Q: I wear my wetsuit 3-4 days a week for usually 1- 1 1/2 hours a time. I wash it thoroughly in cold water, dry it out of the sun. I take it off in the shower to keep sand off it. i store flat out in a cool place through summer. Under these conditions, how many months or years do you think liquid seams will last?
I forgot to say that I wear my wetsuit for 5-6 months a year. If you include this info in the conditions of wetsuit use mentioned in my previous question, how long will liquid seals last?
I live in japan where they don’t use liquid seals so the surf shops can’t answer my questions and I have never used liquid seal wetsuits before.
A: Mick, liquid seal means ordinary stitched seam + liquid tape. Liquid tape makes the seams stronger and waterproof – so they will last longer than normal seams. How long exactly is hard to say, can anyone tell you exactly how long ordinary seams last? I think not. But it’s definitely not measured in months, they should last longer, at least 2-3 years… probably longer. Although – if this would be a 100% percent sure answer then wetsuit manufacturers would give more than the usual 1 year warranty on their wetsuit (including seams).