I purchased an XTerra Vector Pro two months ago. At Eagleman last weekend it ripped while I was putting it on, a nice 3 inch gash on the thigh. I was not rushing, and my fingernails are pretty short… basically I try to be very careful when putting on the wetsuit.
I contacted XTerra was told that it is a stress tear. They further stated that wetsuits “are susceptible to being torn the first few times they are put on just because the material has not yet been broken into”. They state it is not covered by warranty, since the tear occurred by “human hands”. (Next time I will ask a monkey to assist.)
Has anyone had a similar issue? This seems crazy to me that it isn’t covered by warranty. Yes, I could just glue it back together, but it does not seem right that I am already patching a brand new wetsuit back together.
I am always bummed when companies don’t do the right thing but I have to say that from my experience Xterra has been great. They went above and beyond replacing a suit that I should never have ordered. Perhaps you just got a bad employee. Anyway looks like its being taken care of.
You were given incorrect information about “breaking in” your wetsuit.
Please write me a note - glynn@xterrawetsuits.com. I’m one of the owners along with Keith Simmons.
Turq
(glynn turquand)
^That is how you know you’re working with a great company.
x2. Nothing but good experience here.
Side note, I accidentally ripped my Velocity-M speedsuit in half over the weekend. Technically I really just created a 4" long tear starting at the neck and extending down to the Xterra logo. 100% my own fault–the suits are delicate, and I wasn’t being delicate enough taking mine off while running up to T1. Does anyone have experience repairing these? I stitched the elastic at the neck back together, and then used some tent repair tape on either side of the tear, but I’m concerned that as the suit stretches and gets wet the tape will eventually come off and the repair will fail. I stretched the suit prior to applying the tape, but it seems to me that some sort of tape with a pressure-activated adhesive and a stretchy, waterproof fabric would work better. Ideas?
I have a full suit that gets a new rip in it every time I put it on as well.
Sorry, that just means you’re doing something wrong, and you’ll probably rip whatever suit you get next. I have a Vortex that I’ve put on and taken off a couple times with no tears.
Tips:
Do most of the work to pull the suit on from the INSIDE, not the outside. This means rolling down the leg quite far once you step into it so you can grab lower.
wear gardening gloves when you’ve got the suit mostly put on and have to tug from the outside to get rid of the slack
cut your fingernails, and use only the pads of your fingers (pinch more with the sides of your fingertips, not the tip-tips) for minor adjustments right before the swim start.
I have a full suit that gets a new rip in it every time I put it on as well.
Sorry, that just means you’re doing something wrong, and you’ll probably rip whatever suit you get next. I have a Vortex that I’ve put on and taken off a couple times with no tears.
Tips:
Do most of the work to pull the suit on from the INSIDE, not the outside. This means rolling down the leg quite far once you step into it so you can grab lower.
wear gardening gloves when you’ve got the suit mostly put on and have to tug from the outside to get rid of the slack
cut your fingernails, and use only the pads of your fingers (pinch more with the sides of your fingertips, not the tip-tips) for minor adjustments right before the swim start.
X2
My Xterra has been used for going on 3 years now with no issues. And while I am not overly gentle with it, I also follow the instructions that Xterra gave for putting it on. I have more little rips in my scuba suit than my tri wetsuit.
Don’t most wetsuits use pretty similar material like Yamamoto #38 or 39? Wetsuits designed for swimming don’t have a fabric layer outside like on a surfing suit. A triathlon wetsuit is going to be more fragile.
Putting on ironman and blueseventy suits since 2001 without a problem.
Older tech wetsuits without the newer skin hydrophobic coatings, and perhaps tougher-but-less-flexible neoprene?
Thanks for assuming I don’t know how to put on a wetsuit though.
Clearly you don’t if you tear it every time! Not trying to be an ass (it…comes naturally), but maybe you should think about your process a little before blaming the wetsuit.
EDIT: Also consider that maybe you have the wrong size or that particular wetsuit doesn’t fit you well if it takes so much force to put on that you’re tearing it?
If you’ve learned NOTHING else from slowtwitch - please do not get a monkey to assist you with anything. It’s STRICTLY against the rules.
monkeys are nothing but cheats!
regarding the wetsuit - tons of companies seem to use the same rubber… as noted above. differences seem to be in how they are stitched together (paneling). so this topic (wetsuits ripping) applied nearly across the board. it just seems some people have wetsuit tearing issues (#triathleteproblems) and others none. maybe there’s quality control issues in the rubber? i don’t know. i’m not really contributing anything here… but i will add i’ve used several xterra wetsuits and have nothing but great experiences (and fast times).
Not 100% of the suits use the same rubber. But I would say that a very large percentage use Yamamoto or Sheiko rubber. There are also varying levels of rubbers produced by those two companies.
Not all manufacturers use the same liners, and liners can affect the stretch and flexibility of the neoprene.
Each suit uses a different pattern to put the neoprene panels together.
While each are sewed and or glued/ taped, not all brands use the same factories.
The rubbers that are used for triathlon wetsuits are very soft and are susceptible to tearing. You do have to be careful with the suits, and they shouldn’t just tear on their own.
Most brands stand behind their suits and offer great customer and warranty service. In this case Glynn came to the rescue. Good to see that!
