching when it dried. Another correspondent wrote that he didn't like the idea of poking
holes in a garment the integrity of which he might have to
rely upon for his survival in the event of a cold-water
swim. Checking out an Accessories page update at
Michael J. Edelman's Foldingkayaks.Org main site, I read
N-G
Go
a short blurb extolling the efficacy of Kirch's Patch-N
(h t t p : / / w w w. p a t c h n g o . c o m / ).
Mike's reply:
The Patch-N-Go stuff is pretty tough; I suspect sewing
first won't be necessary, and might just create a weak
spot where it could tear again. I think I'd probably
put a layer of material inside and outside, with at
least a half-inch of overlap all around, and that's
it. Maybe more at the ends of the tear. And I might
use a thicker piece outside for better abrasion
resistance.
Because suit's outside fabric is something like Cordura
sewn over the Toray at the knees, I already had it covered
up there with duct-tape, and I wasn't sure I could get the
duct-tape's adhesive residue off the Cordura sufficient
for the Patch-N-Go to stick properly, I left it there to hold
the tear closed while I turned the suit inside-out to work
on the shiny space-suit-looking surface of the material
therein. I took out and compared the patch options, then
I emailed customer support at Patch-N-Go, at that time
the only email addressing appearing on the site's contact
page, asking whether the material would be effective for
drysuit repair. Mark and I exchanged emails, and it was
agreed that he would send out a kit containing a length
of their material cut about the width of duct-tape, as
opposed to the regular kit containing circular patches
approximately 3" in diameter. When the manila envelope
arrived I found that it contained both the rectangular
sheet of material and the company's standard patch kit a generous surprise!
In the meantime, I'd emailed Mike Edelman to see what
he thought about the experiment, and received back his
response, as follows:
My email:
> Mark at Patch-N-Go is sending me out some of their
> product to try on my drysuit. The tear is lateral
went with the rectangular sheet, which I cut down to a
size I thought should provide adequate overlap all around
the tear. I also rounded-off the patch's corners as an
attempt to reduce the likelihood they'd snag on my
undergarments when getting in and out of the drysuit.
arise some of my more needless errors. Later, I gingerly
removed the duct-tape from the outside of the suit, and
packed it with my other gear for use that early Spring
weekend
at
Woods
Reservoir
(http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/landforms/m.php?wp
t=FRL003) in Tennessee's Franklin County.
Here are the Kirch's Kwik-Patch application instructions because I'm nervous as hell about screwing up any DIY
project involving something I've spent cash to procure,
you can be certain I followed them like a neophyte performing an important religious rite:
1. Be sure the patch extends at least 1" from all dam
aged areas.
2. Partially peel back the backing on the patch and apply
the leading edge of the adhesive backed film to the
cleaned surface.
3. Apply the patch slowly, removing the backing while
smoothing the patch.
4. Minimize trapped air under the patch by working the
patch from the center outward toward the edges.
5. Once the patch has been applied, vigorously rub the
patch with the plastic squeegee to
enhance the bonding. Never peel
back the patch from the material to
determine if it is adhering to surface
of item being repaired; this can
destroy the bond.
6. The patch will display excellent initial bonding within minutes of application, and the item will be ready for
use. Further bonding will take place
as the adhesive cures.
I placed the patch off-center, but with
what I still think was enough overlap
all around the tear. Yet another consequence of my obsessive gottamake-it-perfect mentality from which
I left the house before dawn and drove out to the public
boat ramp at Old Brick Church Road on the edge of
Coffee County, parked and assembled my Pouch E68
folding single kayak on the scrubby grass close to the
ramp, rigged it, got into the drysuit, and as I pulled an
ankle gasket up over my left foot, I snapped it with my
right forefinger to get it over my left heel, and it tore. Not
up to the hem, but a tear nonetheless. I pulled on warm
polypropylene socks, then Chota mukluks, pulled the
outer legs down over them, and velcroed the ankle tabs
tight. NOAA weather forecast air temperature highs of
around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and I'd averaged the
Internet live data water temperatures (by customizing
tables
found
here:
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tn/nwis/current/?type=flow )
for that part of Tennessee at around 50 degrees.
