Reusable Pockets???

[laughingsquid]

Well... My trusty wetsuit is nearing the end of its life and has served me well. I was just curious, is there a way to reuse the old pockets on the new suit? Or bite the herring and by new pockets. Are there other makes besides Halcyon available?

Any thoughts, ideas?

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

I find that my pockets wear out about the same time as the wetsuit, so I usually just go ahead and replace everything. It is possible to remove glued-on pockets using Cotol 240 solvent, but it's personally more work than I am willing to invest - easier just to purchase new pockets, IMO.

As far as alternatives to Halcyon, there are several. Most of them will have to be modified in some way however, to add or remove features or details. The advantage of Halcyon pockets is that they are suitable right out of the box. Again, it kind of depends on how much your time is worth.

 

[S. starfish]

If your pockets are glued on to your wetsuit they may be a bit tricky to get off and if you can get them off I'm pretty sure that any glue left on the pockets would interfere with any new glue you tried using. If it were my wetsuit I would get the pockets sewn onto the new suit and would then put aquaseal or something like it over the stitching on the inside to stop water flowing through the holes and so I wouldn't have to put up with rough stitching against my skin. Alternatively you could try attaching the pockets to some neoprene shorts to make home made x-shorts.

I'd like to mention at this point that all of my experience with suit maintenance and modification has been with drysuits.

 

[eelpout]

I have a set of Halcyon pockets that are on th 3rd suit. It took a lot of Toluene, rags, ventilated area, and elbow grease. The toluene dissolves the wetsuit glue that I used to bond the poc ket to the suit. The pockets are a brown for extended exposure to pool sessions. There are other companies that sell pockets. I am happy with the Halcyons becuse they have lasted as long as they have. This set will be thrown away with the suit.

Good luck,
Jim

 

[laughingsquid]

Thank you all for the feed back! I'll go ahead and get the new pockets. I do like the idea of having them stitched on, using the sealer to stop water penetration.

Works for me!

 

[Scubastud16]

Take a look at Golem Gear pockets. I just purchased 2, and had them sewn onto my wetsuit. I should have the suit back Friday. The pockets are quite nice, and are a steal right now.