Flex seal wader repair

Mark W

Mark W

Well-known member
Anyone ever try this stuff to repair breathable waders? I always gets leaks in the crotch seam are of my Cabelas wader. Tires of bringing them back for replacements. Don?t want to buy new wader, just want a fix on the ones I own. The leak isn?t bad but it is very bothersome. Most places I hunt I never get to a deep enough spot. It other times I use them in the summer I do.

Suggestions.

Mark
 
use Gear Aid Aquaseal FD. With breathables you can mask off the area with tape to make a super neat repair or just freehand it (which can be a little rustic looking if you aren't good at pushing Aquaseal around). Aquaseal is very thick and takes a careful touch to apply professionally, it is somewhat self leveling, so the repair will look better once cured. I like to thin it with a nonpolar solvent like mineral spirits just a tiny bit (tolulene is a better solvent, but nastier, Gear Aid sells a little jar of Cotol-240 cure accelerator, which works too, but is $$$$ for what you get). Masking the area, having the Aquaseal thinned just a bit and applying with a brush can result in a very neat repair.
 
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Yeah, I?ve used Aquaseal and it is thick. Never worked quite right for me either. I did use 4200 Fast cure once and it worked really well but took forever to cure.

Do you work the seam from the inside our outside?

I?ve read people having success with the Flexseal and people who haven?t. I wonder if an adhesion promoter would help it stick better. Or use the flexseal tape with an adhesion promoter? Just thinking of something different.

Thanks Tod
 
Mark W said:
Yeah, I?ve used Aquaseal and it is thick. Never worked quite right for me either. I did use 4200 Fast cure once and it worked really well but took forever to cure.

Do you work the seam from the inside our outside?

I?ve read people having success with the Flexseal and people who haven?t. I wonder if an adhesion promoter would help it stick better. Or use the flexseal tape with an adhesion promoter? Just thinking of something different.

Thanks Tod
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I've never had Aquaseal not work perfectly. I've had the result be messier than I'd like, but never had it not yield a nice strong repair that lasted longer than the rest of the item. I would repair breathables from the outside (unless the seam tape inside was failing), neoprene I do either or both. You could not pay me enough to try flex seal tape on a wader, I've used similar products with great success, but I'd never put them on fabric.

Don't take this wrong, but I think it is something about your technique if you are having trouble with Aquaseal.
 
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Mark

The longest lasting repairs I've made were using 5200 and a patch to cover the gloppy messy lines and reinforce. I think the 5200 alone would have done the job. Wouldn't be pretty though. Yes, it takes days to cure but if I have the wait time it's what I use. Duck season is months away so you have time. Or are these your fishing waders?

Eric

p.s. The one place I've only had limited success is if the repair is on the boot where your foot flexes. Those patches only lasted a year or so before the 5200 delaminated from the high flex area.
 
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Apparently flex seal only works for screen doors when you make a boat out of them. [cool]
I've had little luck with it on anything flexible
 
I have been using magic patch for years. It is quick and easy. It may not be the best overall, but I have made many quick repairs in the field and at home on things like rubber boots, waders and decoy holes and cracks. Most the time they last too. It is getting hard to find like so many other things.MAGIC PATCH.jpg
 
I have also had good results with Aquaseal, including along the tape joints on neoprene booties in stocking foot waders, which are all I use anymore. It is stronger than the waders themselves. Once you use what you need, clean the screw top, put it in a plastic bag, and drop into the freezer. It will be ready next time you need it after it thaws.
 
greg setter said:
I have also had good results with Aquaseal, including along the tape joints on neoprene booties in stocking foot waders, which are all I use anymore. It is stronger than the waders themselves. Once you use what you need, clean the screw top, put it in a plastic bag, and drop into the freezer. It will be ready next time you need it after it thaws.
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+1. I've also used it to patch tears in rain gear and a tent. For larger or 3-corner tears, back it with up with with self adhesive gear repair tape like "Tenacious Tape".

And if there is a dive shop near you, you can probably get Aquaseal there in larger tubes and at better price than you'll find at a fly shop.

Good simple instructions here: https://www.gearaid.com/blogs/learn/repair-waders-how-to
 
And if there is a dive shop near you, you can probably get Aquaseal there in larger tubes and at better price than you'll find at a fly shop.



Jeff-that is exactly where I got it last time, and that is what I found.


 
greg setter said:
And if there is a dive shop near you, you can probably get Aquaseal there in larger tubes and at better price than you'll find at a fly shop.



Jeff-that is exactly where I got it last time, and that is what I found.

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Yeah, my last wader repair was a big one, so I bought an almost industrial-size tube from a shop that caters to scallop divers. About half of it is till in the freezer--probably no longer usable, but my patches have held.
 
I haven,t had very long life of repairs with Aqua Seal. While initially it worked within a year or so seams it was applied to starting releaking. This was on a pair of Rogers breathables, not neos. I Don,t have those issues with Black 5200.
 
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