scuba shorts or glue-on pocket?

[Crush]

I have a DUI TLS 350 drysuit and love it. The suit is great, and now that I have bellows thigh pockets with D-rings I can't recall how I ever dove without them (I find placing gear in the thigh pockets much more convenient than putting stuff in my BC pockets).

Here is the problem - I sometimes dive in locales where my 3mm or 7mm wetsuit might be appropriate (yes, I know many of you dive a DUI 30/30 drysuit in warm water), but now I want thigh pockets on one or both of the wetsuits.

I have found that you can buy Highland by XS-Scuba 2mm Super Stretch Neoprene Pocket Shorts to be worn over a wetsuit (about $100) or you can buy Highland by Xs-Scuba Glue-On Thigh Pockets ($32 each) that you glue onto a suit with AquaSeal. I can see pro's and con's to both approaches. My questions are:

1. Has anyone tried either the shorts or the glue-on pockets? What did you think? and
2. How long should the Aquasealed pockets last? Is such a gluing considered permanent, or would it typically fall off after 100 dives or so?

Thanks

 

[rongoodman]

There is less bulk associated with the glue-on pockets. In addition, you're not having to add weight to sink the neoprene shorts. OTOH, it's more expensive to glue pockets onto multiple wet suits, and when the suit is replaced, you'll have to do it again. I had pockets glued on a previous wet suit and I'm going to try out the X-Shorts on my next trip, and go from there.

I believe my local shop used Aquaseal to glue on my previous pockets, and aside from one corner pulling up a little, I'd call the glue permanent. They said they haven't had much success pulling pockets off to transfer to a new suit, in that the suit tears before the glue lets go.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

We have been using glue-on pockets on my 3mm full wetsuit and my wife's 5mm full wetsuit for about a year. They are great.

Glueing on a pocket is simple and fast to do yourself, but do make sure you have enough Aquaseal on hand to start (buy about double what you think you'll need, then you'll have the right amount ).

Do be sure to mark the outline of the pocket on your wetsuit while wearing it to account for stretch and to make sure it is in exactly the place you want it, then use a piece of carboard, a book, small cutting board, or something similar inside the wetsuit thigh to stretch the suit so that the chalk marks again match the pocket.

Best wishes.

 

[scottsax]

I have the Dive Xtras X-Shorts, and with the exception of people on the boat looking at me funny (doubly so for my DIR/Hogarthian rig) I think they work great! They do tend to sag a little (the crotch strap on my rig holds them up,) and I think they're thicker neoprene than the XS Scuba ones, but I've been nothing but pleased with them so far! (3 week-long tropical dive trips.)

My buddies that have glued pockets on have said that the pockets with a stiff backing tend to anchor better to the suit. They also recommend the Cotol additive to improve the curing process. Once they had the pocket glued on, they put 20+ lbs of weights on top of a book to hold it in place.

 

[kathydee]

I have a few wetsuits so opted for X-shorts. They are fine. I don't notice the bulk and I love the large pockets. Extra bouyancy in the hips is not something to complain about


Did a long trip with them last summer (96 dives in 10 weeks). Around dive 60 the velcro lost some it's effectiveness & I needed to replace the bungee cord waist draw string but otherwise they performed excellent!

 

[Peter_C]

The suit is great, and now that I have bellows thigh pockets with D-rings I can't recall how I ever dove without them (I find placing gear in the thigh pockets much more convenient than putting stuff in my BC pockets).

Instead of using the D-ring try installing some bungee cord tied into the pocket grommets to clip stuff off with using double enders. That is what "most" people do. I cut the mesh and D-rings out of my pockets that had them.

I have a couple drysuits with pockets for cold water diving and X-shorts for warm water diving. If I used the same wetsuit all the time for only one purpose the glued on pockets would be the best. I will say the one nice thing I found with the X-shorts is I was able to just throw them on over my boardshorts and go diving sans wetsuit. It allowed me to carry all my gear, as the pockets are BIG. Spare mask, spool DAN SMB, wetnotes, and other safety gear no problem with room to spare. One of my pockets stitching tore, but it was repairable by simply resewing. Again this is one of the original X-shorts and they may well have changed/improved the design.

Personally I feel glued on pockets are best, money aside. I used neoprene cement on my CF200 which is crushed neoprene and they have not even started to peel after 200+ dives. The rest of the suit is falling apart, and as long as the pockets are in good shape they can be removed and reused.

Divesports XS Scuba Pocket

 

[Crush]

A very big THANK YOU to all those who responded to this thread. If any of you are short on your kudos quotas, PM me and I will "thank" your individual posts.

It sounds to me that the shorts are a better overall "one size fits all" solution. I am just worried that they will create a fair bit of drag... I suspect that the extra drag will probably (hopefully?) not really be noticeable on top of that imposed by my gear.

Thanks again.

 

[TSandM]

You won't notice any drag from the shorts. I use them both on wetsuits and on my dry suit. (I have X-shorts.) I don't notice any increased weight requirement, either, but of course, I don't have my weight pared down to the absolute bare minimum.

 

[Belmont]

If you glue your pockets dont spend $$ on Aquaseal. I used premium Lepage's contact cement and they have held on for 130 dives. I reglued about ¼ inch on a corner after 50 dives.

Get the pockets with bungies like Halcyon, I prefer them to DUI's.

To glue the pockets you put the wet suit on and mark with a chalk where you want them to be.

Then stretch the suit leg on the end of an ironing board.

Apply two coats on the suit and three on the pocket. Making sure it dries for a good half hour between each application. Start with the pocket so you end up with the last applications timed together.

Once the last coat is applied to both surfaces follow the manufacturers instructions for joining. Make sure you line them up good, you have one try only.

Now for the special cobblers trick: with this kind of rubber cement you can reactivate it with a heat gun. Neat if you want to remove them from your old suit. Heat is applied on the suit underside.

 

[Doc Harry]

First, I have tried a whole variety of pockets. They all fell apart -- except the Halcyon pockets. Let me tell you, it is a real PITA trying to repair a pocket that is glued to a wetsuit or a drysuit. I always choke paying that much for a pocket. Im not saying that Halcyon pockets are worth it, I'm saying that pockets other than Halcyon are simply not worth it.

I have pockets glued to my wetsuits and drysuit. I wouldn't consider the shorts due to the bulk. Besides, how to get a pair of shorts sized correclty to fit over both a 3mm wetsuit and a drysuit?