Was enjoying a session over an episode of Ozark last night, and was startled when one of the boots burst open. Upon further inspection, I discovered that I was missing one tooth on the zipper.
Called Air Relax today, and they advised me that they no longer service the zippers. Due to the unique design of the chamber, they just hadn’t had any luck doing so.
Only option is to buy a new sleeve. He did tell me that I could try a seamstress, but my results may vary.
Before I shell out $95 for a new sleeve, I wanted to see if anyone else had a hack or other suggestion.
Where is the missing tooth? I bet it could be fixed, but I am not sure it is worth it vs $95 for the new sleeve. Btw, just for my own data, how old is this pair and do they have some good use on them?
It is just above the instep.
Purchased early 2017.
Used about twice a week during the season, a couple times a month in the off season.
The gentleman I spoke with advised me that the stress on the cloth and zipper causes these things to wear out, and the issue is not inherent to Air Relax. Essentially they have a finite lifespan, and I have reached it. First that I’ve heard of this with any brand, and certainly a bit disappointed. Don’t think I can argue his logic though.
I’m with you, unless there is a hack I’d imagine $95 is about as good as it gets. I can’t imagine a zipper that size can be replaced for much less, and it sounds risky to do so.
I suspect that you will need a new sleeve (my initial thought was “wow that is a screaming deal”… but that is probabilly just the single leg sleeve … which is a good deal, except for the fact that the other leg has most likely had the same amount of stress put on it.)
If they were mine, and if i could get into and out of them with the zipper above the broken point…
I would likely try to sew it up myself…
Get some high tension braided fishing line, a sewing needle (curved might be a bit easier), and a hemostat (you can use needle-nose pliers or order these from Amazon)
Take a look at youtube videos on how to tie a suture knot
I would basically put 10-20 sutures on each side of the missing zipper tine going just through the webbing of the zipper material.
After that… i might go ahead and do a cross stitch just to add another layer of protection.
The way i would look at it is… if the sleeve is basically non-usable, you are not out anything with an attempted repair.
Dude, super idea. I actually just ordered a new one (regular price is $125 per sleeve, Air Relax gave me a steep discount below that), but to your point the other sleeve could fail as well. But given that it is at the bottom of the sleeve, there is nothing to lose with the fishing line!
I just had the right leg of my Air Relax blow up last night the same way as OP. I contacted the company to see what my options are & see if a discounted boot is still an option. $100 is better than having to buy a whole new set of Air Relax or even Normatecs. Hopefully they are still just as accommodating.
I sent Air Relax an email & they said that while my unit is outside of the warranty, they offered me 20% off a set of replacement compression legs. Normally $255, I got the new set for $200. That’s a lot better than $550 for a complete new unit or $900 for a Normatec set.
Update: A few months ago and the other leg had the same issue. AirRelax would not give me any kind of discount this time.
Local seamstress fixed it for $30. Had her replace the zipper on my original failed unit as well.