I’m still rocking my first wetsuit, an Xterra Vector Pro, which I bought used and with a few rips in it. Since then I’ve added quite a few rips and it now leaks like a mf’er. I’m racing Indian Wells in 2 weeks and was wondering how much heat I’ll lose in the ~58 degree water if I constantly have new water coming in through the legs and torso. Would it be worth it to go ahead and get a new one or try to borrow one that won’t leak if it means I’ll maintain a couple degree higher body temperature during the swim?
I thought there was some DIY repair that could be done – some sort of glue or something. Maybe you should repost with a different title.
I’ve patched as much as I can but it isn’t practical at this point to be able to keep all the water out.
at least if you drowned you will go to heaven. But seriously we just had all the black friday sales, you should have picked something up. Maybe take a quick look to see if anything is still available cheap.
Have you done the patching, or have you taken it to a dive shop and let them do it for real?
I have a bunch of low priced wetsuits, some $450 demos for a 100 bucks, maybe time to upgrade??
58f is a bit chilly unless you’re used to swimming in that temp with a holed suit - I reckon I’d survive ! But I’m pretty big (200lbs) - friends who are not porky who I’ve seen using leaky wetsuits in that sort of temp start to get notably cold after half an hour.
I’ve an old suit that is just plain worn through under the arms and legs (down to the inner fabric liner in places, no neoprene left). Its fine enough when the water is 10 degrees f higher (up at 17 or 18 C or more) But i really notice it when
The temp drops - down at 12 or 13 C? I fell that i lose quite a bit of power in my arms / shoulders after say half an hour or so using it.
And so i use a newer suit for races !
From a speed viewpoint a non-holed suit would help avoid the
Water billowing in and out which can slow me a fair bit if it keeps washing through the arms/ shoulders and ‘ballooning’.
We will be at HITS. Come by our tent and we will make a repair for you so you can race in a wetsuit that you know fits.
Also, though, check out all the CYBER WEEK sales that are out there for triathlon wetsuits; e.g. DeSoto, HUUB, Roka, Blue70, and ours (https://www.xterrawetsuits.com/pages/bfcm)
Frankly, the issue won’t be a loss of heat. Rather, it will be excess drag if the tears are primarily on the front. Most heat is lost off your head and belly which will be covered by a cap and neoprene.
The real issue at HITS will be your face (as it hits the water) and your feet (because the beach has sharp rocks).
- Turq
(glynn@xterrawetsuits.com)
Maybe I missed it, but no one actually answered your question.
Any hole that will allow free water exchange is going to cause you problems. As you probably know, the majority of the heat retention properties a wet suit provides is trapping water against your skin. Once that water heats up all the wet suit does is keep it there and prevent conduction losses to the outside water.
If you are exchanging water in the legs you can probably get away with using it. But water exchange in the torso will eliminate any advantage the wet suit was providing in the warmth area.
If you have any other options I would explore them. Keep in mind that water temp tolerance is very user dependent. I can swim in a speedo at 65 degrees and only be marginally uncomfortable at the beginning. My wife would end up on the medical tent in a swim suit at 70 degrees.
Heat loss will be completely a function of how leaky it is. If it’s really tight and the holes are effectively closed by your skin, you probably won’t lose much, but that doesn’t sound like the case. If you really want to know how leaky it is, fill your bathtub with ice water and move around in it as much as the space will allow. Or go jump in someone’s pond in Indiana.
If it was mine, I’d seal the holes.
Might be time for a new suit. Email from Hits race director today said that water temp today was 54 degrees.