Conditions at the put-in were windy, clear, and sunny. I
paddled the north shore of Woods past Arnold
Engineering and Development Center officers’ housing
and beach, past the DOD family campground, past the
Highland Rim Yacht Club, past the boat ramp at the
Gossick Leadership Center, the recreation beach, Girl
Scouts' Camp Tannassie (yeah, I thought it was kind of an
unfortunate choice of names, myself), University of
Tennessee Space Institute, in and about the murky shallows of the bird sanctuary, and finally to the dam, before
paddling back again. Something like 12 or 13 miles, I
stopped once for lunch, once to stretch and walk about.
I sweat like no one I've ever met. It's a mutant power,
that’s not good for anything. The Bombergear's Gore-Tex
knock-off fabric, Toray, was unable to "breathe" fast
enough to keep me from developing a hot, foul-smelling
steam five latex gaskets and a pair of Chotas did a pretty good job of retaining. Burping the suit through the
neck gasket after getting back into the boat was unpleasant.
The
offshore
wind howled as I
paddled
back
against it to the
boat ramp to
take
out.
Numerous bass
boats and nondescript older
outboard fishing
boats lined up to
take out at the
ramp. A few of
them were having trouble maintaining
their
position against
the wind. I'd got
about
half
undressed with
the E68 pulled
up next to where
I'd parked before
I noticed one
guy's outboard
cut out and
wouldn't start.
The woman with
him had backed
the truck and trailer down into the water, but the wind
was blowing the 14' aluminum boat back out into the
lake. His emergency oar was not proof against this contingency, so I waded in up to my chest and, by hauling on
the boat’s painter while he paddled, helped the guy position the boat on its trailer. That's when I felt the water get
up around the mukluk and into the suit about as far as
my left knee through the torn left ankle gasket.
Finally, I was able to pull the garment off, and as I did so
saw the gasket tear was pretty severe and had clearly
rendered it useless. When I pulled off the drysuit's right
leg, the patch I'd applied with such care peeled off at the
same time like a kid's soggy, wet band-aid after a day
swimming at the beach. I’m glad it held while I'd been
wading, but it was clearly a bust as reliable means of
even temporary drysuit repair.
I was pretty bummed. Now my drysuit had a problem I
couldn't fix with duct-tape, and I'd have to inform Mark at
Patch-N-Go that the experiment was essentially a failure.
I emailed some photographs and a brief statement
explaining the experiment had failed. I convinced my
wife that yes, it was necessary to spend the money to
order a new ankle gasket and some
Aqua-Seal. I received the following
email:
Chris:
I'm Donald Kirchberger, Marks dad.
Thanks for trying the kits on the dry
suit. I think it should work, it works
on some breather waders. Before
you write an article on the results,
I'm sending you some 2=mil patches
which I use on waders. It's more flexible for what you want. Also circular
patches work the best. Another I
idea is the patch can be used as an
emergency patch till you get back to
camp.
Let me know how it goes. Don
I'd lost the sense of urgency to repair
the suit. Although Don shipped the
patches almost immediately, I was
slow to get in touch with him, and
slower still to get the work done. The
NRS ankle gasket took a long time to
arrive. I called their customer service desk and was informed that their
supplier had failed to ship timely the
gaskets they'd ordered. After another week or so, I called
again. The rep said that NRS and Kokatat (my threatened other potential gasket source) both order from the
same supplier who'd kept both companies waiting. Don
sent me some understandably impatient emails. My
rationale went something like:
a. Can't use the suit until I replace the gasket
b. Can't replace the gasket until the one I ordered arrives
c. No point in patching the suit right away if I'm not going
to be able to try it out
d. It's getting too hot here (Southern Middle Tennessee)
to wear a drysuit - with my mutant metabolism, I'll die of
heat stroke if I make the attempt
e. I could try it out in the bathtub, but although that'll test
the patch's water resistance, it doesn't come close to
approximating real use conditions
f. The gasket's not here yet
g. Don's getting really peeved, even my wife thinks I'm
being a deadbeat
h. Maybe I should send Don some money to reimburse
for the postage and materials he sent.
Finally the ankle gasket arrived. I took the drysuit to the
office workshop, which is brightly lit and has some tall
worktables the surfaces of which are at about rib-cage
level.
modern equivalent of seal oil lamps in an igloo. What I
saw under the workshop lights is that the inside surface
of the Toray fabric has countless pits and twists in the
weave through which I'm guessing, water vapor is supposed to find a way out. I also saw that, no matter how
hard I rubbed the patch with the little plastic stick provided by Patch-N-Go for that purpose, the edges of the patch
appeared to have a sort of lip, and did not appear to form
a perfect seal with the fabric. I took a picture of this and
emailed it to Don.
Hey Don,
Yeah, I applied one of the heavier circles you sent. Had
a little trouble peeling the patch from the backing, but
that may be because I'd trimmed my nails just that morning. Because I concentrated on applying the exposed
edge as I continued to remove the backing and apply the
patch, I got it a little off center.
I don't know if you've ever worn ill-fitting shoes that've
worn blisters on your heels. Last time this happened to
me I was at a job-related training at the University of
Memphis, and had brought only one pair of shoes. My
colleagues and I pretty much walked all over campus.
During the course of the day, I removed the shoe from
the foot with the blistered heel and found my sock
soaked wet with blood where the blister had burst and
the shoe had rubbed a deep hole. Not to the bone, but
through more than one layer of skin. The loose flap of
skin I pulled off, beneath which the blister had formed,
was flexible yet strong. The patches Don sent felt like
they had about the same thickness and flexibility, and
were less painfully acquired.
Under the bright workshop lights, I applied the patch
according to the directions supplied, as described above.
Don wrote:
Calatrello:
Any results with my patch kits with the dry suit?
Did you like the 2 mil?
The lighting in my house is maybe a little better than the
Working under the bright lights and at a decent sized
table in the workshop at the office, I was able to discern
what I could not at home, and that is that the patch's
edges, all around, form a slightly raised lip. My guess is
that the "breathable" Toray fabric from which the drysuit
is constructed does not a perfectly smooth surface make
for the application of the, to the human eye, perfectly
smooth surface of the patch material. I got a good closeup shot that I think illustrates my point. I'll get the phots
to you, probably have time early Saturday morning.
Before I can try this out in the water, I'll have to replace
an ankle gasket that went pht the last time I wore the
suit. The gasket's arrived, and I'll probably tack that job
next week.
Thanks for, and apologies for trying, your patience,
Chris
Brian Nystrom's drysuit gasket repair photos (http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/139866810INJYFc) were
very helpful. I successfully replaced the left ankle gasket. I have been extremely careful since then getting the
gaskets over my heels when putting the suit on.
Autumn arrived and with it temperatures sufficiently cool
to necessitate drysuit use. I was wary at first thinking the
Kwik-Patch would come loose just like its predecessor
had. I think I was able to paddle wearing the suit only
twice during the autumn and winter of 2006 - the excenter skin tensioner in my E68 snapped in two as I removed
the frame from the hull after exploring a large section of
Normandy Lake. Took awhile to find suitable material
and get help from a friend to cut a new part, and to get it
installed. The perfectionism thing, again.
I kept expecting the Kwik-Patch to fail, but it has not. I
have worn the drysuit during the fall months of 2007,
and am wearing it this winter, as well. The patch no
longer feels plastic, that is, it doesn't feel soft, flexible, or
resilient any longer. As the drysuit has wrinkled, been
folded, been thrown in a heap on the spare bedroom's
floor, the patch has acquired a crumpled look and feel,
like paper that has been crumpled into a ball, then
smoothed out again. The patch does not appear to be on
the verge of tearing the way I would expect something
that has acquired its texture would. And it continues to
adhere tenaciously to the shiny, somewhat porous inside
surface of the drysuit's right knee.
Although I've got a tandem kayak, a Pouch RZ96, I am
hard pressed to find anyone willing to paddle flat-water in
this area. Around Thanksgiving, a friend came out from
North Carolina, and we were able to paddle, cook
out, and umbrella sail Riley Creek on Normandy Lake. A
respiratory infection that turned out not to be pneumonia, just some mystery illness - kept me off the water until
St. Patrick's Day 2007. I wore the suit, and waded
through waist-deep water exploring up some flooded
creeks at Woods Reservoir. Not a bit of moisture nor any
problem with the patch. After that it was too warm to
wear the suit.
To sum up, I'd say the 2 millimeter Kirch's Kwik-Patch,
applied as directed, has served as a reliable semi-permanent drysuit repair. I'd spend money to buy to this product, and would recommend it to friends as something to
keep in their drybag for emergencies. This spring, I'm
going to send the drysuit to Amigos for a thorough goingover, but until then I'll keep the Kwik-Patch in place and
use the suit.
Chris Calatrello is a folding kayaker and writer who resides in
Southern Middle Tennessee, where he has a day-job that involves
observing, testing, and writing about other people. He and his wife
try to spend as little money as possible.